full high moon
by sidain 2016
Summary: After another failed attempt to get information about dragons out of Twilight, Spike, and his twin sister Quill ventures to Canterlot in hopes of finding the knowledge that they seek. However their hopes are dashed when Discord comes through and dishes out his brand of chaotic misfortune. Now on the run, the twin dragons along with their pet phoenixes must rely on each other to sur


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/ High Moon/ by Sidain/-/

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/ Ch. 1: New Life/-/

High Moon Ch .1 New life

Deep in Everfree forest, joyful humming echoed through the barren woods as a hooded figure made its way through the darkened path. Most sane ponies wouldn't dare be caught this deep in Everfree-let alone call this part of Everfree a home. Even Zecora wouldn't venture out this far for any ingredients that she may need, yet this lone soul happily called deep Everfree home-has been for the last eight years.

As the hooded mare skipped down a faded dirt path, she mused over the thoughts of her plans for tonight with her special someone, and a slight shiver overlooked her body doing so. The two lovers had been living with each other ever since the mare found her way this deep in Everfree and their relationship quickly took off. Now she had plans for said lover, who was sitting back in the cave-hut that they call home.

The deeper the mare ventured the quicker the landscape changed, going from a vibrant plant-life to an infertile landscape of an ancient ruins. If any besides the mare or her canine lover, had made the foolish decision to venture out this far they would have learned that the castle of the alicorn sisters reached further out than the castle itself, but none was that blinded by the desire for knowledge-hopefully.

However the two did some exploring of the ancient ruins, they found an expansive settlement that was somewhat still intact, and some inscription revealing the name to be High Moon valley in ancient equine. They quickly thought that would be the best place to settle down, so the mare's lover went to work carving out a tunnel leading to what seemed to be a second castle to the alicorn sisters, and also went to work making the place look like an actual home.

As the mare's skipping started to pick up pace, a wooden frame-structure around a stone door soon came into sight for the mare. However in her joyful skipping, the mare failed to notice a large shadow moving behind her, and before she could leave the creature's striking range it lunged out of the thick brush.

Sighing the mare quickly turned around, throwing a set of knives that she always keep under her cloak. The knives hit their mark pinning the creature's body to a near by tree. Shifting in the clouds above allowed the moonlight relived to the mare that her would-be attacker was a massive centipede. That when the mare started to freak out from the overgrown insect's bleeding-red body and massive pincers that could cut through a tree with ease.

Falling to her large flank, the mare's hood was removed by the force of the fall, and she was relieved to be a unicorn mare with long fire-red with a dull-blue fur. The unicorns fire-red eyes widened from the sight of the centipede's body oozing a green substance.

The mare looked away from the already dead insect's body, pointing a finger at it's body, and lighting her horn. "Ahh, Ignis!" The mare's horn glowed a bright crimson-red as she used a fire-spell to not only set the centipede on fire but also the tree it was pinned to with the same colored flame as the mare's magic.

The sounds of crackling wood and the burning of the centipede's shell filled the mare's head with sickening thoughts. "Ignis, Ignis, Ignis," The mare shouted repeatedly, using more of her magic to burn the charred insect's body, and continued until the whole thing was nothing but mere ash in the wind.

As the remains of the centipede flew into the air, the unicorn started to open her tear filled eyes, and once she was sure that the nightmarish insect was forever gone she started to make her way back to her home-this time with a bit of more hurry in her step.

She didn't even broke her stride as she came to a wooden door that had magic circles carved into it. The mare lit her horn again causing the door to do the same thing along with the same crimson color, the magic flowing through the door undid the locks. She pushed open the door and shut it behind herself.

"Man, that was just disgusting." She breath a sigh as she made her way towards a set of stairs that lead further down into the cave-home. As she passed another door with the same magic circles from before-and unlocked it the same way-she stripped from her dirty and dusty dull-blue cloak, revealing the rest of her wide curves and large breasts that were only covered by a few pieces of cloth along with her marehood.

She ran her fingers through her long fire-red mane before walking down the last set of stairs. During her walk down the final steps, torches on either side of her by her magical command, and a large black door stood before her. She closed her eyes as her horn glowed the same bright crimson than before. The door responded by it glowing as well and started to side over revealing a secret room within the ruins.

The room was already lit with golden torches around the walls, a stone table in the center that held a wide variety of positions, ingredients, and ancient spell tomes that the mare and her lover found in the ruins over the years. Overgrowth took hold of the walls, only still there because the mare enjoyed the feel they gave to the room. She even used the overgrowth to her advantage as she stated a small crop-farm for food and other ingredients she needs sometimes.

However all of these were not new to the mare, as she keeps the room looking the way it is all the time. No, her attention was drawn to the large chained dull-blue diamond dog that captured her heart: Wolf. Why a diamond dog had a name that would best fit a dire-wolf, was be on her, but all she cared about was the time they were going to have together was all that mattered.

Wolf sat on the floor, with metal bindings on his hands along with his fire-stone encrusted collar chained to the wall behind him. Along with his collar, the dog's bindings were also encrusted with the same bright red stone that the mare enchanted with a bit of magic so he could come and go as he please.

Wolf kept his head down even though the sliding door should have alerted him of his mare's return. The mare assumed that he was taking a nap, having nothing better to do while chained to the wall, and a quick sounding of her voice should do the trick to wake him.

The mare smiled at the sight of her canine lover, the memories of the hellish centipede was forgotten as she skipped over to the bound dog. "Oh Wolfie~ I'm back~" She said in a singing voice that got the attention of the dog.

He raised his head, staring flatly into the unicorn's fire-red eyes, and a low growl escaped his lips that made the mare stop her joyful skipping. "Blaze, sweetie. You better have some food with you, or we're going to have to have a 'talk' about you chaining me up while I'm asleep," Wolf said with the same low growl, and deadly sharp look in his green eyes.

Blaze started to nervously chuckle, in her excitement for to night she forgot to leave food for Wolf, and a monstrous growl from Wolf's stomach told her that the dog was more than hungry along with the obvious lines of drool forming around his mouth.

Blaze could feel the hungry desire in the dog's eyes, they weren't just for some hunks of meat, and she could also feel the predatory eyes memorizing every curve on her body. "Um...please tell me that you're drooling about eating food, right?" A growl from his stomach said yes but the heavy lust-hungry in his eyes said otherwise.

The mare could see a rather large bulge in Wolf's black shorts, the only sign she need to tell that his gaze did spoke of two different types of hunger. "I think you should go get me some food, Blaze." The mare quickly backed away from the dog and left to the other side of the room to reach the smoke chamber that they made for him. Blaze reached in and grabbed the biggest piece of meat that was in storage, which was the meat of elder deer.

Blaze kept the hunk of meat floating in the air with her magic while Wolf's gaze was torn between the two desirable objects. His stomach craved the large hunk of meat but each sway of Blaze's wide hips continued to draw his attention. With his gazing Wolf didn't realize that Blaze was closer than she really was as she was already standing in front of him. "So do you want me to-"

"Cook it," Wolf said, interrupting Blaze, and continuing with the flat attitude. As Blazed used her magic to cook the meal for Wolf, she realized that his flat attitude, and lack of energy was because of her forgetting to leave him food for the day-well couple of hours. The special night was already starting off badly and she need to think of a way to make it better and fast too.

Wolf's mouth started to water even move from the smell of the meat being cooked right in front of him, not only that but the one cooking it for him: Blaze Soul, the same mare that's stuck by his side for the last eight years while they fight off an dangerous of deep Everfree forest, and kept him company.

Also the mare's body was a prime example of what any canine would look for in a mate. Wide birth-giving hips, large nutrient filled breasts, and her own strength to look after herself if need be. All of that was only her exterior looks, on the inside she a smart, caring-sometimes forgetful-and genuinely honest with her feelings toward things. Wolf enjoyed those traits the mare possessed and that alone was enough for him.

"Wolf, you food is ready." Blaze's soft voice was enough to break Wolf out of his thoughts, he looked towards the hunk of deer meat still floating in the air, and held out his hands. Before Blaze set the still hot meat on his awaiting hands, she summoned heat-resistant gloves on his hands, and then carefully set the meat in his hands. As soon as Blaze's magical grip around the meat was gone, Wolf started to devour large bites of the meat, and chewed around the bones or straight up crashed them in his teeth.

Blaze felt bad that Wolf's hunger was caused by her and she took a seat next to him while he feasted on any meat he could get from the deer. She placed her head on his shoulder while he continued to chew through the deer, only stopping briefly to swallow the ground up meat.

A dejected sigh from the mare made Wolf cease his devouring. He looked down to the mare to see the uncharacteristically sadden expression. "Blaze...what's wrong," Wolf asked through his chewing, his mood slightly better than it was before he started to eat, and the usual genuine concern for the mare's wellbeing came back into his voice. No matter what situation she somehow drags him in, Blaze will-and forever be-his mare, and nothing in this living world will change that.

"I'm sorry," Blaze said, looking away from Wolf's gaze, and casted it to the gray stone wall. Wolf was going to ask what she meant when she started to continue. "I've left you hear all day without anything to eat, you could have staved, and I'm sorry."

"Blaze you and I know I've went longer than a single day without eating and before you say anything about chaining me up, we've done some rather um...'kinky' things over the last few years," Wolf joked, remembering all the crazy things he did with the rather horny mare, and a moment under the full moon behind Rainbow Falls stuck out the clearest.

The mare wrapped her arms around Wolf, nuzzling into his fur coat. "That still doesn't excuse me for what I've done." Wolf smiled towards the mare as he went back to finishing off the deer meal. While he was downing the rest of the deer meat, Blaze started to trail her hand down Wolf's body. The dog didn't respond immediately because this is the usual thing they do in their spare time and he enjoyed the mare's touch while he ate.

However when her hand trialed to his pant line, he soon found out what the mare's really intentions were. "Uh...Blaze can that wait until, you know, after I've eaten?" The mare just giggled as she didn't listen to him.

"Than eat, while I take care of our 'little' guest." Blaze hand slipped under the pant line and her fingers quickly wrapped around Wolf's shaft. The dog grouted when he felt Blaze's slender fingers wrapping around his shaft and started to gently stroke him. Blaze made long agonizing slow strokes up the dog's shaft, taking time to play with the head with her thumb, and giving his swollen balls some attention when she came back down.

Wolf bit on a bone to keep is growls down to small roars, even if it was just the two of them, he didn't like to appear weak in front of Blaze. Dissatisfied that the dog was trying to muffle he growls, Blaze started to pick up the pace of her strokes, and finding pleasure in the pained expression on Wolf's face.

Since she was too busy with keeping up with the fast pace strokes, Blaze added her magic to the mix, and started to handle the dog's balls with her magic. Wolf gritted his teeth so hard that the bone in his mouth started to crack. Blaze could feel small dribbles of pre-cum leak for the tip on her hand, prompting her to pick up the pace even further.

While her one of her hands was busy at work stroking the dog's thick shaft, the other one circled on his chest, and her mouth too was busy biting on his ear. "Come on big dog, let it out, and so this forest who is its real owner," Blaze whispered into the ear, ending with biting him on the ear again.

Wolf was unable to hold back the massive beastly roar any longer, the savage howl revered off of the stone walls creating an echo effect that magnified the volume. Also unable to hold back her excitement-and thrill she got from the ear-shattering roar-Blaze removed her hands from Wolf's shaft, getting a low angry growl of disapproval from the dog, but quickly changed his tune when she got in front of him and pulled his pants off.

Wolf's shaft was revealed to the cooler air in the room, the massive appendage throbbed from being close to a climax, and a large set of balls hung underneath it. Blaze also reached behind her undoing the string tie to the only thing covering to her breasts. With the cloth gone, her red erect nipples stuck clearly out against her dull-blue fur, and the large orbs of mare-pride had Wolf's full attention.

"Oh Wolfie, I'm so sorry for leaving you here with nothing to do but thinking about rutting me into next week," Blaze said taking the large melons around the still throbbing shaft, covering much of it in their warm embrace, and only leaving the head exposed. "I'm here now and I promise to fix that." Blaze started to lift the heavy breasts to the tip of Wolf's shaft, only to bring them back down, and repeat the process building a steady rhythm.

Wolf's growls started to grow louder under the mare's skills as the pressure started to build in his shaft but he tried to fight them off as long as he could. Blaze lit her horn again and Wolf's howls started to echo through the large room as the mare used her magic to massage his balls again.

Blaze wrapped her lips around the tip of Wolf's shaft, the familiar blueberry taste from Wolf brought out a pleasing moan from Blaze, which vibrated on Wolf's shaft, and caused him to growl. Pre-cum from the dog's shaft oozed from the tip and into Blaze's awaiting mouth, she circled her tongue around the head lapping up as much of the pre-cum as she could to savoir the salty-yet-sweet taste.

Wolf started to buck his hips in Blaze's large breasts, the pressure in his shaft too much, and his swollen balls begged for much need release. Seeing the impending climax from the dog coming, Blaze used her magic to 'block' the flow of pleasure, giving it nowhere to escape to and forcing it to build up it an unbearable amount. The dog placed his hands around Blaze's head as his bucking increased in force while she continued massaging the twitching shaft in her breasts.

Sweat started to drip from his face, as the pressure continued to climb, and the mare's magical massage clouded his thoughts. However due to the chains, Wolf was only given slight movement, and even with his strength he couldn't break them. Wolf learned that after the third hour after he woken up chained to the wall. Feeling that he had enough, Blaze released the magical hold on his shaft, and a massive torrent of thick and creamy cum fired from Wolf's shaft along with an ear-splitting roar that forced Blaze to flatten her ears to her head.

Her nose worked double time to take in as much air as she could so she would be able to swallow as much of the creamy cum as she could. Even with her best efforts, some of the cum leaked from the side of her mouth, and dripped onto her breasts. A few more blasts of cum shot down her throat before the streams of cum ended.

Blaze moved her mouth off of the head of Wolf's shaft gasping for air while Wolf was heavily breathing. "Mmm...Wolfie, when was the last time I got to taste your seed," Blaze asked, keeping her breasts on top of the dog's lap.

"Blaze, your lucky I haven't had anything to eat really," Wolf replied still breathing heavy. "So why were you out all day," he asked, knowing that Blaze had more planned for the night than just an apologetic blow-job. The mare got up for his lap, using her magic to pick up her chest-cloth, and tied it around her back again.

"I was picking up a few things for a experiment I wanted to test tonight." Wolf raised his eyebrow towards the mare, sure she was into making potions, and since they found old magical tomes in the ruins she been using them to run experiments to see what she can make. But that didn't explain why she had him chained to the wall-without food.

"Okay...but what's with chaining me to the wall? Surely that can't have anything to do with you 'experiment,'" Wolf asked, making air-quotes as emphasize.

Blaze walked over to the work table that Wolf carved for her with a roll of her eyes and a flick of her tail. "I assure you love it does," she said, keeping her back turned to the dog, and giving a full view of her marehood. "Now why don't you take a little nap?"

Wolf scrunched up his eyebrow, he already wasted a full day 'napping,' and wasn't nowhere near tired-exhausted yes, tired no. "Nap, why on earth would I nap, and...why is your horn glowing," Wolf asked as Blaze haft-turned her gaze towards him with her eyes glowing red slightly. "Um...Blaze if this is about those Benix fruit I ate, I said sor-"

"Somnum." The dog didn't get to finish his rushed apology about ruining a previous experiment a few weeks ago before Blaze casted a powerful sleep spell on him, causing Wolf to slump to the hard ground, and start snoring loudly. Blaze summoned a red blanket to cover the still naked dog's body along with a pillow underneath his head. "Marry dreams love, I'll see you in a few hours," Blaze called out to the sleeping dog as she got to work reading all of the materials she needed for tonight.

Blaze walked closer to the table, searching around for the alchemy book that had the instructions for the specific position she had been working all day to gather the necessary ingredients for. "Now let's see here, where did I place that book?" As she pushed aside other positions that she would use when Wolf would take her exploring their 'territory,' a dusty brown tome was easily pointed out from the 'organized chaos' that is her worktable. "Ah here we are, now where's that beast-heat potion?" The unicorn flipped through the dusty book, looking for a potion that will-if she could find it-make Wolf's body and her's go into an intense heat, which she hope will active Wolf's mating instincts , and make him lose some control.

Through out their eight years together in deep Everfree, Blaze had always wanted to care for a foal-well cub, since diamond dog genes were dominant towards ponies-of her own, but each spring and summer that would roll around-when she going through heat-other predators would move into the small bit of territory that Wolf and herself had worked to keep.

This would keep the dog too busy with fighting off the other predators along with catching himself some meat before the winter months would quickly roll around yet again. Each day he would return barely having the strength to stay awake long enough to please the mare, but when he did, she was far more than satisfied.

However this wasn't enough to get her pregnant with his cub and after a couple of years trying the mare was becoming desperate. That's when she did some more exploring of the ruins that they call home. It seemed that while the alicorn sisters' castle was a little ways from them, the actual city-or rather-settlement was here, and along with the settlement was the past's expansive knowledge of the arcane arts.

A few years back the couple found what appeared to be a library, most of the archive's tomes were destroyed be on further use, however the few that was still in tack they took for Blaze to study and learn from. A couple of days ago while Blaze was reading up on some more fire-magic spells and their variety of uses, she stumbled across a reface in one of the tomes, that spoke of a sexualem part of the archives.

So when Wolf would head out for food to eat or to bring back to store, Blaze would walk through the tunnels that Wolf dug through to get to the cave they call home, and would make her way towards the archives. Following the directions that came with the reface, Blaze quickly found the hidden part of the archives, and went to work finding any book that was still usable.

Fortunate seemed to be on her side as she found a small collection of a books that were in serviceable use. After some time studying she found a potion that has the potential to solve her troubles, of which she spent the last few days collecting the right ingredients to make without Wolf's knowledge.

All of those days of hard work gathering ingredients, trying to say out of any creature's way, and keeping her work secret from Wolf-till now-were about to pay off. "Let's see, two bottles of poison-joke nectar, some rainbow-water from the Rainbow falls, and any fruit the maker wants for flavor. Alright let's do this," Blaze said, lighting her horn, and snapping her fingers. Suddenly all the items that was needed for the potion appeared on an empty spot of the table. After a quick check to see if everything is in order, she walked over to the crop-farm she had growing in the room.

"Um...what fruit does me and Wolf like the most," She thought out loud as her tail swished behind her. Blaze looked over the assortment of fruits that was growing, which was limited to nothing but berries, tomatoes, and some watermelons. "Hm, it seems like a waste to use a whole watermelon, and I doubt that tomatoes would taste rather good. Berries it is than."

Blaze picked several different types of berries, ranging from blueberries to raspberries with her magic, and walked back over to the worktable to start brewing the potion. While she was busy with her work, Wolf struggled to stay asleep, and was tossing about in the warm blanket. The feeling of some kind of new predators entering his territory, kept him from returning to his peaceful sleep, and just when he was going to wake from the feeling it was gone.

A low growl came from his lips, irritated that something was moving in, and more irritated that he was too tired to check it out. The dog's displeasure was deaf to the mare's ears as she started to mix the ingredients in a large cast-iron cauldron, of which she and Wolf also salvage from the ruins.

Several minutes later, the cauldron sat on top a bright crimson flame, and all of the ingredients inside boiling into a golden color. Since the book said that it'll be awhile before the potion was at full effect, Blaze decided to take a spot on the floor with Wolf. "Wolfie, let me in?" Wolf forced his eyes open and flatly looked towards Blaze. The mare shot him her 'puppy-dog' eyes, in hopes to get a spot with him.

Wolf unwrapped the blanket a little to let Blaze take a spot on his right side. Once he felt the mare pushing against his fur, Wolf wrapped his arm around her wide waste, and growled words of sleep towards her.

Blaze noticed the poor attitude from the dog, which made her concern that he was still upset from her leaving him chained to the wall all day. "Wolf is something the matter? You not still hungry are you," She asked, turning around to place her head under his chin.

"It's nothing," Wolf said in his usual low sleepy voice as he placed his chin on top of Blaze's head, allowing her to move closer to him. "Just felt something entering the valley, but it was gone before I could figure out what it was. I'll check it out tomorrow." Blaze became slightly worried about whatever moved into their home, especially since it was gone just as quick as it came.

"Ah, I see. I hope it's not too bad," She said getting a low growl from the dog. "Right sleep, night Wolf. I love you," Blaze said before closing her eyes to sleep.

Wolf pulled Blaze closer to his body, pressing his broad chest against her large breasts, and nuzzling his head on top of her's. "And I love you too, Blaze. Now go to sleep," Wolf flatly said before he went back to sleep while the mare started to giggle before she too drifted off to sleep herself.

Elsewhere

"This is all your fault!" A ways away from Wolf's territory, two young dragons were running through the forests-well one of them was running as the other flew above the ground. The young purple and green dragons did their best at running from a pursuer that wasn't even there as they thought they had committed the worst crime in Equestrian's history.

"We just had to go to Canterlot, you just had to know more about dragons," The purple and green dragoness shouted at the other dragon of the same color.

The male dragon skidded to a halt and casted a darkened gaze to the ground. "I-I didn't mean to do it, it was Discord's fault. Quill you believe me right," The young drake, known as Spike Dragul, asked his twin sister Quill Dragul with a sadden, and regretful tone.

Quill looked into the depressed look on Spike's face, she knew it wasn't fair for her to yell at him for no reason, but she was just as scared as he was. "Spike, I know, but we shouldn't have gone to the library in Canterlot. We should have asked Twilight more questions but we didn't. And now we have to live with it." Both twin dragons will miss their home in Ponyville but after what happened in Canterlot along with what Discord told them, their was a slim chance that they will be welcomed with opened arms.

Spike whipped his head towards his sister, tears soaking his eyes. "What were we going to do? Twilight said it herself, Equestrians don't know anything on dragons, and Canterlot library had twice the amount of information than the one in Ponyville. Or at least used to." Spike's expression became more bitter from the memory of the green flames engulfing the Canterlot library and also Discord telling the two of them that Celestia wouldn't take the news quite well.

So they ran, they ran as far as their legs could carry them, and when Quill's tired she used her wings that had grown two summers ago. Now they found themselves lost into a part of Everfree that they didn't know even existed with nothing but a book-bag to them both. "I'm sorry okay, what else do you want me to say?"

"Spike," Quill landed on the ground and started to walk towards her brother to wrap her arms around him. "It's fine, I know it wasn't your fault, and I should have yelled at you." Spike quickly returned the hug, sobbing in her green jacket a little. "Come on, let's find some twigs to make a fire. We can take care of ourselves."

Spike forced himself out of Quill's embrace and whipped away the tears in his eyes. "Yeah, yeah you right. We can take care of ourselves." The screeching cries of the twin's pet phoenixes tore the dragons attentions towards the skies as they saw the two birds flying towards them. Peewee landed on Spike's shoulder while Cinder landed on Quill's shoulder. "And we can take care of them too," Spike said, making the bird nuzzle against his purple scales. "We're smart enough to do that right?"

"Well I'm smarter than you," Quill joked, getting both Peewee and Cinder started to laugh, but a glare from Spike ended Peewee's laughing. "But yeah I think we can make it," Quill said with her confident smile. "We don't need Twilight...any...more."

A dreading silence fell over both dragons as they turned away from each other, the realization that they may never get to see Twilight or any of the ponies in Ponyville again brought them to a crashing sadness. While the have gotten over Rarity over the many years fighting over the mare, they both will miss the warmth from the library, and the friendly smiling face of those who helped raise them.

Spike shook himself from the sudden shock, he looked over to Quill who still wrapping her head around the new life that she and Spike now have to get accustomed to. "Uh, I think we should keep moving," he said , breaking Quill out of her heavy thinking.

Quill wiped her head up, almost knocking the black and purple phoenix off of her shoulder, and Spike caught the signs of tears in her eyes. "Y-yeah, me and Cinder will look over here for some food. You two get camp straighten up." She and the female phoenix was off in the air before Spike could stop her.

He watched as his sister flew off into the distant tree-line and continued to watch until his phoenix nuzzled against his head. "Peewee, she...she crying. Quill never cries." Spike had never seen Quill shed a single tear, she even sometimes poke fun with him about his crying, but to see his sister cry made Spike want to do something to make things better for her. "Come on Peewee, we got a home to build." Spike and Peewee soon set to work trying to get the small batch of cleared land into something that could be called a home.

While her brother was working to set up camp for the night, Quill was flying through the air with Cinder struggling to keep up with her caretaker, and it was obvious to the bird that the dragoness wasn't looking for the fruit that she should have been.

Cinder flared her wings to catch up to the dragon also loudly screeching to get her attention. Quill landed on a tree branch, struggling to get her breathing under control as Cinder took her spot on the dragon's shoulder.

"Cin, do you think that we're doing the right thing," Quill asked the phoenix, small-yet still visible-tears streamed down her face. "May be we could have stayed and explain things, may be princess Celestia would have listen to us, and may be all blame would have fallen on Discord." Even if she knew that there was no changing the past, there was always that ping of hope that everyone would have listen to the twin dragons. "Or may be we shouldn't have looked in the first place."

Cinder saw the sadness from the usually cheery dragoness and she nuzzled against Quill's head. "Yeah, you're right Cin. We don't have time to worry about them any more, we got each other, and nothing is going to change that." It hurt to leave her old life behind but she still had Spike and the two phoenixes to keep her company, she didn't know where or what they were going to do next, but she was going to do it with her head held high. "Come on Cinder, we got a new life to build."

The dark-purple bird let out a cry in response as she took off of the dragoness's shoulder while Quill unfurled her wings after the phoenix. For better or worse, we'll make it through. Quill thought to herself as she and Cinder started to pick out any fruit they-rather Quill-knew was safe to eat.

High Moon valley

Blaze hummed softly to herself as she had woken up quite sometime ago and successfully wiggled out of Wolf's embrace. Now she was busy with making the final preparations for the potion, that still sat in the cauldron. She picked up a wooden spoon and scooped some of the golden liquid into a green glass flask, that she got by doing some trading with Zecora awhile back.

The light from the position was so bright that the green flask took a golden hue. Blaze picked up the book in her magic, had already bookmark the page with the potion in it, and turned to the page to read the final instructions. "Now let's see, for full effect user must drink half of what the recipient drinks, or vice a versa for non-impregnated effects. Well Wolf, looks like you got to drink more than me, but it doesn't say who drinks it first."

Blaze looked back towards Wolf as he still laid asleep on the floor. The same dog had protected and care for her for the last eight years and she had given her heart in return. She knew Wolf felt the same way as well, with her telling him which plants was good to eat, and also saving him from the dangers of deep Everfree.

The eight years had been the best for the mare and she wouldn't take it back for the world. "I love you Wolf and I want to bare you cubs," Blaze said as she took a small swallow of the potion. The mare moaned slightly from the warmth and taste of the drink, it felt like a wave flowing down from her mouth to the rest of her body. However the potion was useless unless Wolf drunk the rest of the bottle and a loud growling sound told her how she going to do it.

Wolf tossed around on the floor, his stomach had already devoured the deer meat he ate a few hours ago, and now it was howling to his body for more. But he didn't want to get up, sleep felt too good for him to do so, but his monstrous stomach outweighed his want for more sleep.

As he unwilling got up off the floor, the smell of cooking meat reached his nose, and he turned his head towards Blaze as she was cooking meat within her magic. "Morning sleepy head," The mare greeted with a bright cheery smile. "I heard you stomach barking at you again so I cooked up some food for you." Blaze floated the metal tray of more deer meat to Wolf.

"I doubt that it's morning just yet and thanks," Wolf said, taking the tray of meat from the mare, and sat it down to his right side. "This beast I call a gut didn't wake you up did it?" Blaze shook her head as she started to walk back to the work table and picked up the green flask, which she filled back up to make sure that Wolf drinks the right amount. "What your 'experiment' did? What is it anyways, it all golden-like, and stuff."

"Its just some little potion for couples that I've found in the archives," Blaze answered, putting an obvious sway into her step as she walked back to the dog, and took her spot next to him. "And I need you to drink it as well, but first eat." Wolf raised an eyebrow as he took the first bite into to the cooked deer.

He ripped a piece of meat from the meal while he tried to speak. "What you...what you need me to drink it for and what do you mean you've found it in the archives?" Blaze reed back slightly, remembering the rule that they had about going into the settlement without Wolf around as the structures were damaged by time and were unsafe to venture in alone. But that wasn't Wolf's main concern. "You didn't run into her did you," Wolf questioned, hinting towards the other equine that lives in the settlement inside of Wolf's territory.

"No, no, no I didn't see Ms. Lily Winds, and its fine I had a map and everything," Blaze answered quickly to put out the dog's worries, but the flat look on his face told her that she wasn't in the clear just yet. "Oh come on, the book had a map showing me where I needed to go, and I'm a full grown unicorn I can take care of myself." Blaze crossed her arms in a huff, looking away from Wolf like a pouting filly.

"Guh Blaze," Wolf started, setting the meat back onto the metal tray, and turning towards the still pouting mare. "Blaze I care for you and worry about you, you know that right?" The mare's expression soften a bit but she kept her gaze away from his. "You know that settlement is just as dangerous as Everfree itself. Blaze I don't know what I'll do if anything happens to you." Blaze jumped in surprise by the sorrow in Wolf's voice, she whipped her head towards Wolf's face only to see the darkened expression on his face. "I would lose it…"

Blaze scooted closer towards the dog and wrapped her arms around him. "Wolf, you shouldn't worry so much," she said, burying her hand into his fur coat, and sniffling faintly. "You know as well as I do that I can take care of myself," Blaze continued as Wolf returned the embrace. "And that Lily isn't as bad as you make her out to be."

"Yeah I guess you're right, just don't go without telling me any more okay?" Blaze nodded her head without leaving Wolf's protective hold. However, Wolf ended the embrace as much Blaze didn't want to, and continued to eat. "I still don't see the point of chaining me to the wall," he started as he took another bite. "I get that you wanted this to be some kind of secret but the chains seem unnecessary."

"Meh, I learned a new spell for them a few days ago, and I wanted to use it," Blaze replied in a nonchalant manner as she wiggled under Wolf's arm to have her's wrap around his body while he ate. She started to circle her hand on top of Wolf's-now satisfied-stomach, getting a approving howl from the dog. "Besides, you been working too hard, and I know you wouldn't stay put if I told you too." Wolf rolled his eyes at the mare's-truthful-claims, he knew that he's been working to gather anything they need, and also keep his territory in check, but he didn't think the mare needed to go to the extreme of chaining him to a wall.

"Whatever's, speaking of working, we've got to find a way to make more cloth," Wolf said, going back to eating the meal. Blaze sighed, knowing that Wolf was right, but still didn't want to go into Ponyville that was nearby. "Blaze I'm serious, one point or another we're going to have to go there. We don't have to stay, it'll just be to grab the things we need." Over the eight years they know each other, Blaze expressed her feelings about staying in any town with other ponies in it, and Wolf didn't want to push her to explain these feelings as he had his own reasons not to be living with other diamond dogs.

"I know, I know, but could it wait a little longer," Blaze asked, looking up to Wolf's eyes, and again using her 'puppy-dog' eyes. Wolf nodded his head but still rolled his eyes at the mare's silly play-acting. The two sat in peaceful silence as Wolf to eat his meal with Blaze comfortably pressed against him. Soon, Wolf finished his meal with a mighty burp, and set the remains on the metal tray. "Full," Blaze asked as Wolf leaned his head on the back of the wall.

"Yeah," Wolf answered with a satisfied smile, he reached around Blaze, and grabbed the green flask. "So I'm guessing that you want me to drink this now," He asked holding the bottle in his hand.

Blaze nodded her head against Wolf's chest. "All of it if you don't mind," She said with a brighter smile than before, her plan was finally coming together, and nothing could go wrong at this point. Wolf undid the cork on the top of the bottle and a line of stream fizzed from the top. Wolf looked down towards Blaze's shining red eyes, them alone gave him more than enough reason to drink the bottle of potion.

"Well, down the hatch," Wolf said as he tip his head back and drank the entire bottle of potion, actually enjoying the warm taste, and expecting some kind of immediate effect. The lovers waited patiently for anything to happen to Wolf, yet nothing. "Nothing. A whole lot of nothing."

"What do you mean nothing," Blaze shouted at Wolf, snatching the empty bottle out of his hand, and examining the contents. "This can't be right." The mare removed herself from the dog's body and stormed off to the cauldron. "That darn book said that you had to drink double of what I've drank, so why isn't it working?" Blaze glared at the cauldron with a furious stare while Wolf sat against the wall.

"Maybe it takes time, what was it to do anyways," He asked, knowing if Blaze get's to talking she'll figure it out-hopefully.

Blaze's tail flared out when Wolf asked a question that she was hoping he wouldn't. She turned around towards him, struggling to keep her eye to his, but knew at this point there was no point of lying. "I-It was to make the both of us go in heat," Blaze admitted with a downward cast. "Guess not even magic can change biology."

Wolf sighed, knowing why the mare would want to force heat on the both of them with a potion. "Blaze that's not the right thing to do you know," He said as he started to stand up from the ground. "It supposed to happen at the right moment, that's what make's it special."

Blaze kept her head down to the ground, she knew Wolf was right, but she was tired of waiting. "No." Wolf flinched from the mare's firm low voice, something that seldom happens. "No, I'm not going to wait, I just need to fix it up better. You'll see Wolf, I'll make the perfect mother for your cubs."

"Blaze," Wolf didn't know what to say to the mare, he known that she been wanting a cub to call her own, and so have he, but their was a natural order to these things. Messing with that order could have serious consequences if something goes wrong.

"No Wolf, I'm tired of it being just a dream, and I know you feel the same way." Blaze turned around to re-work on the potion to see if she could strengthen it in some way but just as she started to grab the alchemy book, a sudden burning pain erupted in her marehood, and caused her to double over the table in pain-yet slight pleasure.

Wolf instinctively tried to move to the mare's side but was stopped by the chains connected to the wall. He struggled against the chain, just to be reminded of the strength of them. "Blaze, what's the matter? Are you a-" As the same thing as Blaze, searing pain overtook his body, and forced him to his knees. The dog could feel his more primal instincts kicking in as he tried again to reach Blaze.

"Ahh...Wolfie, help." Blaze could feel all of the heat moved towards her marehood, causing it to leak juices as she rub her legs together. A low-yet still-monstrous roar escaped Wolf's mouth as his fur started to change colors along with his eyes. The dull-bluish hue was lost in the dog's fur turning into something that resembled his winter fur; a pale white. His body started to grow in size, making the binds around his hands tighten from his sudden growth.

Another monstrous roar erupted from the dog as he pulled against the bindings. Instead of the chains giving out, the wall itself was rip off by the dog heightened strength, and he was behind Blaze before the rubble from the wall had the chance to hit the ground.

Wolf bend over the mare and started to bite on the back of her neck, making her scream from joy at his rough touch. He held the mare's arms down by her shoulders, pressing her large breasts forcefully against the table, and working his bites towards her ear.

Blaze felt his shaft brush against her wet marehood, which made her shiver from pleasure, and moaned when she felt the head push against her outer walls. She turned her head around to see the betting red of Wolf's eyes. "Do it." The dog didn't let another thought enter his head as he pushed the shaft in Blaze's marehood.

The mare moaned when she felt the shaft forcefully being pushed in and pulled back out to thrust back in. Wolf's hands were removed from her shoulders just so they can be used to lift her flank high in the air. With better leverage, Wolf started to pound away at the mare, and used his claws to squeeze her flanks.

"Wolfie," Blaze moaned, the force of the thrusts pushed every rational thought out of her head, and her body just burn for more of the dog's touch. Wolf pulled on Blaze's tail making her scream from joy and the screams nearly lost sound as he lifted her up by her tail to get a better angle to push his shaft deeper inside of her marehood. "I-I'm not go-" Blaze voice lost sound when her body abruptly tensed up around Wolf's shaft as she reached a sudden climax.

However Wolf didn't cease his thrusting, in fact the mare's orgasm seemed to make him increase the thrusting. Blaze let out a small screech when Wolf turned her over to her back, pushing her further onto the table, and placing her legs on his shoulders to resume the savage thrusting.

Blaze placed her hands on her large breasts to keep them from bouncing from Wolf's thrust but the dog grabbed the mare's wrists and forced them to the table. His eye intensely watched the breasts move with each thrust he made, their alluring movement could be compared to a stormy wave. The mare blushed from the dog's staring and looked away from his piercing red eyes.

Blaze cut a glance toward Wolf only to see that his eyes were still firmly locked onto her bouncing breasts. "Wolfie...s-stop staring, its making you d-drool," The mare pleaded her own line of drool rolling down her mouth. A rumbling growl came from Wolf as a response as he started to bend over to take the mare's lips in his.

Wolf took dominance over the kiss while all Blaze could do was moan into his mouth. He also took his hands off of the mare's wrists to grope breasts, making Blaze moan some more into the kiss. The dog took his claws around Blaze's hardened nipples, giving them a sharp tug.

Blaze's eyes rolled to the back of her head, never had Wolf acted this way before, and she was enjoying it to no end. Wolf moved from Blaze's mouth to take both of her nipples in his mouth, sinking his fangs into the sensitive flesh. The mare's body tensed up again as another climax overtook her body.

Wolf moved his hands to the mare's large flanks giving them a slightly painful squeeze-yet she still enjoyed the dense claws digging into her skin. Blaze wrapped her fingers into Wolf's snow-white hair as she started to lose energy and started to have troubles staying awake.

Ah, this...this is incredible. Blaze thought to herself as Wolf started to pull on her tail forcing her out of her thoughts with a moan. I-if I don't do anything...I'll...I'll pass out. Blaze focus all the mental capacity she had left to think of something-anything-to get the dog to reach a climax. Magic, I've got to use magic. Blaze concentrated on her magic to take Wolf's enlarged balls in her magical grip.

Her efforts were rewarded by a massive brutal roar from Wolf that actually scared her for a moment and an increase in the dog's thrusting. Wolf lifted Blaze from the table by her flanks, using her weight to push her further down on his shaft, and also used his strength to make her slam down around his shaft.

The mare wrapped her arms around Wolf's neck as the thrusting picked up with new vigor. Blaze bit her lip to keep herself from screaming from the mind-numbing pleasure, also she was able to keep her magic going. Wet slapping sounds echoed through the room every time the lover's hips met, and Blaze could already feel herself close to another climax, but the throbbing shaft deep inside of her told her that Wolf was finally getting close as well.

C-come on Blaze. Just. One. More. Push! Instead of letting Wolf do all the work, Blaze pushed her hips down in time with the upward thrusts, and managed to bite Wolf's shoulder bone. Another blood-curdling roar came from the dog as he stumbled from the mare's sudden return thrusts, managing to fall to his back on the table.

Blaze didn't waste anytime before she sat up on the shaft and started to bounce up and down with Wolf's help. Her large breasts started to flop in time with her bouncing, catching Wolf's hungry eyes, but he kept his hand firmly on the mare's wide hip.

Blaze place her hands on Wolf's chest to brace herself so she could keep riding his shaft. Wolf continued to thrust upwards into Blaze, the feeling of being deep within Blaze drove him mad, and the mare's clenching marehood pushed him further towards the edge.

Wolf moved one of his hands towards the mare's red tail and gave it a rough tug. The tail pulling forced Blaze to double over on top of Wolf, her face completely obscured by her mane, and her breasts were squish on top of Wolf's chest.

The two kept up the thrusting as Blaze forced herself to sit up a bit so she could be facing the dog. "Wolf...p-please, I w-want to have y-your cubs...please make me a mother," Blaze begged as a small tear roll down her face and onto Wolf's chest. As if by the command of the mare's wishes, Wolf was pushed over the edge, and his shaft fried loads of cum straight into Blaze's body which pushed her over as well.

Thick creamy seed filled the mare's tight walls, a large amount of it gushed around Wolf's shaft, but an even larger amount filled Blaze's womb. Wolf gave a few more thrusts, firing more streams of cum, and pushing some more out of Blaze's marehood. Blaze could feel her stomach expanding slightly to accommodate the large volume of cum that was fired into her.

Eventually the lover's climaxes ended with Blaze collapsing on top of Wolf. The pair laid on top of the table, breathing in heavily, and basking in the warmth of their love for one another. Blaze managed to wrap her hands around the back of Wolf's neck and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"T-thank you Wolf," She whispered before falling asleep on top of him. Wolf wrapped his arms around the mare's back, the effects of the potion slowly worn off, and so did the mating instincts. All that was left was the mare he loved and his duty to protect and care for her, now with a cub as well.

Shakily, Wolf started to sit up with Blaze still safely in his arms, and started to stand up. Blaze's legs-still behind him-wrapped around his waist and moaned in her sleep when some of his cum leaked out of her marehood. The mare tried to force it close tight, not wanting a single drop of the diamond dog's seed to go to waste.

Wolf started to make his way towards the entrance of the room and made the trip up the stairs but, when he came to the second door, he made a turn to a hidden hallway towards the lover's bedroom. Wolf used his shoulders to push open the bedroom door and made his way towards the fairly large bed.

Soon the two were wrapped in a hay-filled blanket and also each other's unyielding embraces. "Good night Blaze," He said, placing his chin over the top of her head, and closing his eyes as they started to take their usual green hue.

Blaze welcomed the embrace with her hands wrapping around Wolf's back. "Good night, my love," She whispered with a sleepy yawn before drifting off to sleep. While the mare laid asleep, Wolf opened his eyes, and glanced down towards his love.

I promise to protect you and our cub, I'll make High Moon safe for you Blaze, and nothing is going to stop me from doing so.

Deep Everfree forest

Quill and Cinder were making their way back to the open field where Spike had hopefully made camp for the night. They arrived on the clearance to find that Spike had went all out for making camp; large leaves, twigs, and vines were fused together to make a small tent. Two logs sat in front of a roaring fire and even a bird's nest for the pet phoenixes.

Quill stood wide eyed at the sight of her brother's work, for her-being his twin-it didn't take much before she figured out why everything was the way it was. Great, as usual he still blaming himself for everything, and is working himself into the dirt. Even if they were twins, Spike always had a higher sense of duty than Quill, and most of the time it was just her competitiveness that kept her going.

She looked around the campsite trying to find said workaholic twin so she could have a word with him. Her attention was drawn to the bushes when she heard them rustling, her worries were put to rest when she saw the purple scales of Spike's head, and also was put-off by him carrying a bushel full of berries.

"What happened to me getting the food," Quill questioned as she stepped towards the drake while Cinder and Peewee flew to the bird's nest.

Spike sat the bundle of berries down next to the fire and also took off his purple book-bag and took a seat on one of the logs. "What, I thought you could use help with the food, and I was carving berries. That's all," Spike answered with his nonchalant tone of voice that irritated Quill to no end.

Quill raise an angry eyebrow towards the over-relaxed dragon, a snort of black smoke seeped from her nose before she stepped in front of Spike. "Help? I didn't needed help with gathering fruit Spike, I need you to set up camp, and speaking of which; what in Luna's good name in all of this," She again questioned, motioning around to the whole camp with her arms.

Spike reeled back from his sister's pressing questions and the unexpected anger from the dragoness. "What? I just set up camp," He defended, only serving to anger the dragoness further.

Spike's twin just waved a dismissive hand towards him as she took of her green book-bag and tossed it to the side of the log as she took a seat on the log that was on the other side of the fire. "Camp? This isn't a camp Spike, this is a mock home, and we don't need all this food weighing us down. See you would know these things if you and Twilight would have came on Applejack's camping trips, but nooo you just had to be 're-organizing' the library." Quill placed her hands behind her head as she laid down on the log while Spike slowly came to an understanding of what she was talking about.

As he finally caught onto why his sister was so upset, for the second time today he became saddened at his own flats. "O-oh sorry."

Quill cut a glance through the fire to only see the sadness on Spike's face. "It's fine Spike," she started with a sigh. "We'll just have to get rid of the tents and stuff so we don't leave a trail and I'm sure that Peewee and Cinder could eat their ways through half of what you got." Quill's guess was rewarded by the two phoenixes screeching in happy unison. "Okay they can and I myself am hungry, so let's cook some of this food, and eat already."

Spike became slightly better after hearing Quill's words, he was still upset that it was mostly his fault that they are in the mess they are now, but never the less glad that she isn't really angry with him. "Alright, so what do you want anyways?"

Quill shrugged her as she thought of a response to the drake's question. "Well, I doubt that we'll be able to cook much without tools, and I'm not as good of a cook as you are," She said with a laugh that got Spike chuckling as well. "Think for now we could just eat some of this without cooking it?"

"Yeah sure, how bad-" Spike's answer was cut off by rustling from the bushes near the twins. Quill hopped to her feet while Spike fell off the log and landed on his head doing so but quickly stood up as if nothing has happened. Quill shot him a glare from his clumsiness as he rubbed the back of his throbbing head. The rustling in the bushes regained their attentions as Quill grabbed a stick from the ground and Spike doing the same thing.

Both dragons had intentions on protecting one another and they were going to do it with their very lives. A brief image of the two of them dressed in armor and capes of inverted colors, flashed through their heads, and gave them all the courage to confront whatever monstrous creature that lay in wait.

Quill caught the shine of the creature's eerie blue eyes as she slowly took a step towards the bushes. She looked over to her left and nodded to Spike, who returned the nod, and got ready to strike the creature at the same time. "1...2...3...CHARGE!" Both dragons leaped into the air, waving their sticks around as if they are a real lance and sword. Spike brought his 'weapon' in a downward swing as Quill swung her's to the side of the creature's head.

With their eyes closed, the twins actually thought that they had truly defeated their first monster, and had proved themselves worthy to call Everfree their home. In reality their swings were as harmless as a kitten's. "What are you two dragons doing out here all alone?" The pair opened their eye to see the creature was actually a pony, well pony-like anyways.

After a looming silence the pony stood to her full height, her dark-brown cloak somehow long enough to cover her body, which was as tall as princess Celestia, and she looked down towards the two with a flat gaze. "You two shouldn't be out here alone, you're coming with me." Before either dragon could react, the tall pony grabbed to two by the collars of their shirts, and started to drag them off into the woods.

Peewee and Cinder looked towards each other, both not sure what they should, or even could do against the pony. So they flew down to the twins book-bags and picked them up with some struggle. They eventually caught up to the twins as they were struggling against the pony's grip.

"We're sooo sorry," Quill said for the third time in a row.

The pony didn't react to the two struggling and just kept moving on the fainted path. "It's fine."

"Y-yeah, please don't eat us," Spike said, more frightened than his sister by the pony's sheer height and strength.

Again the pony didn't react to the dragons' struggles, only continuing on her path through the forest with the two phoenixes close behind. "I'm not going to eat you. I just don't want you to out here during the night." The twins ceased their struggling, for one that it wasn't going to get them anywhere, and two that if the pony meant no harm than they had nothing to fear. Right?

"W-where are you taking us," Spike asked as the pony came to a stop on top of a cliff that overlooked the place she called home for countless years. She let the two down to the ground as she continued to stare at the place.

Spike tried to crawl away but Quill grabbed him by the tail and dragged him back to the pony's side. The twins stood up and was awestruck by the sight of an ancient city ruins that extend out to the horizon.

The twins looked towards the mysterious pony, yet her gaze didn't move from the ancient ruins. "Welcome my young friends, welcome to Urbis Lunae, or as time has come to call it High Moon."

/ Ch. 2: Home/-/

High Moon Ch 2: New Home

The tall equine pushed opened the doors to the entrance to a part of the ruins she calls home with the twin dragons and phoenix pair following close behind. "So just why are two young twin dragons wondering this deep in Everfree forest," The pony asked while she led the twins through the halls.

Spike lowered his head in shame at the memory that it was his fault that the Canterlot library was destroyed. Quill saw the sadness on her brother's face and decided it was best for her to answer instead of him. "It's a long story," she answered, not sure if they should tell the pony everything before they knew more about her. "So what is this place exactly? It looks just like the old castle near here."

Cracks line the walls, rips and tears throughout most of the ancient tapestry, and spider-webs in every corner that the twins looked in. The floor was covered in dust and rubble from fallen walls. And the few windows that remained were broken in, letting any storm that roll around to speed up the process of the settlement's decay.

The pony caught the twins wandering gazes and she knew that they were taking in the poor conditions of the room. "Yes, I must apologize for the lack of upkeep. It's been a rather...eventful year for me. Come along hatchlings, I know of a better place where we may talk in better conditions." Spike and Quill were lead through the abandoned halls of the ruins as the pony went on explaining everything that she knew about this place.

"You see children, I've not lived here my entire life, so I do not know exactly what has happened to this settlement, but I do know that it does have something to do with the castle of the alicorn sisters." As Quill had already pointed out before, the halls of the ruins had a similar layout as the castle, and even had both princesses royal symbols hanging tattered tapestry. "By my guess this must have been the first capital city of Equestria before the Lunar Fall."

Quill raised an eyebrow while Spike continued to look depressed. "Lunar Fall, what like when Nightmare Moon was defeated by princess Celestia," Quill asked, having a feeling that she was right, but something told her that she wasn't completely correct.

The equine nodded her head towards the dragoness. "Almost my young friend. The Lunar Fall wasn't just the defeat of the nightmare, it was also the end of the Nightmare Rebellion, and it is also why this place still stands." The group reached a set of small doors at the end of the hall. The pony opened the doors allowing the dragons to enter first along with their phoenix pests and she closed it behind her.

Spike and Quill examined the room the equine led them to, from the bed, nightstands, and bookshelves it was quite easy to tell that they were led into a bed room of some sorts. "I hope you find everything to your liking, and I also hope you don't mind sharing this bed until I can get another room ready for one of you stay in."

Quill looked around the room as it was cleaner that the main entrance they came in and also the bed was far large enough to accommodate the both of them without trouble. "Nah, that's fine this will do alright Ms…" The dragoness trailed off, remembering that she, nor Spike knew of the pony's name.

"Lily Winds if you don't mind," Lily said, bowing her head slightly towards the two. "May I ask for your names as well," She asked wanting to know the names of the twins that will be staying with her for the night.

Quill straightened up, putting on a confident smile, and pointing her thumb to her still growing chest. "I'm Quill Dragul, and this is my pet phoenix, Cinder." The purple and black phoenix on Quill's shoulders let out a cry of acknowledgment. "And this is my twin brother, Spike Dragul along with his pet phoenix, Peewee." Spike's red and orange phoenix mimicked Cinder's cry of acknowledgment while Spike simply gazed towards Lily with a wary smile.

Lily nodded her head, taking note that Quill was the only one doing the talking. "I see, well I do bid you to a good night, and marry dreams. We'll talk more tomorrow morning, " She said, walking towards the door, but stopped right in the doorway. "If either of you need me I'll be just on the other side of the hall, just knock." The tall mare was out the door right after that, leaving the twins to wrap their heads around the sudden change of plans, and created more questions than answers.

Quill sighed while she hopped onto the bed and took off her book-bag. "Man, talk about a turn of events, huh Spike," She asked, pulling out an apple that she and Cinder picked from earlier. Quill went for a bite but stopped when she saw Spiked still standing in the same spot when they came in. "Spike, is something wrong?"

Spike continued to stare at the wall of the room, not even hearing his sister's call, or paying much attention to the phoenix on his shoulder. Quill placed the apple on the nightstand and hopped of the bed to walk over towards the unresponsive drake. "Spike, Spike." Quill waved her hands in front of the dragon yet still no response. Quill placed her hands on her hips as she tried to think of a sure-fire way to get the drake to response, and a devious plan soon came to mind. "Spike don't say anything if you want me to ask Rarity out."

The dragoness's plan succeed in getting Spike to take a step back from her with an angry stare. "What! No way Quill, she's mine!" Spike's brain caught up to what he just said as he covered his mouth in shame.

Quill smirked, not from her plan working better than she thought, but from finding out something that Spike has been hiding for three years now. "Ah, so you do still like her. Well you can have her, I'm tired of being her work-mule, and I'm more tired with fighting you about it," She said, waving a dismissive hand towards Spike before he could say anything else on the matter, and started to walk back towards the bed. Quill hopped back on the bed and took a bite out of the apple, upset that it didn't taste nowhere as good as the ones from Sweet Apple Archers. "So I'll ask again, what you think of our new 'friend?'"

"Huh, our new friend?" Quill flatly stared at Spike until he finally understood what she was asking. "Oh, you mean Ms. Winds?"

Quill dropped her head at Spike's empty-headedness, now's wasn't the time she wanted to deal with it, but she had to if anything was going to get done. "No I mean the Windaghost that haunts these walls."

"Wait, what?" You have got to be kidding.

"Yes I mean Ms. Wind, coal for brains. What do you think about her and this place in general?" Sometimes Quill would wonder what goes through Spike's head at times, the drake would always start drifting off into some deep thought about something that wasn't an immediate problem, and it irritated Quill be on measure.

"Well...I don't know, she okay I guess," Spike said, not really putting any thought into the question. Quill stared at the drake as the same heavy thought look overtook his face, she looked towards the phoenix pair, and only got curious stares in return.

"Spike is something the matter? You seem...distance and it doesn't work for you well." Quill waited a moment for Spike to respond, each passing second she became more worried for the sensitive drake. "Spi-"

"Quill, go home." The dragoness reed back from Spike's sudden firm tone of voice and also the assistive look in his eyes.

"Go home, why would I do that, and leave you here alone," Quill questioned, only seeing this fiery look in Spike's eyes when he was passionate about something important to him. Quill hopped off the bed yet again to stand in front of Spike with the same emerald-green fiery look in her eyes. "We're in this together Spike, its somewhat my fault as well."

"No Quill. This is my fault, I was the one to start looking in the draconem part of the library, and it was my fire breath that burnt the Canterlot library down." Even with all that being the truth, Quill still stared down the drake, and was unmoved-or unimpressed-with his guilty plea.

"Yeah? Well, let me tell you this just in case you stupid boy-brain had already forgotten. It was me who found that part of the library-which by the way, how did we miss in the first place?" Spike continued his stare but still shrugged his shoulders in response. "Anyways, it was my idea to check the library in Canterlot, and it was Discord that ruined everything."

"Which is why I'm telling you to go home, you didn't burn the library down, I did. It's not fair for you to have to runaway with me if it wasn't your fault." Quill let her head fall and her shoulders slump. Spike knew that he had finally gotten through the dragoness's stubborn attitude. "Quill go home, tell Twilight that I'll be okay, and tell princess that I'm sorry for everything. And be sure to tell Rarity-"

Spike was stopped by a sharp and vicious slap from Quill that had both phoenixes using their wings to shield themselves from the sound. Spike blink several times before any sense came back to him, he slowly turned his head while he was rubbing the stinging spot where Quill's hand touch for a mere second. He was glad that his face was made of scales or else Quill's claws would have left slash marks on his cheek. When he finally turned his head fully, he saw Quill with her head down, and drops of tears coming from her face.

"Quill wha-"

"You're an idiot," Quill shouted, scaring both Spike and the pair of phoenixes. A few silent moment befell the two as Quill was working on getting her breathing back to normal while Spike took a step back. "You're the world's biggest idiot, if you think I'm going to leave you here by yourself, and if you think that you can dump the hard part on me you got another thing coming."

Spike stared at his sister, with a look of confusion, and shock from her words along with the tears that very was seen on her face before. "Dump the hard part on you, Quill what are you talking about," Spike asked after he regain some composure.

"Don't play dumb with me Spike, you may be dumb sometimes, but I know you're smart enough to know what I'm talking about. You want me to face everyone while you get to hide away here, well let me tell you something, that's not going to happen." Quill turned her back towards her brother and walked back to the bed. "We're in this together, we both wanted to know more about dragons, and we both decided to go to Canterlot." She picked up the apple and finished it off in a few bites. "Whether you like it or not Spike, you're stuck with me as I'm stuck with you."

Quill incinerated the apple-core with her purple flame until it was nothing but ash and took off her green jacket, leaving her in nothing but her bright purple tank-top, and took a spot in the bed. "Now if you don't got anything else to say, I'm going to sleep. Night Spike." Quill soon closed her eyes and drifted off to much needed sleep after a full day of running to and from Canterlot.

Spike stood in the middle of the room, watching his sister drift off to sleep, and started to put together the piece of the puzzle in his head. She doesn't want to be alone...and I was trying to send her home. Quill is right, I am the world's biggest idiot. Spike started to take off his purple jack, which left him in his green t-shirt, and claimed in the bed with Quill. He rolled over to met the back of Quill's sharper head spines. "Hey Quill, you asleep yet?"

Through the darkness of the room, Spike saw the faint lines of black smoke coming from his sister. "I was, what is it Spike," Quill asked with a low growl, irritated that Spike woke her up knowing that she doesn't like it when he do so.

"Do you think everyone is worried about us?" The question had plague not only Spike's mind but also the mind of Quill. However the dragoness was able to push the thought way much better than Spike, but that didn't mean she wasn't thinking about it.

Quill turned around in the bed so she could face Spike. "Of course they're looking for us. If Discord's words hold any truth, than the whole Solar guard is looking for us, but I doubt that they'll find us here." The twin dragons didn't know which part of Everfree they ran into, which meant neither will Twilight or the others.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, but we should at least tell them that we're alright." Spike hated to think about the fearful look on Twilight's face as they were away from home. The last time they ran away Twilight looked like she was scared half to death, not just cause of the dragon that they ran into, but because they abandoned her.

"No Spike, we can't give them a way to find us. So no letters okay," Quill commanded, knowing the drake's thinking. "Now go to sleep, we have a full day ahead of us tomorrow, and I'm sure that Ms. Winds have a lot of questions for us as well as we do for her." Quill turned around again to go back to sleep as Spike did the same thing.

"Night, Quill."

"Night, Spike. Good night you two," Quill called out to the pair of phoenixes, who had already went to sleep a few moments ago.

As the twins rested in their room, Lily remained awake through the cracks of the rising sun, and was searching through the archives for a particular book. Her long slender fingers danced on the spines of the dusty ancient tomes, eyes searching through the ancient equine language of year's past.

Her search came to a stop when she found the tome she was looking for as she carefully removed it from the shelf, as not to further the book's decay. She walked over to a small desk that Wolf was so graciously made for her in exchange for the assist when Blaze wanted to find something in the archives along with any other structures she needed build. She simply placed the book on the desk, leaving it for tomorrow's study, and walking out of the room that she turned into a sort of private study.

Before reaching her room, she carefully opened the door to the twins' room, and a soft smile formed on her face glad to see the two peacefully enjoying Luna's dream-world. She gently shut the door and walked into her room to call it a night-well rather day, since the sun was almost out.

Meanwhile in Canterlot

Back in Canterlot, Twilight along with the other elements of harmony were informed of the events that transpired during the late afternoon. When the news reached Celestia's ears, she sent out a band of Solar guards to locate the twins, and bring them back unharmed. However the search through the expansive forest turned up with nothing and the news wasn't taken well by Twilight.

"What do you mean you CAN'T find them," The enraged alicorn questioned the shaking earth-pony guard in front of her.

"P-princess I'm sorry, but at this rate-if they wanted to-they could have already set foot in the Dragon Empire." Visible lines of smoke seeped from Twilight's body as the anger inside of her started to raise at a destructive pace.

"Well why aren't-"

"Private Stronghold," Everyone's attention was drawn to a large dark-blue diamond dog as he walked in the throne room, wearing his trademark black-shorts, and black work gloves on his hand that flashed the celestial symbol on them. "You're dismissed, head back to the barracks, and don't come out until I give you permission to do so. Is that clear?"

Stronghold saluted his high-ranking officer, more than glad to follow his command if it meant getting away from Twilight's angered looks. The pony quickly left the room, keeping his gaze away from Twilight's as much as possible, and closed the door behind him.

The dog turned to the still angered alicorn, his flat look working on calming her down. "Princess, you know yelling at them while it looks like you're going to set them on fire, isn't the best way to talk to new recruits," He said as Twilight tried to take in slow breaths.

"Sargent Obsidian, what brings you here?" The dog-named Obsidian-turned to princess Celestia as she was musing over the lumps of information that flooded her mind.

Obsidian bowed towards the princess respectively before stating his reasons for entering the throne-room. "Princess, if I may speak out of respect, but I think you should end the search for the twin dragons." Everypony in the room looked over to Obsidian, he felt the room's collected mixture of shock and rage towards what he just said, but he remained unmoving.

"Oh my, that is a heavy request. Well, may I be so bold to ask why you would think that is a good idea," Celestia asked, she always trusted the dog's insight, but to end the search for the twins and leave them in Everfree was something she was hesitant to do.

"Princess, everypony, I know that the twins mean a lot to you, but there's something you all must realize." Obsidian paused for a moment, knowing he was going to catch hell in the face, but there was no turning back now. "The twins, they aren't going to come back because we find them, and if anything our searching may push them further away." The elements were wide-eyed by what the dog said while Celestia herself appeared to be unnerved by the statement, but too she was shocked by his claims.

"What led you to this conclusion," She asked, wanted to see the dog's thinking before make any decisions.

"Princess, I mean no harm, but I speak from experience. I ran from home at a younger age than the two, not once had I thought about going back until the second month when home-sickness really kicks in," Obsidian answered, using his own life as an example. "Also I do think that they can make it out there."

"What," The elements shouted at the dog in unison.

"But there's scary monsters in Everfree," Fluttershy said, shaking from the thought of being in Everfree surrounded by creature that could eat her alive.

"Yeah what do you expect them to eat," Applejack questioned, knowing that there's a lot of fruit in Everfree that's not healthy to eat.

"And you expect us to leave in Everfree forest all alone," Rainbow Dash questioned, placing her head against Obsidian's, and glaring into his flat silver eyes. She felt a tug on her tail and looked back to see Rarity with a disapproving look on her face. Rainbow back away from the dog, only to let Rarity to take her spot.

"What about their safety, hm," She questioned with a disapproving tone.

Obsidian was going to answer the girls questions when Pinkie Pie popped up from underneath him. "Yeah what everypony said." Obsidian stared at the party-pony with a wary look before looking towards Celestia.

The princess knew what Obsidian's look was for and nodded her head. "Okay, in order: They are dragons they can breath fire. From my chats with princess Celestia, I know that Quill can tell which fruits they can eat, also they're dragons so they can eat meat. They're not alone they have each other along with two phoenixes. Does that cover everything?"

The girls thought about all that Obsidian said and realized that he had a point. "Look everypony, I know it's hard to let them go, but this was going to happen one day or another."

"How do you know," Twilight asked, keeping her head low during Obsidian's explanation. "H-how do you know that they'll make it?"

Obsidian looked towards the darkened expression on Twilight's face, he knew that it was the look of a mother losing their children to the world, and he knew it was the same one his mother had when he left home. "I know because they have something I didn't when I left home."

"And what's that?"

"Each other," Obsidian answered, getting a reaction out of Twilight as she slowly raised her head. "Princess, there's one thing I regretted when I left home, and that was leaving my brother all alone. But after seeing how he turned out, I wouldn't change it for anything, but still." Obsidian turned towards Celestia, again he knew that he was going to catch hell, but he needed to get his point across. "It was bound to happen one day, as I've said they're dragons living in a land ruled by ponies, of which know little about dragons, or is trying to hide something from them," He finished, casting a glance back towards Twilight, who failed to meet his. "Wouldn't work, which is why I'm requesting a hold on the search."

Celestia mushed over Obsidian's proposal, it made sense, but she didn't want to risk the twins get themselves hurt or worse. "I'm sorry Sargent Obsidian, the search for them will continue until we get reason to cease, but if we can not find them within a week's time, or if they refuse to come back then I'll consider your proposal."

Obsidian bowed his head in acknowledgement towards Celestia's decision. "Very well, than I'll have my team out on the search of east Everfree," He said as he started to make his leave but was stopped by Celestia raising her hand. "Yes princess?"

"Obsidian, you said that home-sickness will hit them in two full months, but after that how long does it last," Celestia asked, curious about the topic.

"Princess, it doesn't go away. You can only find something to help cope with it, for me that was my marefriend in Blatimare, but I have no idea what they will find out there." Obsidian raised his head towards the ceiling, he knew that it'll be hard for both the elements and the twins to cope with the change in events, but one day or another life changes for better or worse. "Now if you excuse me, I have a team to get ready, and a forest go comb through." Obsidian left out of the room after that, leaving the mare's to think about what he said.

Twilight looked towards Celestia, the same look of thought on her face that she seen before during other matters of high importance. "Princess, you not really thinking about what he said are you?"

"I don't know Twilight. Truthfully, if anyone knows what the two are going through it'll be Obsidian, but I'm not willing to give up just yet." Celestia stood up from her throne and started to walk down the steps. "Now I think all of you should go get some rest, tomorrow will be just as long as today, and I don't want any of you to go into Everfree." The elements looked towards Celestia, confused that they aren't allowed to help look for Spike or Quill, but nodded their heads.

Celestia bided the two guards standing at the door to escort the elements to guest rooms for the night while she finished up some last minute work. When the doors closed, Celestia's warm smile fell into a dark frown as she turned back to the throne. Her horn started to glow a vibrant gold and the throne started to shift to the side, revealing a winding staircase.

She started down the staircase, the only light was the one from her horn as she descended onward into the darkness. The throne above her moved back into its original spot, sealing her within the hidden chamber, but she didn't react to the throne's movement only continuing the trip downwards.

Soon she came to a large underground study, yet the room only accommodates a single bookcase, and and desk. Celestia walked over to the bookcase, furiously scanning over the ancient tomes of a time before Nightmare Moon, and a time long before the elements of harmony.

Celestia picked the book up with her magic and placed it on the table. "I wish this time would not come, at least not this early, but there is no time for me to dwell on such wishes." She waved a hand over the top of the book, making it glow in a bright golden light before it started to flip open. Oh mother, give me strength for what I am about to do.

High Moon valley; The next morning

Celestia's bright sunlight flowed through the cracks of Wolf's and Blaze's temple home, forcing Wolf out of the peaceful realm of dreams to face the day ahead of him. He started to get out of the bed when Blaze stopped him by squeezing tightly around his back. "Blaze, let me go, I've got to see about those new creatures here." The mare didn't release her grip, instead it tightened up.

Wolf sighed, sometime Blaze had her moments where she acted like a stubborn spoiled filly, but he still had a job to get done. Wolf reached down to Blaze's flanks and give them a pinch with his claws, forcing her to wiggle away from him, and allowing him to get out of the bed.

Blaze whimpered in disapproval from the dog's absents in the bed next to her but she soon allowed him to leave. Wolf walked over to a wardrobe that he fashioned out of a fallen oak tree and picked out a pair black stained sorts along with his brown cloak. He walked over to the mare and placed a kiss on her cheek. "I'll be back in a little while, stay here, and be good alright?"

Blaze rolled over to her stomach and cracked a sleepy eye towards Wolf. "Mmm...fine," She said, not feeling the best this early in the morning. Wolf placed another kiss on the top of her head, making her purr slightly in response.

"The both of you stay safe," Wolf said, talking not only to Blaze, but also to their unborn cub as well. A warm peaceful smile stretched across Blaze's lips, the memories of the potion working better than she could have hoped, and thoughts of caring for a child of her own filled her head even overcoming the sickness that she was feeling.

"Be safe Wolf," The mare said with a brightened smile towards Wolf. "Please make it back to us." Wolf nodded towards the mare and walked out the room. He quickly made his way back to Blaze's work area and when the solid black door came up in sight, he raised his hands, and reviled the black and silver braces with the fire-stones still charged with Blaze's magic.

The door responded by glowing a bright crimson red and sliding to the side. Wolf walked into the mare's work area and headed straight for the tunnel entrance but not before grabbing a flint-stone touch. As with most of the doors in the temple, the tunnel's entrance was sealed off by a rounder slab of stone that Blaze revealed to the dog as 'Arcane-rock.'

Wolf raised the braces to the door as it responded the same way as the last one and rolled to the side. He started to walk in the tunnel, running the flint of the touch against the fire-stone, and activate the magic in the fire-stone to light the touch in a dull-yet still usable-red glow.

He walked through the tunnels, following the direction where the new creatures were last felt, which was in the ruins of the settlement at the end of the tunnel. Wolf thought about what kind of creatures could suppress their predatory presents and all thought when towards another sentient being in the valley.

"I better check on Lily, Blaze seems to be fund of her, and she has been useful to keep around," He said out loud, knowing that Blaze freely talks to the mare about her species, and about their magic. This thought got him thinking on the matter himself. The first time they've met the equine she revealed herself to be a relative of the changeling race known as a flutterpony.

Wolf was special of the mare's claims but when she removed her own cloak revealed her body to the two, Wolf and Blaze were both given a surprise to find that the mare wasn't lying about her race.

However the mare's explanation of her magic was oddly vague for him. Lily claimed that she uses her butterfly-like wings to create rapid beats of magical current that's naturally flowing in the air to generate shields and magical blasts of energy. Wolf didn't know much about magic or anything related to the topic, what he did know was her wings had to serve a higher purpose than just acting as a unicorn's horn, but he'll never know nor does he want to.

Frankly all he wanted to do for the day was check on Lily, those new creatures, and find some food to add to the smoke-chamber. Wolf spotted the bright sunlight shining at the end of the tunnel as he picked up his pace to reach it.

Once he was on the other side, Wolf was greeted by the familiar sight of the city ruins stretching far out to the rising sun in the horizon. Somehow the falling rubble looked magnificent under the rising sun, images of his cub running through the barren streets and walkways filled his heart with a warmth that rival the same sun that's giving the city's its appearance, but before he would allow any child of his to play within the city walls he had to make sure this part of Everfree stays safe for his family.

Wolf started down a dirt path, the gentle winds of the morning air tickled against his fur as he came up to a small lake the formed from Everfree's periodic downpour. He placed the torch in the lake to put out the fire and to have it close by the tunnel for when he heads back to Blaze. When he was sure that the fire was completely out, Wolf pulled the torch out of the water, and sat it against a tree to dry off.

He started to make his way towards the ruins entrance, the size of the ancient stone doors always caught his attention. Wolf could tell by the carvings and how long the wall were able to hold up without any to look after them for a thousand years, that the settlers put an extreme amount of effort in building the settlement. Wolf pushed opened the stone doors, entering the parlor room of the-what he believed to be-mansion that the alicorn sisters used as a second castle.

Wolf looked around the empty parlor room, where piece of glass broken from the window the rays from the sun would fill in its place, and bits and piece of the wall crumbled to the ground gathering on the ground with the floor's other collection. "Yeah, she definitely trying to fix this place up."

"Actually I am." Wolf turned his head down towards the hallway to see the tall equine walking down the hall, wearing her oddly made two piece red dress that showed off her stomach, and along with her red silk braces. As she walked closer to Wolf, both her white mane and tail along with her translucent butterfly wings started to shimmer from the little sunlight that leaked in the room. "What brings you here Wolf, I haven't done anything to upset you I hope," Lily said her tone devoid of emotions but still carried genuine concern.

"No, you haven't yet, but I wanted to come tell you that two new-possibly sentient-creatures entered the valley." For a brief moment, Lily flinched from the dog's knowledge, but regained composure before he could catch it. She had a feeling Wolf sensed the twin's presents in Everfree before her magic could hide them, Lily don't want to think what Wolf will do if he finds two dragons within his territory. "I came to tell you before combing over the valley to see if they're still around, also there's something we need to discuss concerning these ruins. Lily are you listening?"

"Yes, yes I'm listening," Lily said snapping out of her thoughts. "I doubt whatever creature you are sensing wouldn't be here in the ruins. So it best if you started your search somewhere else for the moment and we can talk later I'm-" A loud crashing sound erupted from the hallway followed by the sounds of a female yelling.

Wolf looked towards Lily with inflamed stare. "Lily, who else is here with you, and don't lie to me," He commanded with a low growl, blood-curdling venom lacing each word. Lily looked away from the dog's menacing stares, each time she would look back to him, the darker the expression got. "Answer me, Winds."

"Fine," Lily said with a sigh, giving up on trying to think of a way to fool the dog. "Follow me." The pony started to lead Wolf into the hallway towards the door where the shouting was coming from. Lily hesitantly reached out to the door knob to turned it, revealing Wolf to the valley's new dragons.

Quill looked towards the door while she had Spike in a headlock on the floor, she blushed when she saw how beautiful Lily's body was without the dusty cloak covering it up, and got off of Spike to greet her new friend. "Ms. Winds go-" That's when she saw the angered look on Wolf's face, which made her flinch back.

Spike soon got up from the ground, only to met the dark stone face of Wolf. "Dragons, you were trying to hide dragons from me," Wolf questioned Lily, who had the look of sorrow on her face. "Lily you better have a good fucking reason for doing this."

The mare was silent for a moment before an idea shined brightly through the dark sorrow. "Yes, yes I do in fact." Lily step in front of the twin dragons, who still didn't have a single idea what was going on. "I found these two just outside of the valley and thought that they could be useful." Quill right eye started to flinch and she was going to speak up when Spike covered her mouth with his hand. Lily ignored the two's fighting to continue defending them. "Think about it Wolf, you're always going on about how there's so much work to get done, and now you have not one but two twin dragons at your disposal."

The boiling anger in Wolf started to ease over the thought of having a pair of dragons helping out. "Alright, I see you're point, but how do I know that they can be useful? The last thing I need is for me to be taking care of a pair of dragons that can't fend for themselves." One of Wolf's rules of his territory was that if any was going to call the ruins that they were going to pull their own weight and in return of him protecting them from the dangerous of Everfree, they were to make themselves useful to him in anyway.

"I assure you that they are, if you turn your attention towards their pet phoenixes, you'll see that they are highly trained." Lily motioned her hand towards the small desk in the room where the phoenix pair were perched on the back of the chair.

Wolf looked over the phoenixes, they were young, younger than their owners, but they looked trained enough. Let's test that. Wolf moved his hand out from behind his cloak, revealing the fire-stone on his arm-brace. The phoenixes immediately responded to the stones by flying over to Wolf and landing on his arm-brace. Spike and Quill stared at Wolf wide eyed, and not believing that he was able to get the birds to come to him without trying.

"Fire-birds, huh? Look healthy enough and quick to respond," Wolf noticed, motioning his hand towards the chair, which the pair flew back to without a hesitant taught, and preached back on the chair. "What else they got?"

Lily looked back to the twins as Quill sat on top of Spike, both of which were looking straight at Wolf. The mare nodded to Quill and motioned towards her book-bag. She soon got the hint and got off of Spike to grab her book-bag that was filled with fruits. Lily reached into the bag and pulled out the reddest apple she saw and took a bite.

"As you can see, they're good scavengers, not the best but with time," Lily urged on, hoping that it would be enough to get Wolf to agree with the twins stay.

"Animal-tamers and scavengers, whoopdedoo. I don't need either of those things, I already have it covered, but what I do need is hunters. Ones that can help protect this land, not a pair of hatchlings and their pets." Lily looked towards the twins for a moment, a feeling of worry, and concern for their well being filled her heart.

When she turned back around towards Wolf, there was only one thing that she could say to get them to be able to stay, but she hoped it wouldn't get them hurt. "They can, just yesterday they charged at me with nothing, but sticks." Wolf remained unmoved but Lily saw that he was at least thinking about it. All she needed to do was give one more push and they'll be set. "They shown that they have some skill, with time, and a little training I'm sure that they will prove to be vastly useful."

Wolf looked passed Lily to stare into the eyes of the twin dragons. Let's give them their first test. He stepped closer to them to see what kind of reaction he'll get from them. Spike flinched a little at first but regain most of his-sort of-while Quill remained unmoving, even going as bold to take a step towards Wolf, and looked him dead in the eyes.

"What's your names hatchlings," Wolf questioned, not breaking the stare on Quill. "You got mouths, so speak up."

"I'm Quill Dragul, and the purple cool-looking phoenix over there is Cinder," The dragoness said with a cocky confidence that rivaled Rainbow Dash's. Wolf stared in the dragon's emerald eyes for a longer moment of time to find any weakness in her. When none came, Wolf nodded the dragoness passed his first test will flying colors, and so he refocused his attention towards Spike.

"What about you hatchling, you got a name as well?" Spike stole a glance towards Quill, who just gave him a reassuring nod.

"I-I'm Spike Dragul, and the other phoenix is mine, Peewee," The drake said with less esteem and self-confidence than Quill. Wolf stared into Spike's eyes, a storm of doubt, fear, worry, and dread freely flowed from the quivering drake's eyes. One out of two huh?

"Well the two of you, my name is Wolf, and the ruins you're in right now is part of my territory. Which means if you want to continue sleeping on a bed and not the dirt floor and want a ceiling-mostly-over your heads than from here onward, you'll listen to me, and do anything I ask. Clear?"

Quill placed her hand over her head in a mock salute. "Crystal." Wolf smiled towards the dragoness and turned towards her drake twin.

"Well, are we at an understanding?"

"Y-yeah," Spike said, trying to mimic the salute, but it was far weaker than Quill's. The smile on Wolf's face drop a little, irked that the male dragon seems far weaker than his sister, but choose not to dwell on it much.

"Good, you two get ready outside there is someone else I want you to met before we do anything else. Lily, a word with you," Wolf said, leading the flutterpony out the twin's room, and into her adjacent bedroom. Lily closed the door behind her and patience awaited for Wolf to speak. The dog took in a deep breath and let out a small growl. "You irritate the hell out of me sometimes you know that?"

Lily heard the anger in Wolf's voice but she still didn't regret her choices. "Wolf, they're just hatchlings. You couldn't expect me to let them roam around lost, could you?" Wolf closed his eyes, breathing in another breath of air, and letting out a smaller growl than before.

"No. No I suppose not, still doesn't change the fact that you tried to hide them from me, but I'll overlook it if you do me a favor." Lily flashed a quick smile, more than glad to do anything to keep the dragons within the relatively safety of the city walls.

"Name it."

"There will be a time, a time that I'll need your help the most, and on that day I need you there," Wolf said with a hint of dread and happiness. "Can you do that for me, Lily?"

The mare blinked several times, not once over the near eight years of knowing him has he sounded like that, and it freighted the mare a little. "Sure Wolf, anything I can do to help." The dog nodded his head as he turned around to the mare.

"Also you'll be the one to care for them." Wolf started to walk back to the door passed Lily but stopped when he opened it. "Oh and from now on, I'll be helping you with restoring parts of this ruins." Lily smiled, she didn't know exactly where the dog's sudden interest came from, but glad to have his help none the less. "Come on, I don't want to leave those two alone for too long."

Lily turned to follow Wolf out the door, enjoyed that the twins now had a place to stay, and more happy if the learned to call High Moon valley their home. /-/  
/ Ch. 3: Choices/-/

High Moon Ch. 3:  
Choices

"Alright team, pack up, and let's head back." Deep within Everfree forest, Obsidian and his team were just now getting ready to head back to Canterlot as the sun rose above their heads. The dog's small team of engineers, mechanics, and a few low-ranking soldiers all have spent a total consecutive sixteen hours in search for the missing twin dragons. Yet Lady Fortune wasn't on their, nor the other teams of Solar guards' sides as their strenuous searching came up with nothing, and some of the other guards were starting to lose hope in the matter.

Obsidian walked over to a pegasus light-blue mare as she start to have trouble standing on her feet, the long exhausting day of flying about the ground looking for any signs of the dragons drain her of most-if not all-of her energy, and Obsidian could see it in the mare's eyes. "Private Windworks, is everyone accounted for?" Windworks looked up towards Obsidian and forced her body into a salute.

"Y-yes sir, everyone is…" Windworks collapsed in Obsidian's arms from the long day of combing through Everfree forest. The dog sighed, knowing that the rest of his team wasn't in any better shape than the unconscious mare. A quick glance around along with a quicker headcount told Obsidian that they were all ready to head back.

"Okay team, grab a shoulder to lean on, and let's head to the extraction site." Obsidian placed Windworks on his back so he could easily carry the mare's lightweight while the rest of the team started to either lean on each other or offered to carry one another to the extraction site.

While the team followed the path back, the cooling winds of the late morning air did help alive some of the stress on their bodies, but Obsidian was too busy thinking about the twin dragons and the mass search for them.

One of the other members of his team caught the look on his face and started to pull against the stallion soldier to move closer to the dog. "Yo boss-dog is everything alright," The mare-known as Gizmo-asked Obsidian, breaking him out of his thoughts.

Obsidian looked over to the lime-green unicorn mare that he's come to trusts as his second in command. "Yeah everything is fine, just think about a few things." Gizmo continued to stare at Obsidian, she knew him long enough to know when he's thinking about something important.

"Care to share? It may help you figure out the problem, that's what I do," Gizmo said with a cocky grin that got Obsidian laughing.

"Heh, yeah you do don't you? Have been since we've met." The close friends started to laugh at Obsidian's poor excuse of a joke, it serving to lighten the mood of their wary day. "Alright, I'll humor you," Obsidian started as he kept his gaze forwards. "Its about the twins and the way Celestia is treating the matter." Gizmo raised an eyebrow toward the dog but kept quiet to allow him to continue. "I've heard of other times they ran away after something goes wrong, also how it was only the elements to go looking for them, but this seems different. Its like she has a higher purpose for them and doesn't want them out of her sight."

Much of that Gizmo and the rest of the-conscious-team can agree with, over the last few years the dragons have been know the run away from the Golden Oak's library over just about anything that completely upset either one. The biggest case was when they last got into an argument over Rarity again and from the reports a few words were exchanged between them, forcing Spike to run away in.

A few days later he was found in Dodge Junction, working as a cherry framer under the alias of Spikcardo, and it would have worked if it wasn't for an off-duty Solar guard go to the town to visit his marefriend recognizing him.

"Now she has nearly the entire royal guard looking for them, when we should be looking for Discord." As head of the engineering department, Obsidian was given a debriefing about the situation that accord the day before. In the debriefing, the stallion guard that last saw the twins said that he heard Discord's voice behind the doors as well as the twins' shouting. "I don't think we should be letting him run around all willy-nilly like he most likely is."

Gizmo nodded her head, as usual Obsidian had a point, and she agreed with the dog. "I hear ya boss-dog, but what can you do? I mean Celestia practically raised them herself, it must be hard for a mother not to know where her children are," The mare reasoned, the thought gave her an urge to give her own parents a much needed phone-call just to say hi and catch up with them.

"As true as that is, any mother knows when to let their child go, and allow them to face the world on their own. There's caring for them, then there's being over-protective." The whole team thought on what Obsidian was saying, none of them wanted to question the princess, but his words did hold a ping of truth to them. Some of the could even relate to his words as they all had made the same choices.

"So boss-dog, which one do you think this is," Gizmo asked, breaking the collected thinking of the small team.

Obsidian didn't answer right away, taking his time to think on everything that's happened over the last twenty-four hours, and thinking back to the sort few month-even years-after he left his old den home. "This, this isn't overprotectiveness, but it's not out of pure concern. I'm telling you guys, Celestia has plans, and she doesn't want anything to happen to those two."

"Or maybe you're overthinking this," The earth-pony stallion helping Gizmo walk-known as Zeal Defiance-spoke up. "I mean, come on Sargent. We're talking about Celestia, the one that's protected Equestria for generations, and the one who defended Nightmare Moon ending the Nightmare Rebellion. I'm sure-just like any other mother-she just wants her kids home and safe."

"Defeated is a relative word don't you think, last time I've checked princess Nightmare and Luna are still running the Lunar Republics, but you're right. I could just be over thinking things, Celestia may actually have other plans for them, or-"

"Or you could be over thinking things as you usually do." The team turned their head down the path to a clearing in the forest to see an air transport, not only that but a dark-red unicorn mare fully dressed in a military armor even though her mission was just a search and rescue; Major Endive, but Obsidian calls her Major E. to mess with the mare. "Sargent Obsidian, yet again questioning the actions of the royal crown I see," Endive said, flatly staring at the dog as his team struggled to get in the transport.

"You should know me by now Major E, I question everything in this world, and last I've checked princess Celestia is in this world," Obsidian retorted, placing Windworks in the transport, and turning to face his superior. "I take it that your team is taking over for mine's?"

"Yes, and where you failed, we will success." Obsidian flatly stared at the mare and let out a quick snort of laughter. "I don't see what's so funny with failure mutt," Endive said, displeased with Obsidian's lay-back out look on the situation.

"Good luck, we've covered this entire side of the forest, and even doubled back over several times. If they were here, we would have found them by now, but you know Lady Fortune shines on those that don't deserve it sometimes." Endive gritted her teeth in annoyance towards the dog but Obsidian wasn't fearful of the high-ranking unicorn. "Also try not getting anyone lost or worse, we ran into several packs of timberwolves and other creatures in there, and I hate to see you come back with less than what you started with."

"Watch your tongue mutt. As far as I'm concerned, you and your team of slackers have no right to speak." A light-brown pegasus mare gritted her teeth at the Major's words and one other member of the team had to hold her back from lashing out to the other mare.

Obsidian looked back to the mare, his piercing silver eyes was able to get the mare to calm down enough for him to continue. "Look Major E, as far as I'm concerned, you will have just as much trouble finding them as we did, and even if you did find them what are you going to do? They ran of their own accord, so I doubt that they'll come back because you point a sword at their necks."

Endive snorted in response to the dog's claims as she turned around facing the forest. "Only time will tell that, Sargent." She walked off the transport's platform, crashing the grass underneath her feet as she started to yell orders to her team.

Obsidian continued to watch as the mare's team quickly disappeared into the forest. Endive herself was going to start her own search, when she stop and turned around to lock eyes with Obsidian. The dog's team watched as he and Endive continued the staring match before Gizmo decided to break in. "Sargent?"

Obsidian turned around and started to walk to the front of the transport. "Get us in the air, we're heading home," He order to the pilots of the transport. They quickly started launch sequences to take the exhausted team back to Canterlot. I'm over thinking things huh? Watch something going to happen, I can just feel it in the air.

High Moon valley

Wolf led the twins along with Lily through the tunnels connecting the city ruins to the temple that he uses as a home. During the walk the twins were going over their old lives with the ponies in Ponyville, the crazy adventures, and the events leading up to why they were caught in the forest by themselves, however Quill was the main one doing the talking while Spike continued to hang his head low to the ground. "I see, so now you two are running from the sun-bringer," Wolf said after Quill finished the short version of the story.

"Yeah, all we wanted to do was learn more about dragons, but Twilight wouldn't tell us anything." Just thinking about how Twilight would push their questions aside as mere legends, irritated Quill to no end, and each time she looked back on it Twilight did always get defensive when they would call her out about it. "I mean, information on dragons can't be that scarce right? It's not all legends and myths right?"

"Actually Quill your right," Lily said, getting the dragons to turn their attentions towards her. "Dragons themselves may not frequently call Equestria their home, some even going out of their way to remove this land from their lives, but at this day and age it isn't that hard to know about dragons."

"See, that's what we've been saying this entire time, but Twilight just says dragons keep to themselves too much for anyone to learn anything about them." Wolf and Lily simultaneously stopped in the tunnel, they gave each other a quick glance before turning back to the twins. "What, was it something I'd said?"

The elder two shared another quick glance at each other before continuing the trip through the tunnel. "Quill, that's not relatively true. In fact most dragons welcome other with open arms, if you have something they want, and you don't enter their cave." Quill stared at the flutterpony with wide eyes, even Spike snapped out of his sadness to stare at the mare. "In fact, there's another dragon not too far from here, but he doesn't like others within his territory without his permission."

"I've been trying to get him to ease up a bit, but the sack of scales is just too stubborn to listen to reason," Wolf added in, furthering the wander in the twins' eyes.

"Really, wait. Is he a full grown dragon, with green scales, and red spines," Quill asked, remembering the first time she and Spike ran away from home, and the first time they've met a full grown dragon up close.

Wolf raised an eyebrow towards Quill, surprised that she got the dragon's depiction right on spot. "Yeah that's him alright, why you've met him?"

"You can say that," Quill answered, the memory of running into the massive dragon freighted her a little. "So you guys have been her for eight years?"

Lily nodded her head, a look of remorse overcame her face as she thought a back to the day she was lost in a storm. "Yes, I was separated from my hive by a storm some time ago, and I found these ruins to be a replacement home." She was sadden to not be able to see her hive members any more but there's wasn't much she could do. "I would have tried looking for them if it wasn't for my hive-mind giving out on me."

Both dragons looked towards the equine with empathy towards her sorrow, truefully they couldn't understand how it feels to be removed from their family since they were hatched by Twilight and cared for by Celestia, but they did have times where they would wander what it would be like to know their real parents.

"I just wanted my own territory," Wolf started, breaking through the dreading silence that overtook the caves. "Of course, my reasons have changed over the years, but at the end of the day I'm just like any other diamond dog." Spike looked towards Wolf with a light bitterness after hearing that Lily was forced to call the ruins home while it was his choice to live there. However Quill looked at him in a different light, Wolf was just following his dreams, and so was she and Spike. So there was nothing wrong with his reasons to her.

The group came up towards the arcane-stone door to the temple. Wolf passed the torch to Lily as he walked closer towards the slab of stone and revealed the it to the fire-stone on his arm-braces. The door responded with a bright crimson glow that blinded Spike but captivated Quill. Once the glow was over, the door-slab moved aside allowing the group to enter the large room.

Spike and Quill looked around the large room, impressed by the size of it as it somewhat reminded them about Zecora's hut, but had a slightly different feel to it. Wolf placed the still lit torch back on its petal on the wall and started to make for the opened door while Lily stood back with the twins.

"Blaze, Blaze are you up? There's something I need to show you," Wolf called out to his mare from the opened door, gaining her attention as she started to make her way down the stairs. Wolf raised an eyebrow at the fact she was actually dressed in a loose top-cover covering most of her breasts but still showing off her stomach and some his baggy long pants, which she hand tied to her ankles to keep them from dragging on the floor. "Really?"

"What, I didn't think it was good to stay nude all day," Blaze answered, not sure why Wolf was shooting her a questioning gaze.

"Its not that, its that you kind of look like Lily now," Wolf joked, seeing the similarity between the mare's outfits. Blaze blushed from the dog's teasing as she crossed her arms and stuck out her bottom lip to pout like a little filly. "Oh don't be like that, you look great in it. Now come on there something I've got to so you," Wolf said, taking Blaze's hand and leading her down the stairs into the large room.

Blaze was going to question why Wolf was acting weird when she saw the two new faces of the twins along with their pet phoenixes. Spike and Quill intensely blushed when they saw Blaze's loose clothing and her ample chest-size. "Blaze I would like you to met Quill and Spike Dragul, they're twins, and they are-"

"Dragons," Blaze finished for Wolf in a enthusiastic shout, running over to the two, and pushing their heads in the chest. Peewee and Cinder barely had time to flap away onto Wolf's shoulders before their owners' heads were buried deep in the joyful mare's chests. "Oh and they are so young too, this is great! I always wanted to met a dragon but Wolf would never let me go met the other one near here, but now I've got you two. Oh Wolfie please let them stay, please, please, please."

Lily placed a hand over her mouth to keep from breaking out in a fit of laughter at the mare's excitement and at the twins 'misfortune' while Wolf flatly stared at the mare. "Blaze, you're suffocating them," He said, knowing by now he shouldn't be surprise at how light-headed the mare could be sometimes.

Blaze blinked a couple of times, as if she didn't understood Wolf's words, but they soon made a connection inside of her head. "Oh whoops." She let the twins heads go, allowing them to pull their heads from the fluffy pillows, and take a huge breath of air. "Heh, sorry about that," Blaze apologize, feeling bad that she nearly suffocated the life out of them.

After a few more breaths, the twins were able to stand upright again, and both waved off the mare's worries. "It's alright," Both dragons said at the same time. They along with Blaze and Lily shared a quick laugh together while Wolf rolled his eyes.

Weirdest pack, ever. "Anyways, as I was saying," Wolf started, gaining the attention of his small pack. "These two will be staying with us until they decided on something else. Just like with Lily, anytime either I, or Blaze needs either of you to do something you do it. Understood?"

"Got ya," Quill said with the same salute from before.

"Same here," Spike said with a bit more energy from the first time, which was a good sign that he was warming up to Wolf.

"Good also Blaze, these two fire-birds are their pet phoenixes, Peewee." Wolf motioned towards the red and orange phoenix, who gave a loud screech in response. "And Cinder." Now Wolf motioned towards the other purple and black phoenix, who flared out her larger wings as her show of power. Wolf motioned his hand towards the twins and the birds followed his command, landing on the twins' shoulders, and starting to clean their wings.

"Wow, first twin dragons, and now a pair of fire-birds. Well I guess its time I introduced myself," Blaze started walking back over to Wolf and wrapping her arms around his body. "I'm Blaze Soul, also Wolf's marefriend. It's a pleasure to met you two, Spike, Quill."

"Same here Blaze, I promise that me, and my brother will do our best to help out in anyway we can," Quill said, liking the new living arrangements since it beats sleeping on the forest floor, and the thought of learning more about dragons from the three adults was a bonus as well.

Wolf nodded his head with a smile, enjoying how smooth everything was going. "Good, because I'm need some new hands with gathering meat, and two dragons should fit the bill," He said, getting the two to shoot wide-stares at him. "You do know how to hunt right?"

"N-no not really," Spike finally spoke up after being nearly silence for the entire time. "I manly cooked vegetables, fruits, and other stuff but I've never did anything with meat before." Wolf sighed a growl, thinking how could Spike's skill be useful for everyone.

"Yeah, I can't cook," Quill admitted much to Wolf's further annoyance. "But I've been camping before, and if dragons need to eat meat then I'm willing to learn how to hunt." Wolf looked over Quill's slender body, lean, slight muscle-tone, and a pair of growing wings on her back. All of these made her a much better hunter than Spike, who had everything else, but the wings or the willingness like his sister.

"Alright," Wolf started after figuring out the twins roles within the valley. "Spike you'll stay here and help Blaze with whatever she needs while Quill you're with me." Wolf removed himself from Blaze's grip, much to her displeasure, and started to walk towards the door. "You might want to leave your jacket behind, it'll just get in the way." Quill quickly followed Wolf's orders, taking her green jacket off, tossing it to Spike which covered his head, and followed Wolf out of the temple.

The two walked up the last set of stairs before Wolf closed the arcane-stone door with the fire-stone on the braces. "So what's first, a wild-boar, a manicorn, or maybe even a hyda," Quill asked stretching out her wings and ready to face any dangerous monsters Everfree had to offer for her.

Wolf was impressed with the young dragoness's excitement and energy. Lily was right, with time the twins will grow to be a big help around the temple and city ruins, but first Wolf need to teach Quill everything he knew about surviving in Everfree. And that first step was; "Rabbits."

Quill excitement faltered a bit from the dog's word, for a moment she thought that he was joking, but the flat look on his face easily told Quill that he wasn't joking. "Rabbits, like little, couldn't hurt a fly, rabbits."

"Yes, come on I know of a good spot for them," Wolf said, leading Quill away from the temple, and into the nearby brush. The two pushed passed the thick vegetation as they continued the journey to the mass rabbit burrow that Wolf uses to catch the quick meals.

Quill looked to her left at Wolf, questioning why of all animals he could have picked for her first lesson in hunting he picked rabbits. The dog sensed the dragoness's questioning gaze and came to a stop in front of the burrow. "Now I know what you're thinking, rabbits seem like a waste of time, but they aren't," He said turning his head towards Quill's, gaining her attention before continuing. "Rabbit in fact are really fast, their first instinct is to run away at the first sign of danger, and their burrows are the first-and only-thing they think of."

The dragoness didn't have to be told that, having dealt with Angle and all of Fluttershy's 'animal friends' before, but as she watched the rabbits hopping around unaware of their presents on question shined over everything else in her mind. "Than what's the point of hunting them if its so much trouble," She asked, guessing that their wasn't much meat on any of the small forest-rabbits.

Wolf smiled towards the young dragon, he could already see her thinking like a real predator, and it won't be long before she can make decision on her own. "We all have to start somewhere, they're the safest things in this forest to hunt, and I don't want you got get hurt on your first day." Quill blushed from the gentle concerning sound of Wolf's voice, she didn't think that the diamond dog was capable of caring for others, but she should have know better if he had the same marefriend for eight years.

Quill looked away from Wolf's soft green eyes, she didn't want to seem weak in front of the commanding dog, and as soon as she was focused again she turned her head around. "Oh alright, so how is it done," She asked, ready to get to work.

Wolf smiled again and nodded to Quill. "Right, well the first step in hunting is picking out your targets, and finding the best way to approach them without getting yourself hurt. That's the name of the game Quill, you can't help out if you're hurt, and that's when you become a barren on the rest of us. Understand?"

"Yeah I got ya, get the meat, but don't do anything to get hurt," Quill said, making it into a motto that she knows she'll be using every time she hunts.

"Good, keep that mindset you'll need it for later," Wolf encouraged, conforming Quill's thoughts. "Now that you got the basic rule, the next step is to find which one will be the easiest for us to grab." The two refocused their attention to the herd of rabbits still hopping around. Quill's untrained eye scanned over the small clearing and over all of the rabbits in it, unable to keep an eye on just on, but Wolf's more seasoned eyes examined the herd. "Alright, see the one near the tree to the far left?"

Quill followed Wolf's directions and looked over to the area he pointed out, it took her a moment, but she spotted a fairly large rabbit alone and far away from any burrows. "Yeah, what makes him special," Quill asked, only seeing the size difference from the others.

"That one is special because its a elder male, far from his time of mating, and has no further use for the herd or nature itself. So it's our job as predators to make room for the next generation," Wolf explained, moving closer towards the lone rabbit, and motioning for Quill to follow. "Alright," He started once they was in position. "Now after you found you're target, next is the approach. Since this is just a herd of rabbits this is easy but it always won't for every time, keep that well in mind."

Quill nodded her head, making sure to pay close attention to Wolf's words. "Okay I got you, so how do you approach a rabbit?" Wolf nodded back to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Watch and whatever you do, don't look away." Wolf locked his eye to Quill's, forcing a nod from her. Wolf turned away from the dragoness, placing both of his hands on the ground with is claws at the ready, and eyes sealed on the lone rabbit. The dog's breathing was slowed down to the point where Quill could barely hear it; matching the stillness of the forest around them.

Seconds stretched on for hours as the dead-winds brushed against the two hunters, going completely unnoticed by the both of them. Quill had to force herself to keep her eyes on the rabbit instead of Wolf, the weighing silence ate away at her mind, making it hard to think clearly.

Just as the winds die down a little, a sudden gust of air pushed passed them, and Wolf followed that gust of wind. The dog was over the rabbit in mere seconds that Quill didn't have time to see what exactly he done but a line of blood on his mouth and on the forest floor filled the blanks for her. By the time she looked over to the rest of the clearing all of the other rabbits were gone, most likely hiding away in their burrows.

"Quill come on out," Wolf called the dragoness over, whipping some of the blood from his mouth, and standing to his full height again. Quill walked over to the dog, keeping her eyes on the-very much-dead rabbit. "You didn't look away did you?" Wolf's question was enough to break Quill from her gazing over the dead rabbit as she looked into Wolf's eyes again.

"No, no...I saw everything," She said, looking away from Wolf's eyes, and biting her lips a little. Wolf sighed when he recognized the dejection in her eyes, he kneeled down, and carefully forced Quill to look him in the eyes.

"Quill, you should know something about dragons," Wolf started in a soft quiet tone to get the young dragon to listen to his words. "You and Spike had made it this far without eating meat because you have been able to eat diamonds and gems as much as you wanted. But that was your old life, out here stuff like that isn't common, and until we can find a quarry you and Spike needs to eat meat. It's the only way your bodies will mature correctly and even if you could only eat gems, you'll still would need to eat meat every now again."

Since she didn't have any knowledge of dragons herself-and what she did knew was of the most basic-Quill saw no reason to argue with Wolf. "O-okay…"

Wolf could still see a ping of doubt in the dragon, he knew it'll be a while before either dragon truly accept their heritage, but with time he could only hope for the best. "I know its a big change for you but its for the best. Remember Quill, I will never ask you to do something that you uncomfortable doing, but I at least need you to try."

Quill closed her eyes and took in a deep breath to calm her nerves, Come on Quill, you can do this. For Spike. she reminded herself why she was out learning how to hunt, and vowing to keep her brother safe. Once her resolve was set, she snapped open her determined eyes and stared straight into Wolf's eyes. "I can do it."

"That's what I wanted to hear," Wolf said with a smile as he stood back up to his full height again. "Come on, I know a bigger spot for use to head to." Quill gave a firm nod as Wolf started for the next hunting site.

High Moon temple

Meanwhile the two hunters of the small pack were out gathering food, Spike was left with the two mares, and put himself to use by cleaning Blaze's work area. In mere moments, he was already done with the mare's worktable, and now was sweeping any dust off the ground into the tunnel.

Blaze stood in amazement at the drake's attentiveness towards the mundane task, something the mare seldom does, and was impressed by the speed of which he worked. "Wow Spike, I've never seen this place in such a good shape before," Blaze said as he finished the last bit of sweeping. "You can take it easy, I'm not really doing anything but studying some ancient tomes from the ruins." Spike whipped the small bit of sweat from his forehead and walked over to Blaze and Lily as they stood around her work table.

Spike pulled out a pen and notebook from his book bag and flipped to an empty page. "Let me help ya, I can make a list on what spells you need to read, and which ones you need to practice," He said, trying to make himself useful for the mares. Both Lily and Blaze stared at the drake with curious gazes, which made him feel slightly awkward.

"Spike sweetie, calm down, I'm just looking over something. Just um…" Blaze looked around the room to see if there was anything for the helpful dragon to do but after his cleaning, there wasn't much anything else for the drake to do. "Um...maybe just draw or something, we'll call you over if we need something."

"Oh, o-okay," Spike said with a downcast in his voice that got both mares feeling sorry for the drake.

Glancing down to her hand, Lily quickly got an idea of what to do with the drake. "Actually Spike," She started, swiftly gaining the dragon's attention. "Since Wolf is teaching your sister how to hunt, I figured that you could do some good to learn about your fire-breath." Both Blaze's and Spike's eyes lit up with a bright shine that matched the sun. "And it just so happens, here's a book on fire magic. You are of the fire-element right?"

Spike's smile flatted under the flutterpony's question. "Fire...element?" Again both Lily and Blaze shared a glance towards each other before turning back to the drake.

"Spike, you do know that you're fire-breath is just one thing that dragons can do, and that you have your own element right?" Spike's eyes widened from this new bit of information, telling Lily all she needed to know. "I see so you don't, well since that you and your sister are twins, whichever element you have her's should be the opposite. Spike let me ask you, have you ever enjoyed burning things?"

The drake's body tensed up, memories of the Canterlot library burning down because of his fire-breath, and having to be dragged out by Quill so they could get away from the guard flashed through his head. "N-no, no I haven't," Spike answered with a sorrow filled voice.

Lily and Blaze heard the sorrow tone in his voice, a quick glance from Lily told Blaze that they'll have to deal with it later. "I see, well is their anything that you've enjoyed doing?" Spike thought back to the many things he had to do when he and Quill were helping Twilight around the library but none of the tasks seemed to coincide with any element of nature. "Anything at all, particularly something that you're good at, and Quill isn't."

Spike crossed his arms well he closed his eyes in thought. "Well, every time we would go swimming, Quill couldn't stay above the water for more than two seconds without some floaties," Spike chuckled at the memory of the last swimming trip they went on with Twilight and the others. The chuckle soon ended when he realized that trips like that were to never happen again, and the dark-cloud of sadness came over his head again.

"Swimming huh, that must mean that you are of the water-element, which to the best of my knowledge that's fairly rare." Spike looked towards the mare with wander in his eyes at the thought that he was some kind of special type of dragon. "Well looks like you won't be much help," Lily said to Blaze, who snorted a little, and returned to her book. "I myself isn't that familiar with water-magic but I fairly sure that there are some books on the topic within the archives in the ruins. I hope you don't mind waiting do you?"

"No ma'am," Spike said with a cheerful voice, something the two were starting to think her couldn't do.

"Great, we'll start looking when Wolf and your sister get's back," Lily said with a warm motherly slimed that reviles Celestia's. Spike gave the mare a excited nod and ran off to the side of the entrance to the tunnels to patiently wait while he read the only book he managed to grab from the Canterlot library. Lily continued to watch the joy and wander on the young drake's face, the warmth from his genuine smile brought a brighter warmth to her heart.

Blaze caught the look through the top of her book and decided to put it off for later. So, our little family is growing.

Canterlot castle; Engineering department

A few hours have passed since Obsidian's team had made it back to Canterlot, the moment everyone was in their rooms was the very same moment everyone was asleep, however Obsidian and Gizmo laid awake working on a long-rang commutation prototype. Obsidian laid under the large monitor screen trying to fix the virtual problems the device has been suffering through while Gizmo made sure that all the energized crystals were in their proper places.

Obsidian lifted his head from under the machine to give Gizmo a nod. "Okay, try it now," He said, hoping the contraption would work. Gizmo returned the nod and stood in front of the device's keypad to type in a fix position to a receiver that they had set up far in the middle of town. Once Gizmo hit the switch, the prototype's screen started to flicker in and out of a clear image to a hazy one.

Gizmo looked towards Obsidian, knowing what the dog was thinking. "Turn it off," He said in a sigh, walking over to a small leather-couch that he had order for the barracks. Gizmo did as he instructed, turning the machine off and, walking over to the couch with him. Obsidian placed his hand on his face and dragged them down. "This is getting on my nerves."

"Hey, that's invitation for you," Gizmo said, running a hand through her dark-green and dark-blue mane, and lighting her horn teleporting two lime-flavored energy drinks in front of her. "You want one boss-dog," She asked, floating one to the dog, who took it in his hand and pop the top of it with his claws.

"Thanks Gizmo," Obsidian said before taking a quick drink. Gizmo pop the top of her drink with her magic and also took a quick drink. Obsidian whipped the lime drink from his lips, the light caffeine taste in it along with the heavy lime taste did give him the 'bubbly' effect which picked his mood up slightly, but the long day had already done it's damage to him and the team. "By the way, that's not what I meant," He said after a short pause.

"Still thinking about the twins and Celestia," Gizmo asked, knowing the dog better than anyone else on the team. Obsidian nodded his head but kept his thoughts to himself. "Well, if they ran away before, then they're sure to learn from their mistakes. I doubt that we'll find them and if we did, not like we could force them to come back with us."

"That's the thing Gizmo," Obsidian started, looking up towards the ceiling. "What if we don't find them? What do you think Celestia will do?" Obsidian realized that if she was willing to send out a good portion of her guard to comb through Everfree one after another until they dropped, what would she do if she had to go out there. Obsidian didn't dare think of seeing Celestia in her full fury rage tearing through Everfree in search of the twins.

"I don't know Sid," Gizmo said, breaking Obsidian out of his thoughts, and looking towards the dog. "I would imagine it be hell on earth." The friends shared a much needed laugh after the long day of looking for the twins.

"Yeah, with raining fire from the heavens, and volcanoes erupting from the ground drowning everyone in a blazing sea of lava." Obsidian continued to laugh at his dark joke while Gizmo sat next to him in complete silence, of which he soon caught on to. "Too much?"

"Don't take a job as a stand-up comedian, Sid." Obsidian blushed a little, and added imagery to the very long list of things that he can't make as jokes. "But yeah, I'm guessing it'll be something like that." The two again sat in silence, keeping their busy thoughts to themselves, and simply enjoying what little peace that they had on the job.

However that peace was shattered by a firm knock on the door, Gizmo looked towards Obsidian, and cast back the curious look back to the mare. The dog eventually got up from the somewhat comfortable couch to answer the persisted and unexpected knocking.

He opened the door to a dark-brown earth-pony guard, tailored in full royal gear and armor, and the usual stone-face of the military. "Sargent Obsidian?"

"Yeah, what's up," Obsidian asked, trying to figure out what the pony could want. "If you're here to pick up the report, tell Celestia I haven't had the chance to write it just yet." The dog was going to close the door but the guard stopped it with his foot.

Obsidian growled and opened the door again to find that the pony was unresponsive to the him trying to close the door on him. "Princess Celestia wishes to have a private audience with you, now." Obsidian remained silent, wondering why Celestia would want to see him at this moment of time. He looked back to Gizmo, who just shrugged her shoulders as she was just as puzzled as he was.

"Fine, tell her I'll-"

"She requested to be now, even if I had to drag you there, and I plan on doing my job." Obsidian let out another growl of irritation but still fully opened the door and stopped to turn around to Gizmo.

"Gizmo, you're in charge until I get back, and if anyone ask tell them I'm in a meeting with Celestia. Understood?" The mare got up from the couch and nodded her head.

"Sure boss-dog, don't do anything dumb," She said before walking to her room down the short hall. Obsidian turned around to the pony and gave a nod, which wasn't returned. Instead the guard started to lead Obsidian towards Celestia's private chambers.

The dog took advantage of the pony's lack of talking to think of all the possibilities that lay await for him in Celestia's room, most of which wasn't favorable for the dog. Great, no doubt this is about the twins, and no doubt she going to yell at me. Looking back to all the other input he gotten from the others about the twin's latest attempt of running away, he did make the mare seem like some kind of control-freak, and not the mother he knew she was.

I deserve it anyways, no mother likes to be told that their children may ever be seen again, and that's exactly what I've told her. The only reason he knew that his mother wasn't grieving over her lost was that she was the one to let him leave. Though, he knew it still hurt her, to lose either of her young pups, but at least she was able to tell him goodbye.

In this case with the twins, Celestia may never get to say those words, and every moment that they're in Everfree forest is another moment something could happen to them. It has to be tearing her apart, she's stuck here while they are out there. Maybe I did jump the gun a little.

The pair of Solar soldiers reached the doors to Celestia's chambers faster than Obsidian thought possible. A quick glance to the doors gave the dog a scare, usually there was a pair of guards at the large golden doors, but now there wasn't a single soul in the halls.

Obsidian stopped in his tracks, something about the air in the hall was unsettling to him, yet the pony continued to walk down the halls. "Hey what's the big idea, why is no one guarding Celestia," Obsidian asked the pony that led him to the ruler's room. The pony didn't stop walking towards the doors, making Obsidian let out a quick roar, and running to catch up to the guard. The pair reached the doors, the heavy looming feeling growing with each step, but Obsidian pushed through the flight instincts that were kicking him in the head.

The pony turned around to Obsidian and hand him a golden key with a sun-flare key-chain at the end. Obsidian examined the key, the feeling of magic was clearly evident of the oddly shaped key. The dog looked towards the pony after he finished examining the key to find that his stone-face hadn't change a bit. "She waiting for you inside." The stallion gave a salute, which Obsidian returned before he walked off.

Obsidian turned around to the pony as he hurried down the hallway, furthering the dog's suspicious of what awaits him behind the door, but still placed the key in the keyhole to unlock the door.

Once it was unlocked, Obsidian pushed opened the door to the ruler of Equestria, and was shocked to find that the room was pitch dark to a point where his canine night-vision had to be used to know what's in front of him.

What was in front of the dog was Celestia, the radiating image of beauty and grace, laying in the bed with her celestial mane down, and in a nightgown. Her room laid sporadic and in complete shambles, dressers of clothes laid opened in just as much mess as the room, and a mirror over the top of the dresser was shattered with evidence of blood on the sharp fragments.

"Close the door." Even her once elegant and soft caring voice was cracked with the obvious signs of her many hours crying for her adopted children. Obsidian quickly followed the broken mare's instructions, of the two and half years of being a guard, he's ever seen the mare so demoralized and defeated.

Just seeing somepony as graceful as Celestia in such a state was enough to make Obsidian feel somewhat sadden but he had a feeling that he was going to be need to be strong for the mare. Celestia's body started to move upward in an unnatural manner that further sickened the dog, the movement was forced, and not truly something she wanted to make, but did anyways.

Her arm started to move towards the dog in the same sickening motion and her finger was used to call the dog over. "Come here, Sargent." Obsidian took an uneasy breath but did as he was commanded. With every step towards Celestia's shadow-self, the dark looming cloud of emptiness grow to an unbearable levels, but Obsidian forced his body to continued onwards.

After a long span of time, he stood in front of the former proud mare, and awaited her next order. Celestia's body started to move again, her hand patting an empty spot on the bed with hollow thuds. "Sit." Obsidian tried to force his body to move but the overwhelming force of his flight instincts fought back for all its worth. "I said sit, Sargent." The mare's commanding voice was enough for Obsidian to grab hold of his own subconscious mind as he took a seat right next to the-what he was sure of-source of the disdain in the room.

The ticking of the clock above the bed started to drag on longer each time, even when it finally made the presented ticking sound, Obsidian had to fight back another wave of instincts. However the dog's battle for control of his mind was ended by the mare's full weight-which felt like a dead-body's.

Obsidian took in another shaky breath to calm his nerves as he sat in near silence for the mare to speak up. Celestia's head slowly started to lift off of Obsidian's shoulder but continued to use it as a sort of head-rest. Through the corner of his eyes, Obsidian could see Celestia's inattentive stares falling on his face.

The mare's body started to move yet again, her hands grabbing onto Obsidian's fur to lift herself up, but-yet again-used his body as a large furry pillow. "Sargent, do you have any idea why I called you in here?"

"N-no ma'am, I was hoping you would be kind enough to reveal that to me," Obsidian said, keeping his eyes locked towards the doors, and a small voice in his head screamed at him to run. Of course he didn't listen to the tiny voice begging cries, no matter how right they may have been, running from an alicorn is a losing battle from the start.

Celestia's body started to move again, this time pushing Obsidian to the bed, and pinning him under her weight. The mare's arms found their way around Obsidian's head as the sound of the clock repeated its periodic ticking sound, snapped the dog out of his daze a little. Obsidian-still surprise by the princess's movement-stared up towards the darkness that was the ceiling.

"P-princess what are you doing," He asked, blushing that the object of most of the guard's affection and beauty was laying on top of him barely dressed in any clothing, but it was a good thing that Obsidian had a marefriend or this situation would be a lot worse for the dog.

"I'm a horrible mother." Celestia's sorrowful voice echoed through the room in a hollow cry. Obsidian was going to tell her wrong when she continued. "This is the fourth time they've ran away since I sent them to live with Twilight." As the broken mare continued, Obsidian could feel tears staining his dark-fur coat, but he stay quiet to let the mare cry her sorrows away. "I should've know...Twilight was always too focused on her studies to properly care for them. I should have kept them here with me, they would have been safe, and they wouldn't have a reason to fight over her."

The mare's cries betrayed Obsidian's ears, princess Celestia-the ruler of Equestria-was bad mouthing the elements of harmony, and even doubting the skills of her own personal student. On top of that, he's never heard the mare bad mouth anyone before, not even Discord as many times he caused trouble for everyone in his path. Yet no matter how much he tried, Celestia's voice still rang through his head, and her words did find a place within his mind.

"What kind of mother...sends her children away with somepony who barely can take care of herself? What mother, what mother abandons them, and leave them with somepony that uses them for labor," Celestia continued to question herself, her grip around Obsidian's neck tighten, and her sobbing started to grow louder. "They should have been treated like royalty, anything they could want should have been theirs."

The more the mare cried, the more of a criminal Obsidian felt. He had the gall to tell a mother that she'll never see her children again, even went as far as telling her that she had no idea what they needed, and to top that he was proclaiming that the mare had alternative motives for wanting her precious children back. The urge to tell Celestia to do him harm for all of his accusing claims overtook him but at the state the once proud mare was; it wasn't a good idea.

"I should have known better than to trust somepony that was too captivated by her studies to care for them. Who was I kidding when I allowed them to stay in a one-horse town after all the trouble those six cause for it." To much of that, Obsidian had to agree, and it only made him feel worse. He himself had to pay the town a visit after a curtain pink-mane party pony destroyed the town's clock tower with one of her 'pranks.'

The only reason he didn't think much of it is because she offered to help with the clean-up while he worked on the clock itself. However still, he didn't enjoy the time wasted fixing a clock that was nearly a hundred years old.

The mare's body started to move again, this time her head was ripped from Obsidian's dark-blue fur. "You want to know why they never have to pay for any damages, hm Sargent," Celestia questioned, locking her dull blood-shot magenta eyes with Obsidian's slightly glowing silver. From the long pause, the dog could tell that it wasn't a rhetorical question, and his mind searched for any explanation that may correctly answer the mare's questions.

If only he was that lucky.

"Um...because they're the elements of harmony, princess?" Obsidian failed to make his answer sound remotely believable to the mare.

"No," Celestia started with a shout her enraged voice echoed through the large room, almost as if it was trapped inside the walls, and startled Obsidian as new tears formed on the mare's face. "No, it is because I've sin." Obsidian thought it was unspeakable, the sun goddess ruler of Equestria, and purest being the dog had ever met; sinned.

"Princess, what are you talking about," Obsidian asked, the mere thought of the mare sin about anything was unimaginable.

"I-I've been sending those six to face the dangers of Equestria instead of doing it myself. Discord could have easily killed them if he wanted to, the changeling army would have done just that if it wasn't for you and your brother coming to their aids." Looking back, the mare did have a point. At any point he wished, Discord could have simply removed them from reality itself, but he didn't simply because he wanted to have 'fun' with them.

During that time, Obsidian wasn't in the guard, but he was a blacksmith for the Baltimore sea-port. News of the god's escape arrived in the form of nine foot tall rabbits rampaging through the town. After he insured the safety of Sky Bloom, his marefriend, he along with other townsfolk started to lead the rabbits out of the town, and he took led of the improvised operation.

Then there was the changeling invasion during Shining Armor's wedding. The changelings had the girls completely surrounded because Celestia told them to go retrieve the element. Luckily for the girls Obsidian and his younger brother Stone, arrived on time to help fight of the swarm, but even with their collective strength the sheer number of the swarm outweigh them.

"I'm not worthy to call myself a princess anymore, nor am I worthy to call myself a mother." The two laid on the bed in silence, only the sound of the ticking clock, and the mare's sobs would periodically break the quiet stillness of the room. Hesitantly, Obsidian started to place his hands on the mare's back, and pulled her closer.

Celestia's body became tense from his touch but soon the flood-gates opened and she began to openly cry into Obsidian's fur. He realized that what the mare was feeling now was the same thing his mother went through when he left home. Also that Stone's shoulders had to be the ones for her to cry on.

Now I'm paying my debt. Obsidian had his own brand of laws that he lived by, going along with the legal laws of Equestria, and adding them to it. One of the dog's laws was that no matter what anyone does, it comes back around for them to repay. Obsidian abandoned his home in the republics, leaving his brother to fill his spot as the next alpha of the den, and tearing a hole in his mother's heart. Now here he was with one of the most powerful beings in his arms, crying her heart out to him, and he was criticizing her not four hours ago.

Obsidian started to rub Celestia's back, trying to ease the mare's sorrows. "Princess, that's not true." The mare's body started to shake under the dog's gentle voice. "You've done nothing wrong, it is not your fault that the twins are out in Everfree, and you know that. The girls know the risk that they take when they're called to duty and even they can make mistakes." Obsidian tried to think of anything he could do to keep the mare calm but only half-words of encouragement were the only thing he could think of. "I'm sure that we'll find them, I know we'll, but it'll take time. I know its hard princess but please be patient."

Time slowed as Obsidian waited for the mare to give a response. The room filled with the same dreaded silences from before as the clock above slowly made its automatic sound. "Princess?" Soft snoring came as Obsidian's answer while the streams of despair cries drained Celestia of all of her already drain energy and she drifted off to much need rest.

The dog sighed, guessing that she had been up ever since yesterday morning, and that the bearing stress of worrying about the twins took their toll on the mare. Obsidian carefully moved Celestia's body towards the head of the bed and managed to get out of the mare's gasp.

He started to tip-toe towards the door but before he walked out, he turned towards Celestia as she peacefully found joy in her dreams. I'm truly sorry princess, you don't deserve to be put through this, but I won't let you force them to go against their choices. Obsidian closed the door and started to walk back to his barracks, dreading what's could happen for the next few days. /-/  
/ Ch. 4 Adapting/-/

High Moon Ch. 4:  
Adapting

"Come on Quill, stay focus." The sun started to set as the two hunters were still out on Quill's first lesson. Over the past five hours, burrow after burrow, Quill has failed to catch a single rabbit, and she was starting to lose her patience. She would either miss her opportunity to catch the speedy animal or some miscalculation in her plan would send her into a tree.

To help lead by example, Wolf started to hunt the rabbits alongside her, but even still she continued to make simple mistakes that would either cost her a rabbit or the both of them. After another few tries the dragoness started to feel useless for the rest of the pack.

Spike was the only one of them that knew how to actually cook, she wasn't good with house-work like him either, nor was she a sharp-minded. All Quill had on her brother was her more athletic body and wings, but that only got her so far.

Quill started to have thoughts about giving up on the seamlessly impossible task but Wolf wouldn't allow her to do such a thing and continued to push her onwards to the next herd of rabbits. "Now I want you to look at the one near those bushes, wait, breath, and then strike as if you life depend on it." Wolf's instructions were simple when they were told to her but in application is where she failed.

As the two stalked the rabbits from the bushes, Quill could feel the long day of-failed-hunting taking its toll on her body, and one look was enough to tell the story. Her normally bright purple scales had dark-spots along her arms and legs where the scales were damage from the repeated beatings. Bits and pieces of her tank-top were shattered and even torn off to use as a makeshift bandage when her scales weren't tough enough to provide damage. The top of her spines were slightly chipped from her last failed attempt that landed her head-first into a tree.

All in all, it's been a rough day.

But she kept pushing onwards, she needed to get used to the tough blows anyways. Wolf had already told her that rabbits are the easiest thing to hunt in the forest, so if she couldn't catch a single rabbit, how could she be trusted with catching larger game? So she moved on, even when it looked bad she will just keep pushing until she did, but the day was running short and so was her chances.

"Quill you ready," Wolf asked, not breaking his lock on the male rabbit on the far side of the clearing nearest to a tree. After the last time Quill ran head-first into a tree, he learned that it was best if he steered her away from solid objects.

"Yeah." No I'm not.

"Than on my count, one…" Quill lowered her body towards the ground to give her legs the maximum amount of lavage. "Two…" She then slowed her breathing to match Wolf's as best she could. The air around her started to feel empty and hollow and an intense feeling of anticipation started to break her concentration. "Three." Quill pushed her legs off the ground, leaping straight for her target prey, and lashing down at it with her claws.

The two's sudden ambush kicked up a large amount of dust in the air, scaring the rabbits into their burrows to hide from their unknown attackers, but soon the dust started to settle leaving the two hunters standing over their prey.

Wolf let out a slight breath to calm himself down as he looked upon the large male rabbit, still primed with fat. He looked towards where Quill should have been-hopefully-with a dead rabbit in her hands and a proud smile on her face. However that wasn't the case as the dragoness held the struggling rabbit in her hands, her claws around its neck, but she couldn't bring herself to end the innocent rabbit's life.

Tears started to emerge from the dragoness's eyes as she watch the poor animal squirm in fear. She wanted to be able to do it, to end the rabbit's life to use it for the pack's, but years of being raised by Twilight and from knowing Fluttershy; she couldn't do it.

Her grip around the rabbit's neck started to tighten from the storm of conflicting thoughts and the sounds of the rabbit's pleas grew louder. Wolf immediately recognized the conflicted look as one he used to have when he was a mere pup. The days where he was forced to hunt with his father and pack of brothers to bring back as much food as they could started to flash through his head. Along with the memories, an idea of how Quill could get over her internal struggles came to him.

"Quill," He started, walking towards the dragoness, and stopping behind her. "What's the matter? You finally have your goal in your hands, after a day of being kicked around by this forest, and now you at last have what you've been striving for." Quill didn't respond to Wolf praising words, only the struggling animal in her hands had her attention as it helplessly scratch at the scales on her hands in hopes of somehow hurting the dragoness so it could run away. "So what are you waiting for? Do it. That rabbit is going to die one day or another, or be eaten by some other predator it might as well be you."

Quill's grip on the rabbit started to tighten, Wolf noticed a slight change in the color of her scales, but he put that aside for later. "You no longer living in Ponyville any more, there is no alicorn princess to protect you out here. It's just you and yourself. You want to start acting like a real dragon? You want to know what it really means to be apart of one the most powerful species on the planet? Then do it."

Through her tears, Quill looked the helpless rabbit in the eyes; absolute everlasting fear for its life was the only thing she saw, but something inside of her said that she shouldn't care about the animal's feelings. It was small, she almost couldn't hear it, but it was there a small voice in the back of her head telling her that the small rabbit has no further use in this world. That she only needs to think about was her new family, Wolf's pack, and her twin brother; the closest thing she can call a blood-relative.

"Remember what I've said Quill, you and Spike will have to eat meat at some point, and I can't provide it for you forever." Along with the small voice, a overwhelming feeling started to ignite like a small flame growing larger and more powerful with each passing second. "You want to protect him don't you? You said it yourselves, it was Spike that brunt that library down not you, but her both of you are in Everfree. Well apart of protecting him is being able to hunt meat. So do it, protect you own, and prove that you're a real dragon."

He's right you know. The voice in Quill's head spoke with her voice but in a more darker tone yet she wasn't fearful of it; why fear your own voice? All you ever wanted to do was protect him, that's you'd argue with him about that bitch Rarity. Memories of Quill's last argument over Rarity flooded her head, all the mean and hateful things she said about the mare, and the things she called Spike for letting her use him. Also the faint memory of the same voice encouraging her on.

Do it, there's nothing left in this world for this little insignificant rabbit, and you wanted to know what's it's like for a real dragon? Well now's your chance, don't blow it. Quill let out a small sigh, clouds of looming conflict started to disappear in the dragon's head, and only leaving a calm serenity peace.

For a moment, Quill's grip around the rabbit's neck loosen, and Wolf thought she was going to let the thing go, but suddenly her hands tighten around the animal's neck and gave it a twist. The brief sickening sound of the bones of the rabbit's spine snapping frighten Quill a little but as soon as the animal was dead in her hands the fearful feeling was long gone.

She continued to stare at the dead mammal with a blank unreadable look on her face. A part of Quill could hear Twilight or one of the others yelling at her for killing the animal. Another telling her that she did the right thing.

Wolf looked down towards Quill, the dragoness's blank stares reminded him of his own during his cubhood, and the dark thoughts that followed afterwards. Some of the sicking thoughts told him to go out and kill another animal just for the exciting thrill. There were times even today where the thoughts would come clawing in his head.

"Quill," He started, placing his hand on the dragoness's shoulder, and breaking her out of the twisted thoughts. She slowly turned towards the flat look on Wolf's face, and for a moment she thought he was disappointed with her, but he again began to speak. "I'm proud of you." Quill smiled brightly from Wolf's words. After the long day of failures, the dog's praising words lifted her dying spirits. "Come on, let's bag those two, and head back. I don't want you out here during nighttime just yet." Quill nodded towards Wolf and started to follow the instructions he gave her about 'bagging' an animal. Which in itself was a simple yet ingenious way of carrying the dead prey.

Wolf walked over to a tree, using his claws to climb higher up, and picking several large leaves. Quill opened her wings to fly higher than the dog to pick the larger leaves that grow closer to the top. When both of them were back down on the ground, she shot Wolf a smug smile at how easier it was for her to grab the leaves than him while Wolf just rolled his eyes in response.

They processed towards the dead rabbits and started to wrap their limp bodies in the massive leaves until they were mostly covered. "Alright, that's enough for today," Wolf said walking towards the small pile of other rabbits they-rather he-had collected during the long day. Quill closely followed Wolf out of the clearing and onto the faint dirt path leading back to the temple ruins.

During the trip back to the temple, Quill couldn't stop smiling a the small mile-stone she made today, but she knew now's not the time for her to get in over her head as she had much more to learn about Everfree. But for now she allowed the victorious smile to dance across her face, which had Wolf chuckling when he saw the over-joyful smile on the young dragon's face.

As the temple came in sight, Wolf abruptly stopped, and almost making Quill trip. The dragoness looked towards her teacher as he closed his eyes to carefully listen to the sounds of the forest around them. "Wolf what's-"

"Shh, stay quite Quill." The dragoness quickly shut her mouth to let Wolf continue scanning the forest with his ears. Winds rustling the trees, distant sounds of birds chirping in the trees above, and yet Wolf still heard something that didn't belong with the stillness of the forest at sunset. Another rustling sound, this time from behind them, immediately grabbed Wolf full attention as he pushed Quill into the nearby bush.

Quill was sent tumbling to her face in the nearby bush and onto the ground below. Okay, ow. She forced an eye open after she landed on the hard dirt ground. After the long day of running into trees, sharp thorn bushes, and the ground itself, Quill slowly was able to shake off the pain rolling through her body, and stand feet. "Hey, what was that...for?"

Her voice was caught in her throat at the sight of a massive timberwolf's mouth deadly close to Wolf's face as he struggled to hold the beast back. "Quill stay there." Wolf bend over to the side, taking the timberwolf down with him, and using his height advantage to keep the savage animal's jagged teeth at bay. Quill quickly hide behind a nearby tree, remembering the last time she and Spike came across a timberwolf, and fearing what the creature could do.

Wolf's body thrashed around, trying to keep the wooden wolf's teeth from tearing through his body. Lucky Wolf managed to get the timberwolf's maw to clamp down on itself and he took the wolf's head to smash it against a tree. Quill covered her ears from the pain filled whales from the wolf's cries. However Wolf himself was unfazed by the pain in the timberwolf's howls as he again took its head, forcing it to it's side on the ground, and stomping on the side of it's head.

Green blood stained the ground from the force of Wolf's stomp as the creature's body started to become limp from the draining blood from it's head. With one more stomp for good measure, Wolf backed away from the bleeding timberwolf, and took several breaths of air. "Quill get over here," He called out to Quill, who was still hiding behind the tree. A moment passed before Quill started to come out from behind the tree to be faced with the gruesome sight of the still bleeding timberwolf. "Burn it."

Quill whipped her head towards the dog, who continued to stare at the-undoubtedly-dead timberwolf. "What," She shouted at Wolf, not believing that he wanted her to set fire to something that was already dead, but the cold stone look on his face told her that he was serious.

"Burn it Quill, send a message to the rest of them that nothing will harm our pack." Quill was confused by what Wolf meant by 'them' until she looked into the bushes leading down the path they were walking on. Glowing green eyes could be seen through the thick cover of forage. Without a doubt in her mind, Quill knew that the eyes must have belonged to the dead wolf's pack, and the only reason that haven't rushed the two of them was because how easy Would dealt with the first timberwolf.

It was one thing to kill a small rabbit that she was going to use a food later on but to burn a dead body; disrespecting the memory of the wolf's life, was a crime that Quill didn't think she could bare. Do it, The dark voice from earlier returned with a newfound propose in it's tone. Burn this monster's body, and let the other wolves know not to mess with you or your new family. It's your job so do it.

Quill gritted her teeth, both the dark voice, and Wolf was right. She couldn't allow the timberwolves to be this close to the temple or city ruins, such a thought was unfathomable to her after today, and she was going to insure that her pack-family-remains safe by any means necessary.

She looked down to the dead green eyes of the carcass, black smoke started to seep from her nose when she thought about how the creature attack Wolf, and how she coward behind a tree; like she always does. Every time she and Spike was out with the elements of harmony on some unwarranted misadventure where-by some unknown means-one of them learns some new 'valuable' lesson on friendship that would be completely obvious to any other, when things got dangerous or tough, she and Spike would hide away and coward in fear.

But that was her old life, one where she has no intentions of returning to by any means, and with this act she knew that there will no turning back. No more running, no more depending on others to do things for her, and no more holding back.

Quill reed her head back, trying in a deep breath, and letting forth a massive blazing wall of pure purple fire upon the timberwolf's dead body. Not only the carcass was engulfed in an inferno of dancing purple and black flames but also the ground itself was scored from the searing heat. Where grass and plants once laid, vanished in a gust of ash and dust, and even the bases of nearby trees were scored by Quill's onslaught of flames.

After the rush from breathing the biggest amount of fire in her entire life ended, Quill collapsed backwards into Wolf's arms as he continued to watch in awe at the young dragon's ability. Wolf wasn't the only one who was impressed by her skill as the rest of the long gone timberwolf's pack had already fled the scene even before their fallen was completely gone.

Wolf stood and watched the flames continue to dance across the forest floor, the oddest thing about them-besides the dark feeling from them-was the fact that they only burn the things that it touched, and refused to spread onwards. He looked back down towards Quill, who had one of her eyes finally opened to the bright flames, and a small soft smile on her face.

"I-I've never...I've never noticed how beautiful my flames are," She whispered before closing her eyes. As Wolf continued to look down towards the young dragon, a flash of Blaze in his arms instead of her told him that Quill is going to need much more help than he could give her, and he knew a certain mare that would be more than happy to give that help.

Wolf lifted Quill on his shoulder and grabbed as much of the rabbit meat that wasn't engulfed in the dragoness's fire. Things are going to be very interesting around here with these two around. He started to make his way back to the temple, knowing that things were going to be more busier than usual in his little valley territory.

High Moon temple

"They should have been back by now," Blaze said, sitting on her worktable with her arms crossed under her breasts while Lily softly rub the top of Spike's head as she slept. Blaze knew that Wolf would never try to hunt after sunset, waiting for his return was starting to put her nerves on edge, and with each passing second she became more worried for her canine lover and dragon student. "That's it I'm going out to look for them," She said, hopping off the table, and getting a few defensive potions just in case she runs into something out there.

Lily shook her head, sometimes she couldn't believe how smart, yet how rash Blaze would be at times. "Blaze, wait. They should be here any-" The door to the outside of the temple started to slide open to a tried looking Wolf along with a passed out Quill. Blaze quickly ran to the dog's side, helping Quill off his shoulders, and onto the cleared work table. "Wolf what happened," Lily asked, keeping her voice down so she doesn't wake Spike up.

"Timberwolves that's what," Wolf said, turning his back to the sleeping dragon, and sliding down the table to sit on the floor. "Before either of you say anything, yes we're fine, and no I didn't make Quill fight any of them-or rather it-since only the alpha dare to challenge my right as owner of this territory." Blaze kneeled down and wrapped her arms tightly around Wolf, her shaking was enough to tell her that she was more than just worried about her. "Blaze we're fine, the alpha was pretty wimpy, and you should have seens Quill's fire-breath. For a moment I thought she was you."

"That doesn't change anything," Blaze said, pressing herself closer to the dog. "Both of you could have gotten hurt or worse. Wolf I was worried about you." Wolf nuzzled the side of his head on top of Blaze's to get the mare to calm down. After a few more moments of her tightly holding him, Blaze did calm down to where she placed her head on his shoulder. "And what do you mean Quill looked like me?"

"Okay," Wolf stared with a chuckle. "Looked may have not been the right word, more like she sounded like you," He said, correcting his previous claims. "After she let out that wall of just pure...fire, she collapsed in my arms, but right before she was completely out of it, Quill whispered 'I've never noticed how beautiful my flames are.' Then she went to sleep afterwards." Blaze and Lily looked towards each other with a knowing gaze that confused Wolf. "What, did I miss something?"

"Wolf, earlier today we learned that neither of them knew about the other element that they carried," Blazed informed the dog, catching him by surprise at the new bit of information of the twins lack of knowledge about dragons.

"What, how much were those ponies hiding from them," He asked, wondering why anyone would withhold any basic knowledge about dragons from the young two. "How could they expect to properly raise them if they hide everything from them?" Both Blaze and Lily shrugged their shoulders as they shook their heads. Unknown to the three, their conversation was overheard by Quill as she started to question all the stories Twilight has told her and Spike over the many years, and also questioning Celestia after the numerous times she told her that there wasn't any knowledge about dragons in Equestria.

"I don't know." Quill heard Lily say with a low tone, most likely still thinking that she is asleep. "But we've got to do something and fast, they'll be hitting their first growth spurt soon, and there minds are not ready for that kind of change."

Growth spurt, what does she mean we're not ready? Nothing Quill could think of answered her question, nothing besides her and Spike's last birthday where they went through a 'greed-growth,' and the mere thought of being put through that uncontrollable feeling again scared her. That's not what's going to happen is it? Wait they're still talking…

"...Then it is decided, Blaze will tech Quill everything she knows about fire-magic, and you'll help Spike with his water-element." The dragoness heard Wolf finish going over a plan for them. "We'll also have to see Zecora about a few things, to see what she knows as well, but until then don't let either one out of the valley until they know how to properly control their magic. Sounds good?"

"The best plan I can think of," Lily said, knowing that it would be too dangerous for either one of the dragons to be on their own without the appropriate knowledge of their dragon-magic. "Also I think that it's best that Spike don't go out hunting." Quill had to stop herself from jumping off the table to yell at the mare but she somehow managed to allow her to continue. "He doesn't seem to have the same drive as Quill does and water-element is a bit harder to use for hunting." Quill knew that Spike was-in a nice way-weaker than she was and that she was usually more aggressive than him. Maybe it's for the best, I had a hard time just catching a rabbit, and not to mention that I had a harder time just killing it. How can I expect Spike to do the same?

You can't. Quill's eyes shot open at the enigmatic voice speaking in her head see how Spike handle things, if it wasn't for you he'll be locked in prison for the rest of his LONG life, but that's not going to happen with you around now is it?

N-no, no it isn't, but who are you, Quill questioned the voice, tired of not know exactly what it is.

Quill heard the voice starting to laugh a little to itself before answered her questions. Why, I'm you, and you are me...sort of.

What do you mean 'sort of' and how the hell do you know. Again Quill's eyes widened from her own thoughts, she ever said, or thought a cause word her entire life after Twilight's 'appropriate' word choice lesson she forced her and Spike to sit through.

Uh-oh, someone is using foul language, The voice teased, making Quill feel even more guilty and ashamed by her vulgar use of language, and apparently the voice could feel her shame. Haha, lighten up hatchling, and live a little. Twilight isn't here to tell you what you can and can't say any more, and as far as Wolf is concerned, keep helping out and you get to say whatever you want.

Still, it's not right, or at least it doesn't feel right. Even if Twilight is-by her thought-in Ponyville locked away from the world graving over the loss of the twins. Just thinking about the sad expressions on Twilight or the other elements of harmony's faces.

The voice in Quill's head could feel her thoughts turned to the elements and her old life in Ponyville. Stop, It roared, startling Quill out of her rumoring thoughts, and continuing the internal shouting. They aren't you concern right now, and-

Quill was snapped out of her link with the voice by Wolf picking her up off the table and carrying her in his arms. She quickly refocused her attention to the three adults in the room as they continued the plans for the twins. "...Fine then, Quill can stay here while Spike goes back with you," Wolf said, holding Quill close to his body, and walking towards the door leading into the bedroom area of the temple. Great, how much did I miss?

Lily nodded her head towards the dog as Blaze activated the arcane-stone entrance to the tunnels. "Right, I'll see to that Spike is taught in the ways of water-magic, and also see to that he'll learn how to brew potions while you and Blaze tech Quill all she needs to know." Before Lily ventured in the tunnels with Spike, Peewee, and Cinder, Blaze planted a kiss on the top of the sleeping drake's head.

"Good night Spike, Lily." The flutterpony nodded her head to the other mare while Peewee and Cinder rested on her shoulder with an irritated glare. "Oh and good night to you too Peewee and Cinder." The fire-birds nuzzled against Blaze's head before flying ahead of Lily to act as sources of light for her in the dark tunnels.

"Good night to you too Blaze, Wolf. I hope everything works out." The two lovers nodded their heads towards the mare as she started to make her way through the tunnels. They watched the mare go down the tunnels towards the city ruins until the stone-slab started to move back in place.

"Come on, let's get Quill in the guest bedroom," Wolf said, using the fire-stones on his arm-braces to open the door to the bedrooms. Blaze turned around into a joyful skip towards Wolf as they started to make their way towards the room he had set up just incase Zecora ever stand over until it was too dark for her to make a safe trip back to her hut.

When Wolf got to the second flight of stairs, instead of making the right to his and Blaze's bedroom, he turned to a normal wooden door to his left, and pushed it open with his shoulder. The room itself was fairly empty as only Zecora uses it when she stays the night over-which seldom happens-and all that was noteworthy of the room was the small bed on the far side of it.

Also bits and pieces of wood and other materials laid about the room as he also uses it as a workshop to make anything that the pack would need. Thanks to his canine night-vision, Wolf quickly made his way through the small mess, and to the bed where he gently placed-what he thought-was the sleeping Quill onto the hay filled mattress.

"Sorry if it isn't the best bed in the world Quill, or if a bit too cold in here, but I'll make sure to find a way to get some real mattress for this territory of our's." Mattresses wasn't the only thing that Wolf wanted to get for his pack but at this time any more was near impossible. "One day," He said in a low whisper while he rubbed the top of Quill's head in thought. "Night Quill."

Wolf walked out of the room passing Blaze with a brother look on his face and heading straight for their bedroom for the night. Blaze followed her canine lover into the bed and pushed herself close to his body. Wolf took the blanket and used it to bring the mare closer, her warm body eased the worries flying through his head, but at the same time brought their own.

Blaze looked up to the bright shining green light from Wolf's night-vision but even with the luminescent shine, the pair of greens still hold a ping of dullness. Blaze licked the bottom of Wolf's jaw to get his attention before moving up to look into his eyes. "Wolfie, what's the matter?" The dog tried to look away from Blaze's begging red eyes, unwilling to confess to his worries, and not wanting the mare to also be weighed down by them. "Come on, tell me, and don't think that you have a chance lying to me."

Wolf glanced into the bright eyes that he'd fell in love with, only to see that he couldn't lie to them even if he wanted to. "Alright," He started with a sigh, knowing that Blaze had him cornered. "It's just that...I'm worried Blaze. Before it was just the three of us and Lily practically took care of herself. But now," Wolf paused with another long sigh and it didn't take Blaze much to know what was bothering him. "But now our pack-our family," he stopped again to brush a hand over Blaze's stomach, "is growing, and Everfree can only get us so far. It seems sooner or later we're going to have to find some way to get all the things we need from towns."

Blaze pulled Wolf's head in for a kiss, her hands ran through his matted dull-blue hair, and her legs hooked around his body. She pulled back from the kiss, leaving him still surprised, and placed her head underneath his chin. "Wolf, its alright. We're fine, I'm fine, and there's still time. I know you'll think of something, I just know it." Wolf chuckled from the mare's hopeful wishes as he too wished it was that easy.

But its not.

"Blaze, I know, but the sooner we can get stuff like that out of the way the better." Wolf knew with each new member to his pack was a new list of things that needed to be done. Now with the knowledge that both twins don't know how to truly control their elemental-magic, it was a new challenge that the pack must deal with before their growth spurts happen, which could occur this winter from Lily's guess.

Along with teaching them how to control their magic, the twins must also find their places within the pack, and at the rate things were going they would barely make the short dead-line. Meat too was on the same timer as the twins' inevitable growth spurts, Wolf alone had enough to make it comfortably through the winter, but along with both growing dragons it is looking tight this year.

And finally it was Blazes pregnancy, Wolf had nine months to make sure that everything in the valley was safe for his unborn cub, and today's encounter with the pack of timberwolves told him that the valley was far from that.

"Wolf we'll make it through, you'll see." Blaze nuzzled her head under Wolf's chin as a sign of reassurance, which the dog gratefully welcomed. "Spike is a really smart dragon, I'm sue that Quill showed some skills out there, Lily...Lily just knows a lot of things, and I-not bragging or anything-can take care of anything that wants to do our family harm."

Wolf chuckled at the mare's silly-yet trueful-brand of confidence, he returned the mare's nuzzling with his own, and even playfully grabbing onto the mare's flanks making her squeal in surprise. "You're right, we are pretty awesome aren't we, be that as it may we still need to prepare for the up and coming months-if not-years to come." Wolf placed another kiss on Blaze's forehead before wishing her good-night and going to sleep, the mare returned the kiss on the side of his cheek before wrapping her arms around him, and following him into the sweet world of hope known as dreams.

While the couple held each other in their sleep, just across from the Quill still laid in the bed awake arguing with the voice in her head that refused to go away. What do you mean I shouldn't care?

Like I've said, Twilight isn't here to tell you right from wrong. So why should we live by the same rules? Not like we can anymore, The voice darkly joked about Quill destroying the dead timberwolf's body in her flames. What's the matter hatchling? Can't take the true?

What are you talking about, Quill asked, shifting to her side, and was wishing the voice would start making some kind of sense for her to follow.

Oh please, don't act like you don't know. You enjoyed watching that pile of dead wood burn, watching our beautiful flames light up the night sky with their glory, and watching as that monster turned into pure ash. As much as she hated, the voice was right, and it had Quill saying in fear. Yet a small part of her did agree with the voice.

T-that's not true, I only did what Wolf asked me to do, Quill defended, knowing that it wasn't the truth.

Oh yeah, remember what he said from the get-go? 'I'm only asking you to try?' Well, looks like to me that you did more than just 'try,' The voice sneakered, enjoying the conflicted emotions swirling around Quill's head, and using them to it's advantage. Too late now to get cold-feet now hat-

Shut up, and leave me alone, Quill commanded, done with dealing with the voice smug attitude. You want me to start acting like a real dragon, you want me to keep pushing myself, well fine. I'm more than happy to do it and I can do it without you around. A long pause slowed time down for the dragoness as she waited for the voice to give some kind of response.

Fine. Sudden a bearing weight fell over Quill making her roll around on the bed in pain. It felt like there was a boulder sitting on top of her body as the bruises she received started to burn on her body. The sudden burning pain was enough to bring Quill to tears as it started to move down towards the rest of her body. You think you're tough enough to handle Everfree without me protecting you, fine, but don't come crying back to me when the pain is too much to bare.

Quill's eyes closed as all feeling of the voice vanished from her body and she started to fall into an unconscious asleep that had no peaceful dreams to ease the still shearing pain.

High Moon ruins

Lily walked down the faintly lighted path towards the mansion ruins with Spike still sound asleep in her arms. As Peewee and Cinder insured that the path was illuminated for her to walk down without the risk of her tripping on something, Lily mind was wandering about the full day she and Blaze spent with the drake.

Ever since she found both him and his sister in that clearance, she noticed him fighting through some kind of depression that had to been linked to the events that happened in Canterlot, but Quill would always be around to answer any questions she or the others had about it.

Now she was alone with the drake, the only problem was that he had been asleep for the last few hours, and from the sounds of his snoring he wasn't going to wake up anytime soon. So she was simply left to wander about the drake's protected old life amongst the ponies of Ponyville. No telling how his sheltered life inhibit his and Quill's growth, by their sizes, and ages she could tell that the two of them lived similar lives yet still different.

Lily remembered from several ancient tomes that dragons grow to fit their environment and lifestyle, which was similar to any other creature aside that both factors directly influenced by their lives, where with other creatures only their ages directly affected their growth.

By their ages now, the twins should have already went through their first growth-spurt, and should have been working on their next on this winter. However thanks to their old lives, trapped inside of a library for unreasonable amounts of time, this first step into maturity was interfere with slightly.

Through they were showing signs of a somewhat active lifestyle. As on schedule, Quill's wings did seem to have grown the time that they were due, and by the slenderness of the membranes she used them primarily for speed rather than power. Also their bodies did show some growing muscle tone, though Quill's was more evident even if they were slender in build, but Spike too had some muscle growth giving him a more lean body-build.

Wolf was right to start teaching Quill to be a hunter, her slender body, along with her wings made her a more perfect apex-predator than Spike. By a little judging, it seemed that Spike was deemed to be on the ground anyways. From his lean body-build and slight muscle growth along with the fact that he didn't have a pair of wings on his back like his twin sister, Spike must have been a bread of dragons known as Salamanders.

Powerful, ingenuitive, undoubtedly loyal, fast-at least on the ground-land-bound dragons; the Salamander race was, and a perfect match for his elemental-magic. Lily was sure that her hypothesis was correct by what she seen from the drake so far but only their first real growth-spurt will tell whether or not if she is right.

Either way the chips fell, Lily was going to insure the safe and healthy growth of both twins, and she knew that the others felt the same way. Finally she reached the doors to the mansion ruins and carefully pushed them opened with her shoulder while the phoenix pair flew through two open cracks in the front wall.

Lily used her back to close the door as the pair of fire-birds took nest in a corner above the ground. The mare wished the birds a good-night before taking Spike to her room for the night. As she held the drake in her arms while they laid on their sides, Lily couldn't help but softly smile at faint memories of being in her mother's arms when she was the dragons' ages.

Don't worry Spike, we'll make sure that you and your sister stay safe, and when the day comes I know you'll do the same. Lily soon closed her eyes to join the rest of her pack in the peaceful world of dreams.

The next morning

Soft sunlight started to irritate Lily's vision as the sweet siren's call of sleep was washed away by the thin line of light. She started to open her eye as her senses slowly returned to her, that's when she felt something touching her breasts, even massaging them through her dress-top.

The pleasurable feeling was almost enough for her to simply go back to sleep, however the memories of the plans she made with Wolf and Blaze last night along with the sleeping arrangements that followed afterwards reminded her that she wasn't alone like she usually is.

"Spike," The mare shouted, looking down towards the young drake as he still laid fully asleep, yet somehow still groping her. "Spike, Spike wake up!" Nothing she tried to do would get the drakes attention as he continued to grope Lily's soft breasts. Sorry for this Spike. Lily spared open her wings towards the source of sunlight in the room, making them sparkle in a prismic colored glow as she started to rapidly beat them.

Surges of magic in the air started to gather around the mare's wings as she used the build-up to blast Spike off of her body. The drake was sent flying towards the far wall near the door, impacting the thick stone with a loud thud before slumping to the ground. Lily opened one of her eyes to see the large crack in the wall where Spike's body impacted and then down to the drake on the ground rolling in pain.

"Oh no." Lily fluttered off the bed to Spike's side as he held his back in pain. "Spike are you alright, I'm so sorry, but you were...touching me." Spike stopped his rolling to look up to the bright blush on Lily's tan fur and started to blush as well but his was one of shame rather than embarrassment. "Spike are you alright? I've read that drakes act in that matter when they're not...'sexually' satisfied."

"Y-yeah I-I'm fine," Spike said, getting up from the ground with a blush across his face. "I'm sorry, this had be starting ever since my last birthday, but Twilight said that it'll pass over just like a phase." Lily looked down towards the dragon in surprise, the blush long gone, and only leaving a confused look on her face.

"Spike, you said that your previous caretaker didn't know much about dragons right?" The drake casted a curious gaze towards Lily, he turned away blushing again, but still nodded his head. "Than how would she know something about that," She questioned, knowing that the answer would reveal more about the twins lives under the ponies, and give a good look at how much they 'know.'

Spike thought back to the day right after his birthday and the greed-growth both he and Quill went through. How he started to inappropriately touch Quill in their sleep and the only way for her to get him to stop was to kick him out of the large basket. After getting Quill to calm down, Twilight sat Spike aside, and told him about what maturing dragons do when they reach a certain age. "Well she just...knew...it," Spike trailed off, remembering how easily Twilight told Spike the information without having to do the slightest bit of research, and how easily she dropped the subject right afterwards.

Lily looked at the confusion on the drake's face as he started to connect the dots and not liking what they were saying. She placed a hand on Spike's shoulder, tearing him out of the shocking revaluating thoughts. "Spike are you sure she didn't 'just knew it?'" The drake casted a downward shadow towards the ground at the weighting thoughts. "Or did she know more and just didn't tell you?"

"N-no!" Spike swatted Lily's hand off his shoulder and turned away from her. "Y-you're wrong, Twilight wouldn't do that she...she wouldn't lie to us like that. She would have told us more if she knew," He shouted on the verge of tears. Spike could take it if Twilight or even Celestia didn't know something about dragons that Lily or the two lovers knew, he could even take it if everything he actually knew about dragons were wrong, but what he couldn't take was the thought that Twilight lied about not knowing any more than she told him.

The mare had help raise them since she hatched their eggs, even if Celestia was the one to raise them, Spike had always looked towards Twilight as more than a older sister, and like the mother he thought she was. But to even think that she would lie to them to their faces, it was too much.

Lily saw Spike shaking from the rush of conflicting emotions, she knew it must have been hard for him to be told that he and Quill may have been lied to their entire lives, and that it must be especially hard after just being away from home only after a short period of time. Lily kneeled down and wrapped her arms around Spike's body, holding him tight so he'll end his shaking, and clam down.

"Spike," She started, rubbing the top of his head-spines in effort to further calm his nerves. "I know it's hard, but at this point we can't afford overlook any possibilities. You understand don't you," The mare asked with a sweet soothing voice; the same her mother had.

Spike started to rub the tears from his eyes, still sniffling a little, but for the most part in a better mood. "Y-yeah, just...can we just not think it like that. I really respect Twilight and the others." No matter how little they turned to actually know, the elements and Celestia will always hold a spot in Spike's heart, but just a different one now.

Lily turned Spike around to look him in his emerald green eyes and again wrapped her arms around him for a quick hug. Spike returned the hug, imaging that it was Celestia the one giving the hug; something that hadn't happen in a while. "I understand Spike," She said nuzzling into Spike's smooth scales and unwrapping her arms from his body. As soon as the long slender arms were off of him, Spike missed the soothing warmth. "Come on let's head to the archives, and find some books on water-magic to start you training."

Lily started to walk out of the room, leaving Spike slightly confused by what she said when the conversation about dragon's magic re-entered his head. "Oh right, my element." Spike started after Lily, who was already down the hall, and making for the biggest expansion of ancient knowledge that lay hidden from Equestria for decades. /-/  
/ Ch. 5: Lessons and Plans/-/

High Moon Ch 5:  
Lessons and Plans

"Spike, are you sure that you should be carrying all of those books?" Spike and Lily were already walking through the tunnels towards the temple while Peewee and Cinder flew above their heads to meet up with Wolf and the other females of the pack. When Lily showed Spike the High Moon archives, he was far be on impressed with the amount of knowledge that was sealed away in the ruins, and was given a surprise when he learned that in ancient times ponies in Equestria had an expansive knowledge about dragons.

However that knowledge wasn't for good use as 'dragon-hunters,' used the knowledge to track and kill dragons of any age, and collected trophies out of their scales and bones. The information horrified Spike but at the same time gave a small glimmer of hope. Hope that maybe because of the dragon-hunters that Celestia banned the practice and buried any knowledge about dragon's.

Thought Lily pointed out if that was the case, than Celestia still would have known more about dragons than she first lead onto, and she would have added to Twilight's studies for her to be able to properly take care of him and Quill.

The thought slightly saddened Spike a little but Lily also said that Celestia could have been reluctant to teach Twilight about dragons for whatever reasons she must had a the time. Spike's mood again quickly changed it to a much more cheerful one as they grabbed the last of the books before heading out.

"It's alright Ms. Winds, I used to carry much more than this back at the library, and it's not that much trouble," Spike said, unable to look over the fairly large stack of books about dragon magic and culture. Lily looked over the comedic sight of Spike trying to walk with the stack of book over the top of his head while she simply just carried a single book in her hands. However this book would prove to be the most important one of the whole stack.

"Alright Spike if you say so, and you don't have to call me by my last name. We're in the same pack together, which kind of makes us family." Going eight years without knowing where her hive was or what state it was in, Lily happily called the others her family since they've been more helpful than her old hive. Granted that Wolf and Lily weren't on good terms until the twins arrival and the re-prioritizing of their collected focus.

"Okay M- Lily," Spike said, catching himself, and getting Lily to laugh with him shortly following. It amazed Lily at how much twins had changed the pack in the very short amount of time they have been around, she couldn't wait to see what else will change in the next few months, but only time will tell.

Lily placed a hand on the stack of books in Spike's hands, stopping his movement as they came to the arcane-stone slab door while both Peewee and Cinder landed on Spike's shoulders. Lily walked over to the stone slab and reached into a pouch on her side that was attached to a brown-leather belt Wolf made for her in exchange for a favor that had her sent to the Rainbow Falls. She pulled out a small piece of fire-stone that Blaze happily made her so she could visit anytime she wished.

The slab door started to move over allowing the two to walk in the large room. Upon doing so, their senses were filled with the smell of cooking meat as Blaze was instructing Quill how to cook meat, which was easier for the dragoness than it should have been.

Quill kept her attention on the task in front of her while Blaze turned to the other members of the pack still wearing the same outfit from yesterday. "Oh hi Lily, Peewee and Cinder, and stack of books?"

Lily laughed at the mare's unintended joke while Spike just sighed from behind the wall of ancient tomes. "It's Spike Blaze, he um...'offered' to carry all the books from the archives." With her hand on the back of his head, Lily led Spike over to the corner of the room where smoke chamber was at as Quill continued to slow roast the piece of rabbit meat. "Quill I thought you said that you can't cook."

The dragoness pause the steady stream of flames to take a few quick breaths. "I don't, or rather couldn't before, but this feels...right? I dunno," She said, looking at the piece of rabbit meat hanging on a steel-thread attached to the ceiling. "So how I did?"

Blaze stared at the piece charred meat, having cooked meat for Wolf countless times over the last eight years, only one thing she could think to say about it. "I dunno." Quill's jaw almost fell to the floor at the mare's seriousness of her voice. After all the instructions she been giving her about cooking meat, Quill had thought if anyone would be able to tell how she did it was Blaze. "In the sense, I don't know how it taste. I just cook it and Wolf tells me how good it is or not, sometimes he just eats it raw, but most of the time he doesn't complain."

"Well how is that going to help me?"

"Hey, like every good chief says, taste it yourself and find out," Blaze said with a knowing tone in her voice. Quill looked at the piece of meat with caution, she had no idea what it would taste like, and she was actually reconsidering the idea. However with the knowledge that dragons needed to eat some kind of meat, she pushed onwards as she took the meat off of the steel-thread, and brought it close to her nose for a quick whiff.

The smell was an odd one to her, yet her mouth started to water from it. Dull and slightly burnt by her fire but that's what made it more delicious smelling for her, the same exact smell as from the camp fires Applejack showed her how to start without her fire-breath, and it brought a sense of nostalgia to the dragoness. She opened her mouth to take a piece of it in and started to chew the small bite. The hesitant chewing slowly turned into a more joy filled smacking as her fangs ripped apart the tendered smoked meat.

"Well Quill what you think," Blaze asked, seeing the satisfied look on Quill's face told her everything she needed to know. Instead of answering, Quill started to bite down on the rest of the rabbit meat, and used her sharp fanged teeth to wrench the smoked meat off of the bone. She had never tasted something so delicious before in her life, in comparison with the other foods she ate before, the slightly overcooked meat was far better than any gem-stone she had ever eaten before.

Spike had already found a wall to place the books against and was captivated by his sister tearing through the meat as if she hadn't eaten in days-which both of them kind of have done. He too started to become curious about the taste Quill must be experiencing right now. Drool started to form around the corners of his mouth as his wanders lead him to believe that the meat must be the best thing in the world and Blaze caught this.

"Oh Spikey," She called out to the drooling drake, who tore his attention from Quill as she continued to devour any pieces of meat her tongue could taste, and turned to Blaze whose horn was glowing a soft crimson as she levitated a piece of already cooked rabbit towards him. "I bet you're just as hungry as Quill."

It wasn't long before both dragons were devouring on the rabbit meat, Quill had already started to chew on the bones to get any reminding meat off it, and Spike took massive bites of just about anything he could sink his teeth into.

Lily tapped Blaze on the shoulder and motioned her head toward the other door to the temple. Blaze understood what Lily was trying to say as the two left the pair of dragons to devour their first ever meal of meat. Blaze activated the spell on the arcane-stone door to lead Lily to where Wolf was at.

"So what's up," She asked walking up the stairs, sure that they were out of earshot of the twins.

"It's about Spike," Lily sighed as she followed Blaze up the stairs and into the room where Quill spelt last night where Wolf was hard at work using his claws, that can carve through solid lime-stone, to carve out wooden chairs from fallen oak-trees. The mare's short conversation grabbed the attention of the diamond dog as he fitted the last leg on the chair.

Wolf got up from the cold stone ground, dusting off any wood shavings from his hand, and walking towards the mare's. "What's about Spike?" As head of the pack, Wolf wanted to make sure that everyone was safe and secure within his territory, no matter the cost. "He's not having second thoughts about anything, is he?" Wolf had a feeling that Spike's resolve wasn't strong enough for him to see through the change in lifestyle and could undo all of his plans for them and the pack before they could start.

Lily shook her head, only slightly upset that Wolf would initially think that Spike couldn't handle being in the pack for more than two days, but she put that aside for more pushing matter had to be dealt with. "No, no, no it's not that. In fact both he and Quill are downstairs tearing apart some rabbit meat. No it has to deal with something else entirely."

Wolf raised an eyebrow, curious to what the mare could have meant, and by the tone of her voice it was something serious. "Alright I'll bite, what is it?" Over the last eight years, Wolf had gone to trust Lily's intuition and insight as it has helped save his life numerous occasions before, and if it could prove to help with both dragons then he is willing to listen.

"Both Spike and Quill have unsettled lust that is messing with them." A long stretch of time passed after the mare's words as Wolf stared straight at Lily, each second felt longer than the last for the mare while Blaze felt slightly out of place not sure what to do. However, that stretch of silence was shattered by Wolf erupting in hysterical laughter. His body doubled over onto the floor from the gut-turning laughter, all the years Lily had gave him advice on something, and bring something to his attention when it needed it the most; she goes and say the dumbest thing he ever heard of.

Merely glancing up to the mare was enough to send him back into a fit of laughter. "W-wait, wait...I think I'm going to throw-up," Wolf said, holding his stomach from the side-splitting laughter. Eventually he did regained enough composure to stand and speak clearly. "Okay, Lily. What in Cerberus's great name are you talking about?"

Lily sighed, finally getting the chance to explain herself better about the real pressing situation. "Right, I know it sounds odd, but it's the truth. Just this morning, Spike was...experiencing these urges, and it's only a matter of time before Quill follow suit." Wolf looked towards Blaze, who-after doing her own studying of dragons-had a knowing look on her face that told the dog that the mares weren't joking.

Wolf completely straightened out after realizing that the mares were serious about the matter. "Okay, so the two are going through urges, but what can we really do about it? It's not like we can just walk into some town and force someone to have sex with them. No, this is something that they must overcome themselves." Both mare's nodded their heads in agreement, there was only so much they could do for the twins, and something like desires was out of their control.

"As true as that is Wolf, we do need to keep an eye on it, and keep Spike separated from Quill when they sleep," Lily said, momentarily reliving the memories of the early wakeup call, and how she shameful she felt from enjoying Spike's inexperienced hands. "Also we need to keep a closer eye on Quill. Judging by her personality, she'll only become more aggressive as time goes onwards, and she may 'force' herself on Spike."

Blaze started to blush by what Lily meant while pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, let's not let that happen." Lily nodded towards him, already thinking of a sure-fire way to keep the unwanted event from happening. Wolf carefully picked up the finished wooden chair and set it aside so it'll be out of anyone's way. "Well, we better head towards the falls. Its been awhile since I last bath, I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I can say that one is due for all of us."

Blaze clapped her hands together in joy. "Oh good, I'm sorry Wolf, but dried dog hair smells just awful." Wolf rolled his eyes while the mares shared a good laugh before walking out of the room and back down the stairs. The three saw both dragons nose-deep sharing a book while Cinder toyed with Peewee in a flying game the birds had created for themselves.

Wolf told the mare's that he'll grab a change of clothes for them, since Blaze has no problem with Lily wearing the bits of clothes that fit the mare, while they walked over to the twins. Blaze grabbed the book out of their hands with her magic, gaining their full attention. "Spike, Quill grab your things, we're heading to a nearby waterfalls to bath, and I'm sure that you two could use it." Both dragons lifted their arms to smell their efforts of the last near three full days of not bathing. Blaze started to giggle when it looked like Quill was going to pass out from her own musky scent. "You to packed a change of clothes when you ran from home right?"

"Y-yeah, I know I did," Spike said, already having recovered from the blast of musky smell from him. Both mares then turned their attention to Quill, who stared at the ground like she trying to burn a hole through the ground. "Quill you did pack some clothes, right?"

Quill whipped her head towards Spike, immediately locking eyes with him. "No, I didn't think I would need them, and I especially didn't think we would have to run to Everfree forest. So no I don't have any extra clothes with me." The dragoness's eyes burned holes straight through Spike's head, sending him reeling back.

"Okay Quill that's enough," Blaze said, placing a hand on Quill's shoulder. "Neither of you could have foresaw what happened, so it's not fair for you to blame Spike like that." The mare's kind yet firm words was enough to get Quill to cease her fierce gaze. "Now I'm sure I have some old clothes that would fit you...with some changes," She said, taking Quill by the hand, and leading her to her room. Before Blaze and Quill were out of the room, she shot Spike one last gaze, and made sure to look him dead in the eyes.

Even for that split moment, the twins locked eyes, and Spike could feel all of Quill's lingering resentment about the 'accident' three days ago along with another look that he couldn't place his finger on, he knows that he seen it before; on some of the mare's back in Ponyville, but before he could take a guess she was gone along with the gaze.

Lily was able to catch the dragoness's gaze and knew that it was only meant for Spike. While he didn't know what the gaze's true intentions were, being a female herself, and also having seen Blaze shot it to Wolf numerous times before. She looked over to Spike, only to find that he was still confused by his sister sudden aggression, and the other look the gaze held.

"Spike, are you going to be okay?" She placed a hand on Spike's shoulder, breaking him out of his thoughts, and gaining his full attention.

"Y-yeah, I'll be fine." Spike tried to put on the bravest face he could but Lily could easily see through the guise of toughness. Before Lily could further question it, Spike had already started for his book-bag that had his change of clothes, and also some of the books to read and study during the trip. "Come on Lily, Wolf and the others are properly waiting for us outside. Peewee, Cinder you two stay here, alright?"

"Spike, Lily! Let's go," Wolf called from the top floor of the temple. Spike didn't waste any time before he started up the stairs with a concern Lily following shortly behind.

Canterlot castle; Celestial halls

High on top of the Canterlot mountain, in the great hall of the city's own castle, the heads of each individual department of the Solar guard were all in a mass meeting with Celestia about the twins' somehow complete disappearance.

The meeting itself started off on the wrong foot when several department heads were a few minutes late after having to deal with a few of their squad members having disagreements amongst themselves about the twins.

After two full days of circulated searching detail had all the squads and teams on edge as most have already given up hope on finding them while the others want to continued to look for the runaway dragons.

All aside from Obsidian's team, guards have returned injured by the creatures of Everfree forest, and by being constantly pushed be on what they all can do. This is the reason Celestia called for the meeting, to put an end to the guard's internal conflict amongst each other, and to find a compromise that would work out best in the end.

However even this turned to be a difficult task.

A golden armored hand slammed against the soiled marble meeting table that housed all five department heads, leaving massive crack lines alongside of the edge, and belonging to none other than Major Endive "I demand to know why you think that," She shouted at Obsidian after his proposal about the situation. "Mutt, what you asking is-"

"Major Endive, that's quite enough," Celestia shouted at the high ranking mare, questioning her skills as an officer of the crown. "You had your turn and the motion was denied. Sergeant Obsidian will get the chance to explain his proposal just you and the others have. Now sit back down or I'll have you removed," The solar princess commanded with a glare that none of the department heads had seen on the mare before. After a few more moments, Celestia breath out a sigh to came the high-strung nerves that had work their way up. "Now Sergeant, you were saying?"

"Thank you princess," Obsidian said, bowing his head respectively before going back his suggestion. "As I was saying, I think we should have one last search of Everfree with the elements of harmony, princess Celestia, and all five of us. This will be an one day expedition, expanding no longer than eight hours." Hushed murmurs came over the department heads, the conflict amongst their teams, and the numerous hours wasted during the search had all of them considering Obsidian's ultimatum. "In the case that we do find the twins, we are not to use force to get them back, instead we will allow them to choose if they want to remain living amongst ponies."

Endive stood up from her chair so quick that she knocked it over. "That's insane!" The attention of the entire room turned towards her as Obsidian was going to shout at the mare for contently trying to shoot down his plan but Celestia stopped him to allow the mare to explain herself. "May I remind you that they are still kids, how can you expect them to take care of themselves, and fight off those...monsters in that a caused forest?"

"May I remind you that they are dragons, teenage ones to be more exact." Endive raised an angry eyebrow at the dog but was cut off before she could question him about. "And if you was raised in the Lunar Republics like I was, you would know that any dragon, regardless of age, are fully able to take care of himself before any foal even their cutie mark."

Endive gritted her teeth at the dog's higher knowledge of dragons than just about anyone in the room. "I don't care what you think, mutt. All I care about is getting these children back home."

"Oh really," Obsidian asked with a dark chuckle. "Than tell me why is it you care so much?" The unicorn started to shake, weather it was from her anger, or Obsidian hitting the hammer on the nail; no one could know. "Why is it that any of us cares that they get back to princess Sparkle's arms? Is it a sense of duty, for a quick paycheck, or do you not really care and just following orders?" Obsidian started to walk around the room, making sure to lock eyes with every department head, and continued towards Celestia.

"Mutt you better-"

"Let me tell you why I'm trying to let them fend for their own," Obsidian again started, ignoring the glares Endive was giving him. "See, I left my home in the republics when I was merely ten years old, and I haven't regretted much of it. I was raised to be my father's replacement in the pack as alpha. Well, I didn't want the job, so I left. During those eight years I've spent on my own, the world had taught me a lot."

Obsidian finally reached the end of the room, where Celestia sat on top of a high throne design only for the meetings, and the two locked eyes. "The world taught me that life, sucks. Living on your own, unable to depend on anyone else is the hardest thing someone can go through." He turned around to face his fellow head members to continue his speech. "I was on my own, I had to do things that I dare not tell any other, and I sometimes wish I could bury all of those memories. But life doesn't work like that."

Slowly, the other members started to become invested into Obsidian's final pleas as some of them could relate to his life experiences. "I was alone, however the twins are not. They have each other and I firmly believe that nothing in this world can-or will-tear them apart. All of us are lucky enough know-or known-our parents, but the twins didn't have such luck. The closest that they have to family is each other, which is why I believe that they will never separate from each other."

He turned back around to Celestia, immediately locking eyes with her. "Princess, we all know that you yourself raised the twins, and we all know the feeling a mother goes through after their children move on. Which is why I'm asking you to allow the twins to make their own decisions, to allow them to prove themselves to this world we all call home."

An elongated silence befell the room as everyone waited with extreme anticipation at what Celestia was thinking. Every passing second was another reason she could use to think how to shoot Obsidian's plan down and another reason she could approve the plan. Each department head waited on the edge of their seats, they themselves haven't fully been able to answer all of the dog's weighing questions, and now all of the were considering his plan.

Most of them.

"You have got to be joking," Endive started wrenching everyone out of their own separate thoughts. "We're putting the lives of two innocent children-raised by Celestia herself-at risk on the pitiful life you once lived," She scoffed in hopes to somehow poke holes through Obsidian's reasoning. "The mere idea is-"

"Approved." Yet again the room's collected attention was drawn away from their thoughts and to Celestia as she stood from the throne. "Master Sergeant Obsidian's plan will be put in full effect as of now. I want all department heads to be ready in one hour and outside of the air transport. That is all, you all dismissed."

High Moon valley; waterfalls

The walk from the temple to the nearby waterfalls was a brief and thankfully uneventful one as Wolf used the time to think about what Lily told him about Spike's and Quill's 'problem' and how it might affect how things are done around the pack.

While Wolf was musing over the affairs of his pack, Lily was concerned more Spike's wellbeing, and also about how to deal with the evident depression on his face. She knew that it had to deal with the incident in Canterlot but she didn't know just how to go about it.

Blaze on the other hand was concern about the obvious hostility Quill has towards Spike, if they ever had any hope of making it in the pack, then she need to learn how to deal with it. She also saw what Wolf was talking about when said that Quill resembled her a little, how would this affect anything only time could tell.

Soon the growing pack arrived at the waterfalls that Wolf and the other's use to bath in. "Wow, that's a lot of water," Quill said, examining the three separate waterfalls as they flowed into each other, creating a large pool at the bottom of each one, and then into a small river at the bottom. "So all of these waterfalls flow from the river near the castle?"

"Yup that's right," Blaze said, placing both of her hands on Quill's shoulders, and starting to lead her toward a path leading upwards to the higher pools of waters with Lily close behind. "Come on, we're taking the second one. See ya in a little while Wolfie!" The mare continued to lead the young dragoness up the path that was covered by bushes and trees with an obvious sway of her tail. Lily stopped briefly to look back towards Wolf, who just waved the mare off, and started for the bottom water-pool.

Lily turned around to walk up the path to find that Blaze had already striped Quill out of her clothes and was using the home-made soap that Zecora taught her how to make to wash the dried dirt out from Quill's scales.

The mare sighed while she took of her dress-top, letting her breasts hang free out to the cool mid-spring air, and stepping inside of the rather chilly water. It was a struggle but when her body and fragile wings were able to adjust to the sudden change in temperature, Lily was able to relax in the stress-relieving material bath.

She took a moment to simply enjoy the moment of peace she felt as the activities of the last few days had been stressful on not only her but the rest of the pack as well. So many things need to get done before they could take it easy but right now was a time to breath a peaceful sigh. "Blaze, I know how to wash myself!" Which would be easy if Blaze would attempt to do the same thing.

Lily looked over towards the other two females as Quill struggled against Blaze presented efforts to wash her, however it seemed that Blaze was able to wash herself along with struggling-more like playing-with Quill. "Blaze you really must let the dragon do it herself," Lily added in, keeping her eyes closed. "I think she old enough to bath on her own."

For a moment, Quill thought that Blaze would listen to the flutterpony, but her hopes were dashed aside when Blaze wrapped her hands around Quill's head and buried it within her ample chest. "Aww, but I can't help it, she's so cute, and Spike did say that she can't stay above water on her own." Quill flailed her arms around looking for anyway to pull herself from Blaze suffocating chest, when her hands were able to grab hold of something, Quill pushed herself from the fluffy pillows. "Quilly, I didn't know you were a frisky dragoness."

That's when Quill realized that the thing she grabbed onto was Blaze's breasts and also that she still had them in her hands. "Ah, I-I am sorry," She shouted, removing her hands from alluring breasts with a blush.

Blaze started to giggle at how cute the usually tough-acting dragoness was when she was blushing. "Don't worry Quill, it was an accident so no harm done," She said, reaching out to Quill's head again, and this time gently placing it on top of her breasts again. Quill then took a moment to notice how warm the ample chest was and also how soft it was as well, almost mistaking them for pillows. Wolf get's to sleep on these? Lucky.

Soon the affectionate embrace ended, much to Quill's displeasure. "Now turn around so I can get your back and wings," Blaze said, turning Quill around for her so she could wash the scales on her back. Quill expanded her wings outwards, having a feeling that Blaze was going to ask her to do so anyways, and took in a sharp breath when she felt the cold liquid soap drip on her wings.

Blaze continued to wash Quill's body while Lily took care of her own needs. Soon the only sound heard were the rushing water of the falls and the gentle spring breeze "Say how long have you guys known Zecora anyways. Me and Spike known her for...three and a half years, and not once had she mention anything about you guys being here."

"Well," Blaze paused for a moment to think to herself. "I've know Zecora for a long while, longer than I've been in Everfree. You see I had travel her with her but I wanted to push further in Everfree than she did so we parted ways-sort of."

Quill turned her head slightly to look at Blaze with wonder at the knowledge that she had traveled from her and Zecora's land to Equestria. "Wow, so you're from Zebracoria," She asked, remembering hearing Zecora talk about her old home during visit that Twilight would take to her hut.

"Yup, south Zebracoria to be exact. I came here because of the easier access to resources for potions." Blaze smiled at the faint memories of heading east to the Equestrian borders along with meeting Zecora during the near round world trip.

"That's so cool, what about you Lily? How you know Zecora," Quill questioned the other mare as she was finishing washing herself while Blaze moved onto her head spines, which were still slightly sore from yesterday's hunting lesson.

"I know Ms. Zecora through Blaze, as well as Wolf, but I haven't had the chance to speak with her in awhile," Lily answered before dunking under the water to wash off the remainder of the soap. "Well I'm finished, what about you two?" Blaze again wrapped her arms around Quill and dunking under the water, dragging Quill with her, and reemerging. "I'll take that as a yes." Lily got out of the pool shortly followed by the other females in the pack.

Lily walked over to an oak tree where she placed her stuff at while Blaze led Quill over to a nearby evergreen tree where their change of clothes were at. As they were getting dressed, Quill noticed something shimmering in the corner of her eye, and turned to find that it was Lily's butterfly wings reflecting the light from the mid-afternoon sun. "Hey Lily," Quill started, getting the attention of the mare as she started to grab her clothes. "Your wings are shimmering." Lily looked confused for a second before she realized what Quill meant.

"Um...oh you mean these?" Lily stretched out her wings, flicking any amount of water off of them and enhancing the reflection coming off of them to form a small yet vibrant rainbow around her still bare body.

Quill blushed from how beautiful the mare looked because of the reflecting rainbow. Not even Rarity, who stole both her and Spike's heart at the same time, could hold a candle from the image that is now forever burned into her head, and the only mare Quill could think of that was even remotely close to Lily's natural beauty was Celestia herself.

"Y-yeah, those." Lily set her wings behind her back after all the water was shook off, that's when she realized that Quill was still staring at her, and the dragon's hungry gaze made Lily blush a little.

Blaze caught onto why Quill was staring and rolled her eyes. "Okay that's enough flirting you two," She said, grabbing Quill by her ear-frill, and pulling her away from the object of her sudden desires to get finish dressing. Lily stood in the same spot with her legs cross and the same blush on her face as she watch Blaze help Quill get dressed. "Here Quill you put these on, they should fit." How does she do it? Lily watched in wonder as Blaze got Quill dressed in her old clothes that was too small for her but may be the right size for the growing dragoness.

For as long as Lily knew Blaze, all she could see the mare as is a happy go-lucky unicorn that managed to do something others fail at more times than she wanted to count. Eight years she known both Blaze and Wolf, along with the close relationship they had, Lily always just figured that Blaze was another smart-yet empty headed-unicorn, but ever since the twins found their way into their lives Blaze had been acting more motherly than Lily thought she could.

Lily pushed the thoughts aside so she too could get dressed in a long brown skirt that went to her knees with red tribal décor going down along the sides with a white midriff dress top with the same red décor along the sleeves. She also asked Blaze to help tie her white mane back into the bun it was in before the bath, even though Quill enjoyed seeing the mare's mane scratch all the way down her back, and over her shimmering wings.

Blaze again choose to 'borrow' a pair of Wolf's black long pants again, also tying the ends of the legs with some pieces of leather-straps, and using the belt loops to tie a small array of potions she brought with her while her top was simply a large piece of fabric wrapped around her chest.

"Come on Quill, we still got things to do today, and the boys are most likely waiting for us," Blaze shouted after Quill pushed her from behind the evergreen so she could finish dressing by herself.

"Give me a sec," Quill called back from behind the tree.

Blaze huff out a sigh, tired of waiting, and wanting to show off her 'outfit' to Wolf. Lily caught the irritation in Blaze's attitude. "How did she managed to push you from behind the tree anyways," She asked while she sat on top of a large rock.

"She surprised me, on top of that she really quick, and much-" Rustling from some bushes grabbed the attentions of the mares as Quill came from behind the tree fully dressed in the outfit Blaze picked out for her. Quill was dressed in a small dull-red vest along with a white undershirt, that had two holes cut out of the back for her wings. With one pair of bright blue shorts, which had to be tied tight with a black leather-strap going around her waist.

Blaze also thought it was fitting to give Quill a pair of her old black-leather arm braces. After the day of hunting with Wolf, Quill had to abandon her black-dress shoes, leaving her bare-foot just like Blaze was when she was her age.

Before Quill could say anything, Blaze had already ran over to her, and again trapped her head in her large breasts. "Oooh Quilly, you look just like me when I was as young as you, and you look so adorable!" The trapped dragoness flailed her arms and wings around trying to get free of the comfortable jugs.

Lily giggled from the sight in front of her, even she had to admit that the dragon was 'adorable' to put it in the unicorn's words, but they didn't have time to ogled over the cute dragon for they still needed to get the twins magic lessons underway. "Okay that's enough you two," She started, "We still got stuff to do."

"Fine, fine." Blaze let Quill's head free but still kept her close as the three of them walked down the path towards the last pool of water. "I wonder if Spike and Wolf are getting along," Blaze open-mindedly asked while Quill gave into the mare's embrace, finding it to be eventually comforting.

Quill wiggled in Blaze's grip, find a more comfortable spot to walk in, and looked up towards the mare. "Why you ask that," Quill asked, enjoying the warmth Blaze was giving off as it reminded her of the time she and Spike used to live in the Canterlot castle when Celestia was taking care of them.

"Well, they haven't had much time to speak with each other, and I'm not so sure how Wolf will act around a male like Spike," Blaze answered, remembering the last time Wolf encountered another male in Everfree, and how coldly he treated the poor sea-serpent. Quill continued to look a Blaze with curiosity towards the answer, which she quickly thought of a better way to explain. "Okay it's like this, Wolf is an alpha diamond dog, and as such response highly toward another male near him."

Quill slowly nodded her head, still not fully understanding the concepts, but she was sure that she'll get it eventually. "Okay...but how does that affect Spike," Quill asked as they started to emerge from behind the bushes in front of the path.

"Well that's-"

"Come on, you can put up a better fight than that." The mares and young dragoness turned their head towards the two-shirtless-males as Wolf had foot on Spike's back to pin to the ground while he had his tail bent over his top head spine. "By the way, you're really fixable for a drake."

Quill placed her hands over her mouth to keep herself from laughing out loud to the misfortune that Spike was being put through, especially since she does it to him all the time. However, Quill's small giggles were ended by Blaze glaring at her with a disapproving look, and Quill mistook it for Twilight's while Lily walked over to the dog.

"Gezz Spike, you acting like you never been in a fight before," Wolf joked, bending Spike's back more, and not noticing the flutterpony walking behind him. Lily placed her hand on Wolf's shoulder and gained his attention. "Huh, Lily can it wait? I'm-"

The diamond dog wasn't able to finish speaking before Lily's grip on his shoulder tightened along with her grabbing on to his collar and flipping him over her shoulder. Wolf's vision was filled with his own knees as they connected to the tip of his nose before his body flattened against the dirt ground.

Lily then moved to help Spike up off the ground and helped dust him off. "Come along Spike, we need to begin your water-magic training, and this water pool will serve as a perfect spot." The flabbergasted drake didn't have the chance to respond before Lily lead him over to the other side of the pool.

When Lily began to instruct Spike with any knowledge she already know, Quill stood in just as much shock as Wolf was still in while Blaze knelt down to Quill's ear. "Don't mess with Lily," She whispered in a low tone but still loud enough for Wolf to hear her. Quill turned her attention to Blaze as she started to walk over to Wolf. "Wolfie, are you okay? That was a hard fall."

Wolf understood what Blaze was trying to do and started to get up from the ground, only slightly hurt from Lily's surprise attack. "Yeah, I'm fine. Worse had happened before." Still hurt like hell, through. "So Quill you ready to start your first lesson on fire-element magic?"

"Really! We're starting now?" Quill's eye started to shine brightly at the thought of learning more about the incredible force that was her fire along with any more information about dragons from the two.

Blaze walked back over to Quill and wrapped her arms around Quill nodding her head. "Yeah, but Wolfie doesn't know anything about magic." Wolf rolled his eyes at the obvious true statement as Blaze continued. "So I'll be the main one teaching you, which should be easy since both of us enjoy fire so much," She finished, lighting her horn, and creating several floating fireballs to ignite in the air around them. Quill looked at the bright balls of crimson with a wonder that surpassed anything else she experienced in her life, not even watching Celestia raise the sun brought her fascination as the brilliant balls of flames. "So Quill, you ready?"

Quill spun around on her heel to face Blaze in the eyes. "Yeah I am," She shouted with a fiery determination which rivaled any before. She wanted to learn as much about her magic as possible, not just to protect Spike, but the whole pack and also to somehow prove to Wolf that she and Spike will be a constant help with the pack's safety. She no longer wanted to be someone's 'assistant,' she no longer wanted to watch the world pass her by from a library window.

Blaze looked into the dragoness's determined emerald-green eyes, the bright orbs of pure will reminded her of herself of a time before she couldn't do much of the things she could now, and also the rewarding feeling she got every time she learned something new after many days of hard studying. "Right then if you're really ready, then your first lesson is doing this," She said, scratching her hand out to her side, and using her magic to move the fireballs towards the space above.

Quill watched in awe as all the crimson orbs fused together, becoming larger with each one, and also changing in coloration. The once pure red fireballs were now a chaotic mixture of reds, whites, and black; just how her fire was the other night. Blaze allowed the fire to disperse into the air, creating a small flare of fiery colors for Quill to gaze at. "I want you to make one of these, without using your fire-breath, but it doesn't need to be of this size since this is your first lesson. Think you can handle it?"

"Yeah," Quill answered with more energy than before and ready to start the lesson. While his sister was learning the wonders of her fire-magic, Spike sat on the ground-still without a shirt-with his legs crossed, and performing slow breaths as Lily instructed him to do.

Lily watched the rise and fall of Spike's flat chest with care, impressed by his ability to focus, but continued to make sure he was following her instructions. "That's it Spike, breath and let your mind wander, allow all of your worries to flow from your body, and allow your magic to take hold," She reminded him while she continue to pace in front of him.

Spike kept his eyes closed but still nodded his head, feeling that he would have mess up whatever Lily was trying to get him to achieve from the breathing if he did open them up. Lily knew that her magic was far different than dragons-and unicorns for that matter-but like life itself, all magic had some common ground, and it was from this common ground where Lily hoped to build a strong foundation for Spike to grow and ameliorate.

The first step in this was learning just how Spike stands when it comes to concentration, so far he was promising. "Okay Spike, now I want you to describe how it feels when you're breathing fire," She said, knowing that his normal fire-breathing is connected to his water-element.

"It feels...weak, forced even, like I have to try to do it rather than it being natural like Quill's," Spike answered after breathing out and resuming the breathing techniques. All of their young lives, Spike always felt that Quill was more able with her fire-breathing than he was, rather it was because she used it more than he did he wasn't sure, yet it was still him that sent Twilight's friendship reports ever since Quill accidentally destroyed one of the letters with her hotter fire-breath. "I'm not sure, but it feels like I have to put more effort in it than I should, and I get really sleepy after using too much of it."

Lily nodded her head as she took a seat in front of him, sitting in the same position as him. "I see. Tell me Spike, you said that you disliked burning things, but could you tell me why?" The drake took a moment to think of a proper answer before speaking. Memories of the Canterlot library burning down, along with a few fire related nightmares he been having since the greed-growth, flashed through his head.

He was able to keep focus with the slow breathing as he thought of the answer to Lily's question. "Because...because fire destroys things, sure that it provides warmth and allows things to live, but it also causes devastation. I've hear of times where ponies' homes were lost because of a fire. After me and Quill's greed-growth, when I saw the amount of damage we caused in two hours, it scared me." Lily was stunned from the knowledge that the two went through a greed-growth and was able to come back from it. Overcoming one's greed was spoken as legend amongst dragons. "It scared me to the point where I didn't want to ever use my fire-breath again but I had to 'cus Quill fire-breath was too strong."

"I'm assuming you mean anything Twilight needed to send to Celestia," Lily said, recalling the twins telling her and Wolf about their lives as Twilight's 'number-ones assists,' and how Twilight was the student to the sun goddess. "So Spike I must ask, if you had the chance to not use your fire-breath, would you do it?"

A brief moment passed as Spike used the time to think about how destructive and useful his fire-breath was. All the times it somehow gotten in his way, when it caused other harm, or when it destroyed a quarter of Ponyville. Then there was all the times it helped saved it, gave aid to Applejack when Quill wasn't around, or to Fluttershy when she need help with caring for her animal friends. "No, no I wouldn't stop using it. It's a part of who I am, and as much harm it could do, it could still do so much good too."

Lily smiled, Spike knew the dangers of his fire-breathing, and even if he feared it he was disciplined enough to use it properly; all of this should aid with him learning water-magic. "Good, you understand the harm that you could cause, but you still use it when need to. This shows that you have self-control, as well the discipline to learn to control your element."

Lily stood from her spot on the ground to walk over to Spike and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I think you're ready to learn just that." Spike opened his eyes to look up at Lily's snow white eyes, which only spoke of trust and kindness towards the drake. "Come along Spike, the first step to this is seeing if you have an idea of the concept, and building from there."

Spike got up from his spot on the ground and walked over to the side of the water pool where Lily already stood. He came to a skidding stop, almost falling into the water if it wasn't for Lily grabbing onto his shoulder. The mare giggled a little at Spike periodic cumbziness while he simply blushed and scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin.

"So this is like a benchmark test," He asked, moving the lesson onwards.

Lily placed a finger to her lip in thought, for a moment, wondering why he would look at it like that, but soon seeing the small connection. "Um…odd way to look at it, but yes. Now place your hand over the water and focus your will on it," She instructed as Spike slowly kneeled down to the waterside and placed his hand over it.

He closed his eyes to begin the same breathing techniques Lily showed him, figuring that it would help with the lesson. As Spike started to focus on bending the water to his will, Quill was finding her first lesson to be rather hard.

"Come on Quill, you almost got it," Blaze continued to encourage while Wolf was resting his head in the mare's lap as he had his eyes closed napping-since he prove to be no use to the dragons' first lesson.

Quill strained to keep her hand from shaking as a small-yet bright-purple flame struggled to come to life. The same flame had appeared and disappeared from Quill's grip several times now and she was starting to believe-the once thought-simple task to be too much for her. "I can't do it," She gritted through her teeth.

"Yes you can, now focus. You have a talent for this so prove it." Blaze believed in Quill, she knew that she could pull it off, but for it to work she needed to think that herself. "You can do this Quill, just stay calm, and remember to breath." Trusting in Blaze's knowledge, Quill closed her eyes as she took in a deep to ease her nerves, and refocused on the small flame. "Yeah, just like that. Now breath and let the magic flow."

Quill started to slowly breath in and out with each breath the small flame grow larger as she immediately started to feel the difference from when she was struggling with the small flame. Soon the flame grew into a small spherical shape, burning a bright purple, and becoming stable.

A bright smile appeared on Blaze's face as she hopped up off the ground, knocking Wolf off her lap, and running over to Quill to wrapped her arms around her head. "Oh Quill, I knew you could do it, I just knew it, and..." Blaze bend over to place her chin on top of her shoulder and her mouth right next to her ear. "Give it time, I'm sure your flame will glow brighter, and burn much hotter with passion." She lit her horn again, creating another-smaller-fireball, and mixing it with Quills that somehow managed to say alight during the mare's excited celebration.

The two spared colored flame fused together, forming a radiating ball of fire, and burned with crimson and purple flames of the two. Again, Quill's eyes were filled with wonder and astonishment at the pure intensity of the two flames as they danced along with each other in a tempest of bright reds, and dark purples.

Wolf slowly got up after being rudely awakened by Blaze sudden movement and witnessed the sight in front of him, the joyful wander on Quill's face, and the proud look of Blaze. That's when Wolf started to muse over the thought of their cub experiencing the same thing when the time for its birth arrives. Something that he'll be looking forward to for a long while.

Wolf wasn't the only one who caught the two's celebration as Spike was still struggling with even moving a single drop of water and was quickly losing hope while Lily looked onward with distance. I know he understands. He's figuring things out faster than I did, so what's stopping him? Lily questioned herself as the drake's teacher but she didn't lose faith in him and she was going to make sure that he didn't as well.

However the sun was starting to move passed the horizon and it'll be time for them all to head back to the temple soon. Guh, I hate to do it, but looks like we'll just have to pick this up later. Lily walked over to the struggling drake and placed a hand on his shoulder. Spike ceased his attempts at activating his water-magic but kept his gaze downwards to the pool. Lily could tell that he was deeply upset that he couldn't get a single drip to move while Quill was able to at least get a foothold of the lesson.

"Spike, that's enough for today. We can pick this up first thing in the morning if you like." After a few more seconds of staring at the pool, Spike sighed in dejection, and turned to grab his stuff-still forgetting that he's without his shirt, but no longer caring about it. He also refused to look Lily in the eyes, making the mare think that he's somehow upset with her as well as the lesson.

The two walked over to the other three as Quill started to quickly get the hang of creating fireballs to the point where she was able to have two of them going at the same time and spinning them around in orbit around each other.

Both Wolf and Blaze turned to the two, only to see the defeated looks on their faces, and the two lovers realized that Spike's lesson went with less success than Quill's. However the dragoness didn't catch this as she spun around on her heels to Spike with a bright wide simile; blissfully unaware of the bad luck her twin was having.

"Spike, Spike look," She exclaimed waving the purple fireballs around with much control. "Isn't this great? We've learned so much in just two days!" Not wanting to ruin Quill's joy, Spike put up a false smile, and nodded his head. "I can't wait to see what we do tomorrow." While Quill was expected to learn something new, Spike just wanted to crawl up into a ball, and let brew over his own failures.

It's what he did back in Ponyville and- "This is awesome, we would have never done this back in Ponyville." Spike's eyes started to widened at the realization that they weren't in Ponyville anymore, that their old lives of being kept safe in the library was forever over, and that it wouldn't be fair for him to quit after one small failure.

So what if Quill was learning faster than he was, so what if he had the harder element, Spike wasn't going to just sit around and let Quill protect him from everything, and now was the time for him to start. "Hey Spike, you want to do some reading after we get back," Quill asked, breaking Spike out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm sure it'll help out as well." The other three were thrown off by Spike's unexpected joyful cheery voice, that by the time they had realized that it was really Spike talking, he and Quill had already stated on the path. "Come on, I race you back there-"

"Spike? Quill?" /-/  
/ Ch 6: Winds of Time/-/

High Moon Ch. 6:  
Winds of Time

"Spike? Quill?" The twins stopped dead in their tracks at the sound of the last pony they wanted to hear. Everyone looked over to the bushes on the left to find that Twilight, the rest of the elements, Celestia, and several guards emerging. Quill immediately placed a wing in front of Spike, glaring at each pony-and in Obsidian's case-dog that was there while Wolf and the others looked onto the scene from a distance.

Twilight tried to take a step closer towards the twins, still shocked to find them so far out in Everfree, but Quill blew out a stream of fire on the ground in front of the approaching mare. All aside Obsidian, started to go for their weapons, and Wolf started to darkly growl upon seeing the tools.

Luckily, Obsidian was quick to defuse the situation before it happened. "I said no weapons, we're here to let the elements and Celestia talk to them. Now put them away," The dog roared, had been given full control of the operation by Celestia. All of the guards yielded to Obsidian's orders, though Endive needed a glare from the princess before she too gave into the dog's command.

Twilight tried again to take a step closer towards the two dragons, after using her magic to put out the dragoness's fire, however she was again stopped by Wolf stepping between her and the twins while Blaze and Lily pulled them close.

Wolf's gaze wasn't even on the alicorn, or was it on any of the ponies present. The only one to be able to capture his full attention was the other diamond dog. Obsidian caught on to this, he knew that it was because he too was an alpha dog like Wolf, and returned the stare with full force.

An eerie silence befell the forest, a silence so dark that it drown the ponies in the dog's engagement, but soon was broken by Wolf. "Hапустити, 'Leave,'" He barked, using an ancient diamond dog tongue that is still thought to any dog raised in a den, however the way it is spoken between den and countries is slightly different depending on what type of region the dog is from.

Obsidian sighed, he hadn't spoke in the ancient tongue for near ten years, and what he did know was somewhat sloppy. However he need to allow the elements and Celestia to talk to the twins. "Чекај ... хм ... мислимо ништа лоше, 'Wait...um...we mean no harm'" Obsidian started, praying to Cerberus that he said the phrase right. "Ми само желимо да ... разговарам са њима. 'We just want to...speak to with them.'"

Wolf raised a questioning eyebrow towards Obsidian, not for his sloppy attempt to recall the old tongue, but at how it sounded to him. "Морате бити планински пас, 'You must be a mountain dog," He started getting a nod from Obsidian. "Фино од планинског пса, шта је смисао ти доноси ове поније у мојој територији, 'Fine than mountain dog, what's the meaning of you bringing those ponies in my territory,'" Wolf questioned, not liking this many ponies being near the temple or High Moon.

"Они су хтели да их донесе кући, или барем разговарати с њима, 'They wanted to bring them home, or at least talk to them,'" Obsidian stated, waving his hand towards the elements and Celestia. "Молимо, близанци не морају да оду, али барем им дозволити оволико. 'Please, the twins don't have to leave, but at least allow them this much.'" Wolf stared at Obsidian, the dog's pleading looks along with the desperate looks of the mares behind him, was enough for him to consider the thought.

He knew that this day would happen at some point or another and the last thing Wolf wanted was to enrage the being powerful enough to control the sun. Also, this could be used as the twins biggest test of loyalty towards the pack. If they chose to stay of their own accord than he could take that as a sign of absolute trust they have for the pack, and if they leave, then it's less work for him.

However, it the twins do go back, it may completely prevent them from properly growing, and cause them troubles later in life. After hearing how little the ponies know-or are willing to let them know-Wolf had became deeply concerned for the twins' health, and seeing how much joy both dragons brought to the pack as well as how they somehow brought them closer in the short amount of time made Wolf want to turn the dog's pleas down.

But it wasn't his choice rather they stay or go, it was theirs, and they deserved that much. "Добро, 'Fine,'" Wolf sighed after much weighted thought. He turned around to the twins as they watched in silence with Blaze and Lily during the dog's private conversation. "Quill, Spike, these 'nice' ponies wish to speak to you, and I think after coming all this way in Everfree that they earned that much."

Quill looked into Wolf's green eyes with shock that he was turning them over to the very same ponies that didn't know how to raise them but after locking eyes with him, she realized that he had no intentions of forcing them to leave. "Fine," She started, breaking away from Blaze's grip, and walking no further passed Wolf before she stopped to glare into Twilight's eyes.

Twilight wanted to rush over to the dragoness to hug her tight and never let go, but a glare from Wolf told her that it wasn't the best thing to do. "Quill, please come home we-"

"Stop," Quill said, barely loud enough for anyone to hear, and turned her gaze towards the ground. "Stop it Twilight. I don't want to come home, not because of what happened in Canterlot, but because of you." Twilight's eyes widened from the fiery venom in Quill's voice, the mare could feel her heart cracking from Quill's denial of her pleas, and tears started to form from the heavy blame that she placed on her shoulders.

"Quill, w-what are you-"

"I said stop it!" Twilight along with the rest of the elements flinched from the unexpected shrilling roar from Quill. Dark smoke clouds started to seep from her nose as two days of knowing that Twilight and Celestia could have been lying to her and Spike started to erupt. "Tell me the truth Twilight, do you really not know anything about dragons, or are you hiding something? Because someone would have thought the personal student of Celestia, a being that's lived for generations, would have taught a little more about dragons if she was going to raise them."

Twilight bit her lower lip as the situation started to escalate into something she wasn't prepared for. "T-that's not true, Celestia wouldn't-"

"And let's not forget the many times that your 'studies' had me and Spike lock behind the library doors for days at a time. It took six months for half of Ponyville to even get used to us, you would think that the 'number-ones' assistants to Celestia's student would at least get treated fairly, but no." Years being either trapped behind the wooden walls of the Golden Oka's library and of getting odd stares from ponies from Ponyville or from one's that are merely visiting started to finally boil over.

"Now Quill," Rarity started, tired of the dragoness's sudden disposition, and no longer able to see her chew Twilight up like that. "You should know better than to blame poor Twilight like that, she been worried sick about you two, and so have the rest of us."

"Can it Rarity," Quill snorted, almost making Rarity faint from the rudeness in her voice. "Be honest, you don't really care. In total now me and Spike had run away like five or six times now, each time you or some random pony finds us, and everything goes back to fuc- Freaking normal."

Rarity started to waver from the dragon's honest claims as she knew what she was really referring. "N-now that's not called for-"

"Whatever," The dragoness said in an uncaring tone as she waved her hand towards the mare. "Frankly I simply don't care any more. I don't care for being somepony's pack-mule," A sharp glare was thrown towards Twilight, making her look away from Quill. "I don't care for somepony thinking that they can use their looks to lead me or my brother on, so you can get us to do things for you," Another-much darker-glare was thrown to Rarity, making her gasp in horror. "And I don't care to be lied to any more." One final glare was thrown to Celestia, who remained unmoved during the whole conflict.

Quill shook her head at Celestia's unemotional expression as she turned to walk over to Blaze but stopped halfway to glance back to the mares she used to call family. "That was my old life, now I'm the one who'll make my own choices." Without another word, Quill spared her wings, and took off into the setting sun. Wolf and the others recognized her flight direction as it was heading straight for the temple.

He look towards his unicorn lover as she had the same knowing look on her face as he did. It was painfully obvious to the group of Quill's choice, all that was left for Spike to make his choice. "Blaze, go after her, and stay put." Without saying anything, Blaze lit her horn and teleported to the temple to watch over Quill while things are being wrapped up.

Soon the group's collective attention fell on Spike, adding to the bearing pressure he was already feeling, but now wasn't the time for him to choke up. Pushing away from Lily, Spike walked passed Wolf, and stopped roughly around where Quill did-but still closer than her.

"Spike don't-"

"Twilight, everypony," Spike started, pausing a bit before continuing. He couldn't stand the sadden expressions on any of the girls faces, Spike wished there was something he could do to make the situation better for everyone, but the way things were going that was far from reach. Spike took a shaky breath before continuing again, "I wanted you to know, that the time me and Quill spent with you all were the best time of our lives-since it was our entire lives-and that we'll always cherish the lessons you taught us. But, we can't keep living with you any longer, and we need to know more about dragons."

Seeing the tears streaming down Twilight's face, forced Spike to look away, but only to look back with a false smile. "We'll be fine, I'll make sure that Quill doesn't do anything to get herself hurt, and I'm sure after a while that we could come visit. But until then, I'm staying here with Wolf and his pack." Spike started to back up without turning away from the depressed looks on the elements' faces and stopped when Lily wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry Twilight, everypony, but for now this is goodbye."

"Spike please wait," Twilight called out but was too late before Lily opened her wings and took off towards the temple with Spike in her arms. Twilight watched completely helpless as Spike soon became a tiny speck in the redding sky.

Everyone as well continued to watch as the last dragon abandoned the scene and their old lives to live a new one in hopes of learning more about dragons. However the two diamond dogs continued to stare at each other, only faintly pay attention.

"Mountain dog, I got a question for you," Wolf started, gaining the attention of everypony beside Twilight. "Да ли је то оно што сте хтели, 'Is this what you wanted,'" Wolf asked, using the same diamond dog tongue as before so the ponies wouldn't know what they were saying.

Obsidian slowly shook his head, he did wanted the twins to be on their own, but he didn't want their goodbyes to the elements to end the way it did. "Не, не могу да кажем да јесте, али нема много да урадим поводом тога. 'No, no I can't say it did, but there's not much I can do about it.'" He knew it'll be hard on the elements but not as hard as Celestia, even if she was acting unmoved during the twins' choices, but after seeing her in the distort state she was in a few days ago, Celestia will be the hardest one to adjust. "Шта је са тобом? 'What about you?'"

Wolf started to chuckle, he was upset at how Quill handled it, but it was to be expected he guessed. He turned towards the direction towards the temple and glanced over towards the defeated faces of the elements and some of the Solar department heads. Wolf didn't want to steal the twins away from anyone but if they didn't want to go back home with them and if they wanted to continue to live within High Moon valley, then it'll be his responsibility to care for them.

He looked back to Obsidian, Wolf locked his dull-green eyes with Obsidian's faded-silver eyes, and shook his head. "Само ће време показати, 'Only time will tell,' and until that time mountain dog…"

"May our paths cross again," Obsidian said, remembering the phase from his father in the republics, and knowing that Wolf was going to use it.

"By the Winds of Time, mountain dog," Wolf finished the phase after not having to use it for more than ten years now. He started to walk towards the path hidden by a wall of bushes but not before saying, "Now, get out of my territory." Wolf then disappeared from sight.

Obsidian had a feeling that Wolf had more than one reason with telling them to leave his lands as the time for Celestia to lower the sun quickly approached, so to does the real dangers of Everfree arises. "Alright everypony, you heard the dog. By diamond dog culture, we're now trespassing, and he's no longer required to lend a hand to us. So, Corporal Tempest, call for an air-transport to take us back to Canterlot." A dark-blue pegasus stallion, dressed in light-armor so not to affect his flying, saluted the dog before pulling out a communicator to send out Obsidian's orders.

"We're done here."

High Moon valley; Temple ruins

So, its really happening, Wolf thought to himself as he walked down the path towards the temple where the other supposedly were awaiting for him to return and get things situated. He knew that it'll be a lot of work to get the twins able to properly care for themselves without any of the others to watch over them, also that they'll be in a depressed mood for awhile, but in the long-run it'll be worth it.

His only wish was that he didn't had to see the sad looks on the elements' faces, the looks of someone losing another that they hold dear to their heart, but what done is done. The another thing Wolf didn't like was the unresponsive look on Celestia's face, it was as if she didn't care either way it went, and that the twins' choices wouldn't affect her in anyway.

Quill had already told him that it was Celestia that raised them when they were first hatched, so she acted as a mother for the twins, but yet she still didn't shed a single tear during the confrontation.

However, Wolf didn't have time to dwell on such thoughts. He had a pack to maintain, a pair of dragons to train, a mare pregnant with his cub to take of, and an entire valley to protect. There wasn't time for him to be concerned whether the twins' old caretakers remorse over their choice or not.

It's going to be hard for everyone but I'm sure that they can do it, Wolf told himself as he came to the temple arcane-stone door and opened them with his arm-braces. Once the doors were out of the way, Wolf started to make his way down the stairs, and quickly made his way towards Blaze's work area.

Once the final door was opened, Wolf was greeted to the sight of the twins arguing about something-most likely about the events that unfolded not too long ago-and the sight wasn't a pretty one. "I don't care any more Spike!" Quill stood over Spike as her wings flared out in rage and frustration. "For as much as I care, she is dead to me!"

"Who is dead to you," Wolf asked, gaining the attention of Quill, and saving Spike from her anger.

"Princess Celestia, she didn't say a single thing, and she was the one to raise us!" Quill couldn't believe the pony she used to call mother showed no signs of their departure. Also, along with that fact, Quill still firmly believed that Celestia was hiding all she knew about dragons from them. "Then there's Rarity, who does she think she is telling me what I can and can't say?"

Wolf sighed, he knew that Quill would still be angry, but he didn't think that she'll be this angry. "Quill, I know, but you've got to calm down. Getting angry over something that you can't control isn't how things get done around here." Quill closed her eyes as she started to slowly breath to calm her nerves, puffing out more dark clouds of smoke before opening her eyes again now much calmer than before. "Better?"

"Yeah," She answered in a tired low voice as her cast became transfixed to the floor. "I'm going to bed." Quill walked away from Spike without another word to him and started for the guest bedroom she slept in before. Everyone soon heard the door slamming shortly after she was out of sight and Wolf sighed again before turning to Spike.

"I'm heading back to the city ruins," He said before Wolf could ask him anything, Lily followed Spike without saying a word, but still gave Wolf a curious glare.

Wolf merely shook his head as well waved a hand towards the mare. "Go on, we'll keep an eye on Quill." Lily gave a nod towards him and opened the arcane-slab door leading to the city ruins. Once opened, Spike, Lily, and the twins' phoenixes left the room as they started to make their way towards the mansion for a much needed sleep.

The two lovers watched the four leave into the darkness of the tunnels until the arcane-slab rolled back into place. Once the tunnels were sealed off, Wolf let out a long sigh of exhaustion while Blaze walked up behind him, and wrapped her arms around his back.

"You think this is the right thing," She asked after seeing how saddened the goodbyes made the twins and their old caretakers. "Don't you think we could have done something else?"

Again Wolf merely shook his head, already having thought of several reasons why nothing else would-or could-work. "No, we can't make their choices for them, but we can look after them and help them." He knew that the twins needed to learn to live with the choices that they make and also learn that they need to start thinking how it'll affect them in the long run. "Come on, it looks like we'll be getting an early start tomorrow, and we still have a lot of things to do."

Both Wolf and Blaze started for their bedroom for a much needed rest, for tomorrow is a new start, and the real first day for the twins. What it entailed was for time to tell.

Canterlot castle; transport landing pad

Celestia and the elements, along with the five department heads, walked out of the transport after it had landed in Canterlot. Neither Twilight, nor Celestia had spoken the entire trip back, and all blame was starting to fall on top of Obsidian.

As he started to walk off the landing platform, the sound of a sword being drawn out from a sheath, and surprised gasp from Fluttershy stopped his movement. However he refused to turn around to the one that had drawn the weapon, already knowing who it was. "I hope you are happy mutt," Endive asked with a sharp tone. "You have single-handedly killed those kids."

A few tense moments passed before Obsidian let out a small chuckle in response. "Really, what makes you say that," He asked without looking at the unicorn. "Is it because I left them in the care of another diamond dog? Or, is it because you didn't get you way?" Even if it didn't go down the way he wanted it to, or even the way he thought it would, the twins' decision was still one he wanted them to make.

"Don't toy with me mutt, what's your game? You've been the only one to want them to say and I want to know why," Endive questioned as she pushed the sword closer to the back of his head. Obsidian sighed, displeased with the mare's stubborn attitude, and upset that she restored to violence to just talk to him.

Suddenly, Obsidian pivoted around on one heel, he pushed the side of the sword out of Endive's hands, and sent it flying to the concrete ground where it became deeply embedded. "That's why," He said before anyone could understand what just happened. "You don't learn the limits of yourself from being trapped behind a library. Also let's not forget one simple thing, the twins are dragons, they tend to live a lot longer than ponies, and also tend to grow a lot more than them."

"And what does that have to do with anything," Rarity asked, not liking how Obsidian was treating the fact.

"Simple, one day they would have outgrown the library in more ways than one. One day, their desire for knowledge would have them pushed further than Everfree. And one day, this," Obsidian waved his hands around the whole group as emphasis. "would have happened. At least now we know that they are safe and are in a place where they can learn more about dragons."

"Ah don't get it," Applejack started after heavy thought. "Just why do they need to know about dragons, them things are more dangerous that a mudslide on a rock farm."

"Again simple," Obsidian started, turning away from the group, but didn't leave just yet. "What if you were taken from the farm at a young age, any of you, what if you were taken from your homes, and raised by say…diamond dogs?" He allow the group to start thinking about the situation, knowing that it'll be the best way for them to know what it feels to be in the twins' shoes. "Diamond dogs live a very different life than ponies, just like ponies live a very different life than dragons. It's only natural from them to what to know more."

Everypony started to see the dog's point and soon started to think that what happened was for the best. If the twins were living with the other diamond dog but one question weighed heavy on Twilight's mind. "Will we see them again?" The very same question had all the other wandering as well, even the department heads-after investing so much time and thought into the matter-were asking the same thing.

All eyes fell on Obsidian, all speaking a different emotion or point of view about the matter, but essentially asking the same thing as Twilight. Sighing, Obsidian started walking off the platform, and refused to return the ponies' collective gazes. "It's like the old diamond dog saying, 'Until time tells, may our paths cross, by the Winds of Time."

2 months later, High Moon; Everfree forest

Faster, I need to go faster. High above the ground of Wolf's valley, Quill blazed across the early autumn sky as her and Spike's training had become more intense and fierce during the two months after they made their choice to stay within High Moon.

It still was a few more days after the confrontation with the elements before either dragon could speak with each other after the argument they had. During that time, Quill started to push her body even further than before, and her efforts were starting to show clearly on her. Her head spines became denser as well as much sharper, her wingspan had grown close to twice the size as it was before, and her claws had became longer.

On top of that, her fire-magic had quickly started to develop much faster than Blaze thought it would, but the mare still was able to prove that Quill still had a long ways to go. Not like she didn't minded being shown up by Blaze as she had quickly grown to respect the mare and also Wolf.

However, her fire training was on a short break because Blaze started to show slight signs of her pregnancy, and using too much magic was taxing on the mare's body. When news of the mare's pregnancy reached Quill's ears, she became overjoyed for her while Lily and Spike also showed their support.

So when Blaze was unable to give a lesson on fire-magic, Wolf stepped in, and started to condition Quill's body so she'll be ready to start hunting bigger things than rabbits on her own. It was hard at first, and Wolf showed little mercy towards her, but through the daily three mile runs, sparring matches to sharpen her skills, chasing after deers and wild-boars, and even helping him push a few timberwolves out of the valley, Quill grown to enjoy the new life she was expected to adapt to.

Just about every waking moment during the last two months, Quill had spent learning new ways to use her fire-magic, studying more about dragons or other wildlife, or pushing her body to its bare limits with training. She was glad to do this though, it kept her from thinking about Twilight and the others, and allowed her to better adapt to her new life.

However, moments did occur where she'll mistake something for her old life in Ponyville, and as soon as she realized this, Quill would head out to work on one thing or another. Even this morning-rather afternoon thanks to how much she sleeps now-she started to have memories flashing through her head about waking up in Twilight's bed, only to find the guest/work room she sleeps in.

So right after she told Wolf and Blaze where and what she was doing, Quill took off into the sky to work on her flying, but really to push the unwanted memories away. Each beat of her wings, sent her soaring higher and higher, she even made a 'game' where she'll push herself to go as high as she could before snapping her wings shut to enter a free-fall dive to the ground before flaring her wings out.

Now she was in that same steep inclined towards the top of the sky, straining her wings to push herself higher into the bluish sky. After she broke through another cloud barrier, Quill press her wings tight against her body, and being the sheep dive straight towards the ground.

She closed her eyes to fully enjoy the rushing winds passing past her scales and the old clothes that Blaze allows her to wear. The beating of the winds, the flapping of the clothes, and the pure feeling of peace she somehow felt from the dive. The rushing feeling she got was the same where she would every time she had the chance to race Rainbow through the skies above Ponyville. However, it was only similar, the free-fall dive was much more...thrilling to her. Each time she would perform the dive, Quill will wait a little longer before she started to count in her head. 1...2...3! Quill forced open her wings, something she found a challenge to do the higher she went, to ride the sudden up-wind of air right before she crashed into the ground.

Leaves from trees were ripped off by the dragoness's sudden incline as she soared back into a leveled flight before coming to a stop on top of a cloud. Quill landed on her back, heavily breathing from the intoxicating thrill, but still manage to giggle.

She placed a hand on top of her eyes, forcing them close, just so she could recapture the moment where her wings took her rocketing from the bone-shattering ground. However once the pure high was gone, she started to feel somewhat hollow, as if there was something missing, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't figure out what it was.

"It's not enough, I still can go higher," She whispered to herself, gazing flatly towards the blue sky above her head, and causing at herself for not being able to go further. However, she couldn't pull another dive off again as each one too more out of her, but she didn't feel like heading back to the temple just yet.

Quill slowly got up from the soft cloud, thinking what could be something she could use to pass the time. "I could hunt, but Wolf said that we already have enough meat for the winter, and that we need to let the animal population grow back." She walked over to the edge of the cloud, high enough to oversee majority of the valley, and parts of Everfree she knew lead back to Ponyville. "Guh, I wish something would happen." Quill continued to gaze over the valley, spotting a rushing stream of water, and a few other landmarks that Wolf taught her to remember.

During her lazy gazing, Quill spotted the bright colors of something moving into a clearance. Thinking that it was some new threat to the valley, Quill grabbed onto the cloud, and flapped her wings to get it moving towards the clearance.

Once above it, Quill took a better look towards the ground to find that the bright colors belonged to no other than the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but she didn't move from the cloud. Quill waited until she knew why the teenage fillies were wandering around in Everfree. Great, their most likely here for another attempt to get some cutie marks. Quill moved the cloud lower to the ground to better eavesdrop on them.

"Come on Sweetie Bell, we got to keep pushing through," Scootaloo said towards Sweetie as she was falling far behind the group. Quill quickly took note that she wasn't the only one who had grown slightly during the last two months. Scootaloo-albeit still had the smaller chest size that the rest of the group-had grown slightly taller as well slimming out more. Quill also found that it was humorous that she was starting to dress like Rainbow Dash, wearing nothing but a pair of tight orange training-shorts that had Rainbow's cutie-mark on it, and a pale-purple sleeveless pull-over with her wings behind her.

"Give her a break Scoots," Applebloom jumped in Sweetie's defense. Just as Quill had guessed, Applebloom remained the tallest of the three, but still wearing hand-me-downs from Applejack. However unlike Applejack, Applebloom was more willing to show off her growing chest more than the mare. "We've been walking around for hours, don't you think that we should rest?"

"No, no it's fine," Sweetie Bell finally spoke up. Quill had to take a moment to recognize Sweetie as she somehow grow much taller-not taller than Applebloom-and of the three had a larger chest size than Applebloom, which was trapped behind a white jacket with a purple dress underneath-not doubt made my Rarity.

Quill started to subconsciously lick her lips at the wide variety of eye-candy right in front of her but she forced those thoughts away when Sweetie's words started to reach her ears. "We need to keep moving anyways, I don't know how much longer I can stand to see Rarity like the way she is."

So their here to try and bring us back, Quill silently thought to herself, already knowing that the mares wanted to try and convince her and Spike to return to Ponyville. Sorry guys, but that life is over. Just move on already. Quill stood up on the cloud and started to walk away but stopped when Applebloom continued Sweetie Bell's worries.

"Yeah, Ah even heard sis talking about Twi being all down in the dumps." Quill glanced back towards the group of mares, suddenly becoming interested in their conversation. "From what I've heard, she hadn't left the library in over a month," Typical "and no matter what anypony does she refuses to come out."

Hm, she can't even go a whole month without shutting the world out huh? Well, maybe now she'll know how it feels to be trapped. Quill still harbor cold feelings towards Twilight from the many years she's been lying to her and Spike's face without second thought. Now trapping herself in the library seemed poetic justice to Quill but she knew that if the mare's found Spike and told him this information that he'll view it in a different manner.

Can't let them find reach Zecora's hut, Spike and Lily are still there, and if they thought about heading near there to look- No, not going to happen. Quill hopped from the cloud, onto a nearby tree branch, and back to the ground behind some bushes. Once Quill regained her balance, she turned towards the CMC's-who was still arguing-and started to walk from behind the bushes.

"We need to keep moving," Scootaloo yelled, far too impatient to wait for Sweetie to catch her breath while Applebloom was too stubborn to let Sweetie push herself too hard, and was going to answer back until Quill made herself known to the trio.

"Or you guys can just go home," She said, leaning against a tree, and scaring the CMC's. The fillies looked towards Quill with a slight caution gaze, seeing how much she had change in the last two months, and neither had thought of them what to say to the dragoness. "So are you guys going to listen to me or not," Quill asked, breaking the silence, and glance into each of the young mares' eyes.

Looking over to the still shocked looks on her friends' faces, Scootaloo stepped forward. "Quill, sup? You're looking...great," She said, trying to act as if the dragon's new appearance didn't scare her a little. Which it did.

"Save it Scoots, I know why you guys are here, and I want you all to go home." Quill didn't wanted to sound cold to her old friends, since they weren't responsible for any wrong, but it was still too early for Quill to deal with the aftermath of her and Spike's choice. "It's getting late and you should be home anyways."

"But Quill," Sweetie started after the shock was gone. "Everypony misses you two, Rarity hadn't been herself," Sweetie Bell started with a slightly teary eyes, no longer being able to stand to see her older sister in such an automatic state. I don't care.

"Pinkie hadn't thrown a single party since," Scootaloo added in, thinking about how the usually happy pink mare had been acting strangely normal-which is sad for her-and how her puffy pink mane had been falter than usual. Unfortunate, but less noise on everyone's ears.

"Fluttershy had been crying her eyes out every time someone even mention you two," Applebloom added, remembering the last time she seen the mare crying. What's new?

"No one had been able to talk to Rainbow Dash in a long while," Scootaloo added again, haven't seen a single sign of Rainbow Dash in weeks along with the rest of the town. She properly doing the same thing I am.

"Applejack has been working her hat off." To this Quill snorted, countless times before has she seen Applejack working too hard, but like always she knew that the stubborn farm-mare will have to take a break. Again not new.

"And Twilight been blaming herself this entire time." ... "Quill you and Spike have to come back," Sweetie Bell continued as tears started to make their way down her face while the others hoped that Quill was listening to them. "Please Quill, everypony misses you two, and I don't know how longer everypony can last like-"

"I don't care Sweets," Quill interrupted, pushing off the tree, and walking towards the three. "I simply don't care any more. It's been two months now, they should have gotten over it by now, and moved on with their lives." Hearing that the elements had been greatly affected by the twins' absence did make Quill want to smile-seeing how much of an impact she and Spike had on them-but what irritated her the most was that they unable to continue to live their lives because of it. "If they can't do that, then though. You know what? I want you all to tell them to get off their flanks and move on."

The three teenage mares filched from Quill's cold tone, shocked that she was unsympathetic turns all of her old friends that raised her. Quill didn't wait for any of them to think of something else to say before she turned around and flared out her wings, kicking dust and dirt towards the CMC's, and taking off.

Applebloom looked through her arm as she and the other used them to shield their eyes and quickly thought of something that would allow them to talk to both dragons. "Quill wait," She shouted to the dragoness, who-for reasons unknown to herself-stopped her ascent, and floated in the air with her back turn towards them. "Ah um...Ah'm having a camping trip soon and Applejack and Big Mac said Ah can bring anyone Ah wanted, and Ah was wondering if you and Spike wanted teh come?"

Quill floated in the air for a moment in thought, she-nor Spike-had anything against the CMC's or much of Ponyville, and she was sure that Wolf wouldn't have a problem with it so as long as she asked. "Fine, I'll see if Spike want's to come, and we'll meet you right outside of Everfree near Sweet Apple Acres. No elements or trying to get us to come back."

The young farm-mare smiled brightly at her quick thinking. "Sure, it'll just be us, and some other fillies from school. Nopony else." Scootaloo was going to speak but Sweetie was quick enough to cover her mouth before she ruined Applebloom's plan.

"Alright, I'm serious about no elements Bloom, and how does two days sound," Quill asked, looking forward to hanging out with her old friends, and catching up on what they have been up to.

Applebloom nodded her head, glad that Quill was still somewhat the same. "Sure sound good to me," She said before Quill took off without another word. The CMC's watched as she flew off into the horizon much quicker than they remembered she could. "Come on guys, we got a trip to plan for." The three young mares left Everfree forest shortly after, already planning on how they can head out on a trip like this without the elements knowing.

South Everfree forest; Zecora's hut

Stay focus, stay focus. While Quill was out doing whatever she does when she leaves the temple, Spike used the tip of his tail to sit in the center of Zecora's hut, and continued to keep his eyes closed as he used his newly developed water-magic to maintain a hold on a large sphere of water.

While Quill had grown into a more hunter-like body, Spike's body had grown out to become more lean along with his spines becoming longer, rounding out up at the tip, and a longer tail that he found to be more useful than it used to be, but even with all this Spike was slightly shorter than Quill.

Days after his disagreement with Quill, he focused all of his attention towards to his water-element, and assisted with the reconstruction of parts of the city ruins. His training had him waking up each morning to walk to the small lake near the mansion and practice on honing his capabilities with his water-element.

Finally, after weeks of struggling and failures, Spike was able to start bending the water to his will, and everyone showed their respective support in their own way. However, Spike didn't waste any time celebrating before he was practicing the skill every waking day.

Soon after that, Lily and Spike ventured towards Zecora's hut to begin his potion-making training, and also see if the zebra had anything else to add to Spike's training. As it turned out, Zecora-even if she didn't fully understand dragon-magic-knew of a technique to aid in Spike's focus called Zen Meditation.

The technique required one to balance upside down on top of a wooden staff with one leg pointed towards the sky while the other one is bent at an angle while their hands were pressed together. Spike didn't believe the position could be done, however when Zecora showed the technique to Spike, he became intensely impressed with the mare's ability to balance.

Unfortunately the wooden staff proved to be too small of a point for Spike to balance on his top spine, so Lily proposed that instead of using the staff that he use his tail, and also stay up right so he could double the training with some water.

While the drake was focusing on the difficult meditation, the two mares were in the other room, and took the time to catch up with current events. "I see, an unfortunate matter surely has befell," Zecora started after Lily finished going over the events of the last few months. "What of Wolf and his dwell?"

"Wolf and Blaze are apparently having a cub in seven months time," Lily said, still can't believing the news after hearing it several weeks ago. "He's also been helping Quill with hunting skills while Blaze have been teaching her about fire-magic."

Zecora nodded her head, glad to hear-and see-that the twins are doing just fine with Wolf and his pack in High Moon, and also surprised that the lovers will be bring a cub into the world soon. "Yes it seems that he has been busy," Zecora noted, knowing Wolf was always trying to keep the valley safe, and now more than ever. "But I must ask, what has he plan of the city?"

"He and the twins has been helping me reconstruct some of it, what we can't rebuild, Wolf planned to find a way to safely tear down, but until then we can't really do much." Efforts to rebuild the city ruins had been slow for the most part as not having the proper resources to fully fix what's broken prevented them from moving onwards out of the mansion and archives. Also none of them having any real carpeting skills, aside from Wolf being able to craft a few things with his claws, made it even more difficult to rebuild.

"I see, aid I would hand if only I had a plan," Zecora said, knowing that she'll wouldn't be any more help with it than the twins are.

"It's fine Zecora, this is pretty hard, and dangerous work. So how have you been," Lily asked, seldom does she have the chance to simply talk to the mare, and now with Spike's training it seemed that she'll finally get that chance.

While the mare's continued their talks, Spike did his best to tune out them so he could put more focus on to balancing on his tail, and keep the orb of water in the air. Spike kept his breathing slow and drawn out so to keep his mind clear of any distracting thoughts. During the two months of meditation, Spike had taught himself that if he pictured a calm image in his head that any other thoughts would fade away, and he thought it was fit to picture a massive lake expanding outwards in all directions.

He imagined himself standing on top of the center of the lake with his eyes closed in the same position as he was in Zecora's hut. In the lake, time held no power, winds did not flow, and sound became deaf as Spike continued to reach a state of peace. He could see why meditation was an important thing for him, he started to quickly grasp any new concept that came his way, but like most things in his life some unforeseen annoyance threatens to end his short-live peace.

Sneaking into the hut through the opened window, Quill hid behind a small table to spy on an unsuspecting Spike, and quickly took the opportunity for some much needed fun. After figuring out the best way to approach him, Quill rushed from behind the table, she slid underneath Spike, and kicked his tail from underneath him with the slide.

All imagery of the calm and peaceful lake was obliterated as Spike was sent to his back on the hard dirt ground and also getting splashed with the orb of water after losing his grip on it.

"Haha...you should see the look on your face," Quill said before bursting into a true prankster's laugh, even doubling over from it, but still helping Spike to his feet.

In all honesty, Spike didn't mind the water dripping off his scales, but was upset that the serene image of the lake was now lost to him because of Quill wanting to toy with him as usual. "And hey to you too sis, is there any reason you felt the need to do that?"

"Oh come on bro," Quill waved off, wrapping her arm around his neck, and pulling him in with her stronger grip. "I was just picking." Spike rolled his eyes at the obvious reason, he had noticed that Quill had been more touchy lately, but thought it as her growing closer to him. "And besides, you literally shut the world out when you're meditating, and you won't guess who I've ran into today."

Spike raised an eyebrow towards Quill, he knew she was talking about somepony they both know, but he at least hoped she didn't meant the elements. "No, who?"

"The Cutie Mark Crusaders," Quill answered much to Spike's immediate dislike. "They came looking for us, apparently the elements aren't the only ones missing us," Do you have to remind me? "and Applebloom is having her first ever camping trip without the elements of harmony with her."

"And I'm assuming that she wants us to be there too," Spike asked, already knowing what the answer was. Quill nodded her head with a slight smile. "And you want us to go too?"

"You know it," She quickly answered, letting his head free, and spinning around on her heel. "Come on, I've already told them no funny business, and it could be fun." Spike started to consider the idea, as many times the crusaders had dragged him into a sticky mess, he actually did miss them somewhat, and if the elements aren't going to be present during the trip then there's no harm in it. Right? "And just so you know, Sweetie's body had really grown out in these two months, and she did always had a crush on you."

"Fine," Spike sighed with a small hint of a blush. "When and where are we meeting them?"

"Two days from now, right outside of Everfree near the apple orchard," Quill answered again as she started out for the door. "Well, I'm going to head back to the temple to do some reading, and you're cooking tonight right?"

Spike shrugged his shoulders, he did find it enjoyable to cook, and after a few times experimenting with different spices and other ingredients he did find a way to make meat taste better to the three carnivores of the pack-though Wolf hated to wait while Spike was cooking. "Yeah I guess, see ya there in a while Quill." Quill nodded her head before leaving out of Zecora's hut and heading back to the High Moon temple.

Spike sighed, knowing that the trip would be a very awkward one for him and the other, but still looked forward to it. He pierced the ground with the spear-like tip of his tail and resumed his meditation. Spike soon found peace in the image of the tranquil crystal-blue water of the massive lake with in his mind.

Canterlot castle

Back in Canterlot, the news of the twins' choices of not returning home stuck Canterlot by storm, but like all news it soon became a thing of the past as the ponies returned to their daily lives as if nothing had ever occurred in the first place.

Most of the Solar guards soon came to terms with the news, some still having wishes to bring them back, but time moved on none the less. Everyone continued to follow their orders as life returned to normal.

Even now Celestia was holding a meeting with a group of nobles that wanted to push trading connections with the neighboring Lunar Republics, which were currently being ruled by Luna and Nightmare Moon, however Celestia wasn't paying the meeting with much attention as an adviser did most of the talking.

While the meeting progressed, Celestia's thoughts remained on the fateful day that the twins. They have for the last two months.

Even if she knew that the twins were safe, each day felt like the same one being repeated, and it was getting to the point some of the guards were starting to notice the princess's cycle movements. One guard in particular was quickly becoming the scapegoat for Celestia's depression.

"Motion carried, this meeting is over," The adviser proclaimed to everyone aside Celestia, who was still too busy in her own thoughts to hear the stallion's words. The nobles started to leave the room, all noticing Celestia's inattentive gazes, but thought best of questioning them.

Soon the room was cleared of all nobles, leaving the solar goddess, and the guards in the room. However, Celestia didn't move from her throne as she continued to stare towards the large golden doors, and the few guards in the room started to become worried with each passing second.

"Should…should we," One of the guards asked over to the commanding officer in the room, which was the same guard to be blamed for Celestia's blank expressions.

"No, you two head on," Obsidian started, rubbing his hand through his black hair, and sighing from seeing the blank looks on Celestia's face once again. "I'll go and 'wake' her up, you two are dismissed." The two guards saluted the dog before they left out of the throne room. Obsidian soon turned around when the doors were closed and started to walk over to the distance mare.

It's my fault anyways. He knew that the twins' absents would affect her, as it would any mother, but this was far more than Obsidian would have thought it would-or could. As he walked up the solid marble steps to the throne, Celestia still failed to react to any sound or movement he made, not even the loud sounds of his steel toed boots could snap Celestia out of her two month long daze.

When he reached the side of Celestia, Obsidian started to shake the mare's shoulder to bring her back into the presents, but it seemed the past had a firm grip on her mind. "Princess, princess Celestia." Even the dog's loud voice, that carried to the rest of the empty room, could bring Celestia out of her thoughts.

Obsidian sighed, this was starting to become a daily thing, and he knew it couldn't be healthy for her. I'm going to catch hell for this but… He raised his hand towards Celestia's horn as he held his middle finger bent underneath his thumb and released.

The sudden and sharp impact on Celestia's horn from Obsidian's clawed finger, sent a spark down from the tip to her head, and was enough to break through her. Celestia jumped slightly in her throne from the sudden shock, she look towards Obsidian, and was going to question him before he started to speak.

"Princess, the meeting is over, it has been for ten minutes now." Celestia blinked a couple of times as though she didn't know where she was but she soon look towards the room that was filled with nobles to be empty.

"Ah, well yes. Thank you Sargent Obsidian, now if you excuse me, I must be getting some paper work done," She said in a rushed voice as she tried to leave but was stopped by Obsidian. "Is there something Sargent?"

"Princess, please sit down." Celestia furrowed her eyebrows at the dog's request but did as he asked. Obsidian took a moment to breath, he knew that he was going to bring up a touchy subject, but he needed to know the truth from the mare herself. "Princess, you know its been two months now, and I think you are not dealing with you feelings the best way."

Celestia started to giggle a little at the dog's claims, only further worrying him. "I've already told you Obsidian, that when we are alone you are allowed to simply call me Celestia, and there's nothing for you to worry about." Her voice sounded the same to the dog, gentle and sweet like any mother's voice, but her words carried less truth than Obsidian would have liked. "Yes it has been two months now, hasn't it, but you mustn't concern yourself of my well-being. I am fine, just tired is all."

"Are you sure? I know I'm not the only one to catch you sleeping with your eyes open," Obsidian said, getting Celestia to laugh, but not knowing why she was laughing. "Celestia I'm not joking."

Celestia tried to cover her mouth as she waved a dismissive hand towards the dog. "No, no...it's just that. That actually would be a good joke." Obsidian's eyes started to widen as his hands started to shake.

"When I'm not trying…" The dog's expression was enough to get Celestia laughing some more, which was something that was becoming a rarity around the castle. "But seriously Celestia, you must realize that they had a point, and it wouldn't be much longer before they did leave."

Sighing, Celestia nodded her head, but it wasn't for the intentions that Obsidian thought they were. "I do, just wish I've could have spent more time with them," She said, knowing a much darker secret than Obsidian could think of.

Still thinking the mare was talking about the lose of the twins', Obsidian placed a hand on her shoulder, and smiled. "There's still time, Spike said it himself, they may visit every now and again. Just give it time."

Time, "I will Obsidian, now if you'll excuse me, I really must be going." Obsidian removed his hand to allow the princess to walk down from the throne, her mind going back to the dark place it was once before, and the same distant stare returned to her face. Time is something not all of us have Sargent.

/ Ch. 7: Friends Old & New/-/

High Moon Ch. 7:  
Friends Old & New

After informing Spike about Applebloom's camping trip, Quill flew the back to the temple to do some quick reading before Spike cook some dinner, and to ask Wolf about the trip. She wasn't sure but it felt wrong to up and leave without telling either Blaze or Wolf, who quickly became the main ones to look after Quill while Lily watched over Spike. Wolf gave both of them the respect Quill thought they rightly deserved and in returned Quill gave respect to the dog and his marefriend.

During the fly back to the temple, Quill used the time to dwell on all the things she had learned from the ancient tomes of equine and dragon history, however she was constantly given reasons to distrust Celestia even more with each book. Quill soon learned of the forbidden practice of dragon-hunting, as the ones that took the job had 'cleverly' name themselves; Dragon-hunters. The thought of ponies senselessly killing dragon-regardless of age-for various parts of their bodies, and using them as trophies to show off their savage victories sent Quill into a blind fury.

Lily had tried to keep her anger down when she learned the information, fearing that Quill would do something rash in her heated rage, but it was only Blaze to end the fuming dragoness's rage. Quill felt slightly bad that she indirectly kicked Wolf out of his bed so she could fall asleep on top of Blaze's massive pillows but the large fluffy mounds were too good to pass up.

The next day, Quill apologized for yelling at Lily when she didn't deserve it, and also Spike who went to the mare's aid when Quill started shouting. Looking back she didn't know where her anger had came from, sure she was mad about the dragon-hunters, but that was from the far past. In all honesty, she had noticed that even the smallest of things would set her off like a volcano, and each time either Blaze or Wolf would had to calm her down before she did something everyone would have regretted.

Blaze soon informed Quill that her sudden anger-issues came from her body and mind becoming mature. When Quill finally asked the mare what she meant, Blaze explained that it was something most dragonesses go through when their bodies are maturing, and it was also the same thing that Spike was going through as well.

That's when Quill realized that his 'sleep-groping' wasn't ever his fault as she was first led to believe by Twilight and quickly headed straight for the city ruins to apologize for all the times she put him in a headlock when he did it. When Spike asked what the apologies came from, Quill went on and told him everything Blaze told her before she took off to the ruins, and Spike merely waved off his sister's worries with a dismissive hand.

After this happened, Spike suggested that Quill tried meditation with him sometimes as he use it when he wanted to clear his mind, however the two soon learned that Quill wasn't capable of remaining still for more than two seconds before she starts becoming frigidity.

So she had abandoned the pointless task for a much more strenuous training with Wolf. Periodic sparring matches, mile long runs and flight sessions, and being pushed to hunt bigger foods drove Quill to her limits; she couldn't get enough. Quill enjoyed seeing how far she could push herself, the feeling of power when she took down a full-grown deer on her own, and the pride she felt when she was able to land a good blow on Wolf were all things that Quill found satisfactory enough to quell her anger a little.

She wasn't so sure about Spike's meditations, but after seeing his developed water-magic bend a small puddle of water into a high-pressured blade, Quill upped her fire-magic training. Times where Blaze wasn't able to teach her anything new, or when she was still practicing a new spell, Quill went back to the waterfalls to push the limits of her fire.

"Yo, dragon-girl!" Quill was broken out of her thoughts by the sound of the dog she started to admire as a role-model. Looking down she saw Wolf holding three dead wild-boars behind his back, all tied at the feet by pieces of thick rope-like vines. Quill banked left to guild lower to the ground before flapping her wings one last time to right herself as she touched the ground. "I see you're getting better at sudden landings," Wolf noted, knowing that Quill has been working on her flying for the past several weeks now.

"Yeah, I'm trying to see if I can use it for hunting." Wolf chucked a little, always being impressed with the dragoness's desire to improve herself, and glad to see that's she is able to achieve those self-expectations. "So what's the boar for, I thought you said that we're set for the winter," Quill asked, remembering Wolf telling her not to hunt before she left to train.

Wolf shrugged his shoulders as he closed his eyes. "Meh, I in the mood for some boar-meat tonight, and since Spike is cooking that just makes it better. Also, I only meant for deer, small things like rabbits and boars are still on the menu dragon-girl." Quill rolled her eyes at the dog, she would agree with him as she too was feeling the need to eat something different than deer or rabbit, but she still wanted to be able to spend some kind of time with the dog. "Come on Quill, let's head back."

The two hunters started to make their way back to the temple to wait on Spike and Lily to return from Zecora's hut before dinner time. During the walk, Quill told Wolf all of the things she did today as part of her training, and even told him about the CMC's.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders huh," Wolf asked after Quill finished the story of the teenage fillies trying to convince her to return to Ponyville and of the camping trip Applebloom wanted her to go on in consolation. "Well, do you want to go?"

"Yeah, their old friends of mine and Spike, and they aren't at fault of anything just yet." Quill truly did miss hanging around the three, the crazy misadventures to get them cutie marks, sleepovers at the clubhouse to get away from Twilight, and the smiles they brought to her face when something went comically wrong. Quill missed it all and a camping trip to catch up would be just what was missing in the dragoness's routine. "So can we, they already promised not to try and pull anything."

Again Wolf merely shrugged his shoulders in the same fashion as before the walk back to the temple. "Alright, not like I can rightfully stop you two either way," Quill launched herself into the air with joy. "But you better tell Blaze. She starting to become...protective of you two if you know what I mean," Wolf said, forcing Quill to land beside him again with a curious look on her face. "Remember coal-head, she pregnant with a diamond dog cub, also she was raised in a tribe, and all of it is making her more protective of things. Especially you two."

"Oh right, heh forgot," Quill respond while she scratched the back of her head with a sheepish grin. The sight of the wooden structure to the temple started to become closer but Quill she had one question for the alpha dog. "So have you thought of a name yet?"

"Nah, not yet," Wolf answered much quicker than Quill thought he would. "I haven't made their collars yet, so no I haven't thought of any names right now." Quill raised an eyebrow towards Wolf's wording.

"Their, what it's not twins is it?"

Again Wolf shrugged his shoulders with a slight grimace on his face. "I dunno, it could be just that at the rate Blaze is showing signs, but I really meant the collars for the cub and Blaze." Quill slowly nodded her head, somewhat understanding what the collars were for, and wondering what kind of gems he was going to use. "But before I could do that, I need to start looking for any nearby diamond quarries to dig some up."

A sharp gasp from the dragoness made Wolf stop walking as Quill finally remembered the spot Rarity used to take her and Spike to dig some gems for her. "That's right, I almost forgot. There is a diamond quarry near here, well closer to Ponyville than here, but still there's a ton of gems that you could use," She rushed to say with mixed emotions as memories of Rarity flashed through her head.

Wolf was too busy being excited to notice the slight confliction on Quill's face. "That's great, after your camping trip do you think that you could show me the way?" Quill opened her mouth to answer but soon closed it as just thinking about the quarry lead to other memories that she wanted to bury. This time Wolf was able to catch the confliction, he dropped the boars down to the ground, and placed a hand on Quill's shoulder. "Quill, is something the matter?"

Quill look towards Wolf's dull-green eyes, she wanted to tell him that she sometimes missed living in Ponyville-no matter how much she been lied to-but she didn't want Wolf worrying about neither her nor Spike leaving. "Nah, nah I'm fine." Quill pushed passed Wolf to keep walking towards the temple while Wolf shook his head and picked up the dead boars. "Anyways, you should ask Spike to show you, since he was the one to help Rarity more than me."

So that's what this is about, Wolf thought to himself as he started to catch up with Quill, who was already opening the doors to the temples with the fire-stone wrist-braces that Blaze made for her. "So have you spoken with Spike about the camping trip," Wolf asked while they started down the stairs, he knew the two had become slightly more distant because of their training, but it was still good to hear that the twins would still took time for each other.

Quill turned around and gave a cheerful nod, the thoughts of Ponyville already left her head by this point. "Yeah, he said that he'll come too." She was glad to know that she'll get to spend some time with Spike without having to do any studying or training, sometimes it is just good to kick back with the drake, and this camping trip is just what she needed.

"Good, I could use some peace and quiet around here, and some alone time with Blaze," Wolf joked after a few weeks without being able to spend a whole lot of time with Blaze without either of the twins or Lily hanging around.

"Oh ha-ah mister funny guy," Quill quipped back at the dog as they reached the last door to Blaze's work area. "Well I wouldn't get used to it." Again Quill opened the door with the braces around her wrist and stepped in the room with Wolf following shortly behind. "We might be back sooner than you think."

"Might be back from what?" The two turned towards Blaze, who was waking up from a nap in one of the wooden chairs Wolf made as she had something brewing. She gave a quick stretch and yawn as the two started to make their way over to her. Quill almost tripped over herself when she caught a glimpse of Blaze's nipples poking out through Wolf's shirt, which was big on the mare. "What are you guys going on a trip or something?"

"Us, no, but Quill and Spike are wanting to go on a camping trip with some old friends of theirs," Wolf answered before placing a kiss on the mare's cheek, making her giggle a little from Wolf's canine teeth brushing against her fur. "Sorry if we waked you."

Blaze returned the show of affection with a kiss on the lips as she stood from the chair. "Don't be, I needed to be waking up anyways," She said waving off Wolf's worries while Quill walked over to her stuff in the corner to let the lovers have a bit of space, and wanting to finish reading one of the few books on dragons that was a legend. "So, Quill where are you and your friends going on your trip," Blaze asked, getting the dragoness to look up from the book in her hands.

"Oh um…" Quill paused of a moment before realizing that she didn't know where they were going to for the trip. "Heh, actually...Bloom didn't tell me where we were going, but knowing her it's most likely the Rainbow Falls," She answered with a sheepish grin, remembering that's where Applejack took them the last time Quill was able to attend the trip, and knowing that Applebloom would pick some place like that so they can play in the rainbow-colored water.

Blaze started to smile at a pleasant memory about the one of the natural wonders of Everfree forests that she shared with Wolf four years ago. "Ah the Rainbow Falls," She started with a reminiscent sigh and a blush across her blue fur at the memory. "Oh Wolfie when's the last time we pay a visit to the falls?"

Wolf dropped the boars on the table-away from any of Blaze's ingredients-and kissed the side of Blaze's neck, taking the time to bite her a little. Blaze giggled from the gentle touching, missing the dog's loving care for the last weeks full of helping the twins.

Quill went back to her book, already being used to the lovers' playfulness having stay with them for the last two months, but still cut a periodic glance towards them. "Oh it's been awhile, so what's this position supposed to do? I hope it's not another 'happy surprise,'" Wolf joked while he rubbed a hand over Blaze stomach that made Blaze roll her eyes while she used her magic to add a pair of dark-purple leaves and bright-pink ones.

"No~" Blaze said, sticking her nose high in the air, and using her magic to stir the leaves into the potion. "It's nothing like that, just something I wanted to whip up is all," She answered vague tone that had Wolf raising an eyebrow but before he could question it, Blaze started to speak again. "Now go clean up those boars and put them up, they're starting to stink, and I want some cuddle time." She finished with brushing her tail across Wolf's opened chest and a suggestive glare.

Wolf didn't have to be told what the look was for as he gave a hearty salute. "Yes ma'am." Blaze giggled at her canine's periodic silliness as he dashed over to smoke chamber to clean the wild boars off and hang them next to the other stacks of deer meat that was drying. While Wolf was hanging the meat, Blaze added a few drops of honey to the potion, and lifted the lid over the top with her magic.

During this she didn't hear-nor see-Wolf coming up from behind her, this gave the dog the chance to give the mare a surprise as he swept the mare's legs from under her to pick her up from the ground sideways, and pressed her body close to his so he could nibble on her neck. Blaze was sent into a fit of giggles that had an undertone of moans in them.

"Haha...Wolfie stop I'm ticklish," The mare begged only to fall on deaf ears. "Quill...watch over the potion, all...Wolfie stop...all you gotta do is put out the fire okay," Blaze asked the dragoness through her fits of giggles as she tried-and failed-to free herself from Wolf's playful grip.

Quill looked up from her book again, to see Wolf carrying Blaze to their bedroom for some much deserved 'alone' time, but didn't respond much after seeing something like it a few dozen times before. So she just went back to her reading until Spike started dinner, however her thought continued to wander towards the loving couple, and thoughts of Ponyville started to flash through her head.

"Love," She started in a low whisper that wouldn't have been unable to be heard if anyone else was in the room. Quill shook her head as she tried to go back reading but the unwanted thoughts continued to hunt her, so she placed a leaf bookmark on the page she was on, closed the book making sure to bring it on the trip so she could read the myths that dragons wrote, and laid her head back to the stone wall to rest after a day of physical conditioning and confronting old friends. "Hump, must be nice I guess." After the big fallout over Rarity that she and Spike had a few years ago, Quill abandoned the stressful pursuit that's called love, and focused her energy on anything else that peaked her interest-which wasn't much.

Far too tried leave or workout, Quill was stuck with the thoughts swirling around her head. "I don't even know why we wasted our time with her." From the first day to the day she had a fallout, Quill and Spike were actively fighting over Rarity, and Spike had an advantage over Quill from the jump.

For it wasn't until a full three years before Quill finally figured out that Rarity wasn't into other females and the news didn't settle well with her. In fact as soon as she learned this, Quill quickly ran away from the Boutique in a ball of rage and tears, but she also ran into Spike who was carrying a full bouquet of red roses to Rarity.

Still angered by the knowledge that she couldn't ever have a shot with Rarity along with the sight of the beautiful red roses in his hands that was sure to get Rarity's attention, Quill began to let her jealousy get the best of her, and told Spike that Rarity wouldn't ever love either one of them because of the fact that they were dragons.

Spike didn't believe Quill at first but she could see the distort look on his face. It was then she gave obvious reasons why she been just toying around with them all those years, using their stronger dragon-bodies to do her heavy lifting which could have been easily done with her magic, using them to take care of her filthy garbage, and only periodically returning the favors with small rewards for their back-breaking labor.

Quill could remember the hollow victorious feeling she got when she watched Spike break down into a tears before running away to Dodge Junction. After he was brought back by an off-duty Solar guard days later, Quill apologized to her brother for lying to him about Rarity, and from that day on promised to stay out of his way with getting Rarity's heart.

While everyone thought Quill was doing it out of jealousy, in actuality she was just trying to make sure that Rarity didn't fully use Spike by himself, so she took on some of the barren with him, but she was too ashamed-or embarrassed-to ever work up the courage to tell anyone that. "Guess...it's not...for everyone…" Quill shortly slumped against the wall asleep.

Zecora's hut

"Goodbye my friends and Spike do try to make amends," Zecora shout to Spike and Lily as they were making their way down the path to the temple. As Spike walked down the path, carrying a small brown crate of supplies and potions, he thought about Applebloom's camping trip that Quill wanted him to go on, and also the CMC's.

After spending much of his childhood with them, Spike had grown fond of the three fillies and the misadventures that he was somehow dragged into with Quill, but he was curious to see how the three had grown in the last two months. Countless times before, Spike could remember the smiling faces of the CMC's as they enjoyed each day together, and no matter how big they messed up all three would look forward to a new day.

The girls' determination always impressed Spike, their drive and commitment to learning what they were good at while Spike sat safely in the library watching the days pass by.

However now that was no longer what was going to happen, he was going to make sure to live each day to the fullest, and try and get as much done each day as he could. No more will he allow himself to simply be in the way to be some comic relief for someone else, no more will he waste his time trying to get the attention of a mare who obviously not into him-no matter how much he wanted her-and he wasn't going to sit by and let Quill do everything for him.

Through this, Spike started to think about his old life in Ponyville with Twilight and the other elements. He knew Twilight would be blaming herself for everything that's happened, not for the fact that it's only somewhat true, but for the fact that Quill directly called her out over the others. Spike resented what Quill said to the elements and Celestia as he wanted to use the situation in a different manner but he resented himself even more that he couldn't man up. However, out here in deep Everfree, thinking on the past is one of the quickest ways to get yourself or someone close to you hurt.

Spike vowed to do anything to make Quill happy and safe, even if Wolf didn't think he was fitting to be out hunting, Spike was going to make sure he could do anything in his power to make Everfree a safe place.

That is why he trains so much, not to better himself-as much of a bonus it is-but to be able to take care of Quill better. So if it meant that he'll have to wake up before the sun, meditate until high noon, memorize dozens of potions with wide varieties of ingredients, and where to find them, Spike will do anything he could to be able to take care of his sister.

Spike started chuckling to himself at how silly he would sound to anyone else, of which Lily caught. "Well someone is enjoying their thoughts," Lily noted, seeing the fiery look in Spike's eyes, and knowing he only get's that look when he's thinking about something important. "Care to share these thoughts?"

"Oh just some stuff that Quill told me." Lily nodded her head, her and Zecora thought they heard the scratchy voice of Spike's dragoness twin. "Hey Lily is it okay if I take a few days off," Spike asked the mare, feeling it was best if she knew of the camping trip.

"May I ask what for?" Lily had a feeling that the drake's question had something to do with what Quill spoke to him about earlier today.

"You see, a few of old and really close friends of mine are having a camping trip here, and Quill wanted me to come with her," Spike said, actually starting to like the idea of spending time with the Cutie Mark Crusaders again, and hoping that Lily would allow him to break from his training to let him go.

"Hm...okay but I want you practicing on your water-magic when you can." Spike flashed the mare a bright smile, making her giggle slightly from his silliness when he wasn't acting depressed over the incident in Canterlot and the confrontation with the elements and Celestia two months ago. "Tomorrow you and Quill can start working on gathering everything you need for your trip. But for now let's head back to the temple."

Ponyville; CMC's clubhouse

"What do you mean that you can't do it?" Back in Ponyville the Cutie Mark Crusaders had spent the entire day looking for some more ponies to go on the surprise camping trip with them. After they left Everfree, Applebloom explained that if they could somehow find a way for the twins to at least check up on the elements without having to see them, then maybe one day everything will go back to normal.

However the plan was hitting a few bumps in the rode.

Scootaloo paced around the clubhouse on her crystal cell-phone that Rainbow Dash gave her for her last birthday to call any of their classmates that she could think of. "No, no, no. Come on, Twist it'll be- She, she hanged up on me. Why that little-"

"Scoots," Applebloom started, grabbing Scootaloo's shoulder. "Calm down, there's a lot more ponies than Twist, right?" Many hours had started to pass after the girls came back from Everfree, ever since then they all have been looking for ways to get at least some other pony to come with them so they could find a way to get the twins to talk to the elements, but it seemed that everypony was 'busy' doing something else this weekend.

"There better be," Scootaloo said, putting her phone back into her jacket, and flopping down onto a bean-bag in the corner of the clubhouse. "Hey, where's Sweetie? She supposed to be helping us look for somepony to come with us," She asked, knowing that time was running out if they wanted everything to be ready.

Applebloom placed a finger to her lips as she tried to remember what Sweetie Bell told them before she ran off. "Ah think she said something about talking to some new pony in town." She wasn't really sure who was this new pony since there wasn't a massive Pinkie Pie party introducing the new pony to the town, how Sweetie Bell knew them was a mystery as any, but if the pony could help with their plan, then she wasn't going to complain.

"Whatever, so what's the plan anyways," Scootaloo asked, wanting to know how they were going to get at least one of the twins to somehow talk to the elements.

"Well, Ah think its pretty obvious that we can't get Quill to agree," Applebloom said, thinking back to Quill's cold tone towards the element's, but she still somehow was able to seem caring to the CMC's which had Applebloom confused. "And we don't know how Spike is just yet, so Ah guess we have to make it up as we go."

"Well that's just great," Scootaloo said, throwing her hands up in the air as a sign of defeat and disapproval. "I sure hope that this new pony is worth the troubles, 'cus this is starting to seem impossible."

"Come on Scoots, it's not that bad, and even if this pony doesn't work out we still can try ourselves." Just as Scootaloo was going to question the farm-filly again, the trap-door to the clubhouse opened up to the two tone pink and purple mane of Sweetie Bell as she climb the ladder. The teenager was going to speak but Scootaloo jumped from the bean-bag first. "Sweets where have you been, we need to get a plan set up, and here you are running around town."

Sweetie Bell stuck out her bottom lip at Scootaloo's attitude and crossed her arms in a huff. "Excuse me, I was just trying to get somepony to help us for the trip, and I've already made an excuse for all of us and told Applejack, Rarity, and your parents what we'll be doing this weekend." Applebloom and Scootaloo looked towards each other, amazed that Sweetie Bell was able get more done before the could even start planning. "But you know that's not important or anything."

"Sweets that's amazing," Applebloom cheered, wrapping her arms around the mare in a tight hug. "So who is this mystery pony anyways?"

"Um...Ms. Bell, is it okay if I come up," Mare's voiced called out to the white filly inside of the clubhouse, Scootaloo almost mistook the voice for Fluttershy's at how small it sounded, and was going to question Sweetie Bell when another voice rang out.

"Of course it's okay, she asked us to come here anyways," A much more brash mare's voice said, sounding much like Rainbow Dash, yet at the same time like Twilight's. "Isn't that right Dusk?"

"Would you two stop talking about it and actually do it," This time a deep, slightly stretchy-yet still smooth-male voice rang out between the mare's. Applebloom, who had already let go of Sweetie Bell after an extended point of time, looked towards Scootaloo with a curious look which was returned, and sent towards Sweetie Bell.

However before the young mare could explain herself, the male's voice again called out to Sweetie Bell. This time from the clubhouse window. "Hey Sweetie," Dusk asked as his large dragon wings kept him floating above ground. The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked towards the window to find a teenage dark-purple diamond dog, wearing a sleeveless blue jacket, designed with the Nightmare royal symbol with a pair of black shorts, hovering in the air with a massive pair of dragon wings flapping behind him. "Could you tell Jinx that it's okay for her to come up already? I'm tired of hearing her and Sketchy argue like married couples."

Both Scootaloo and Applebloom had their mouths hanging wide open at the sight of the halfbreed, not from never seeing one before, but at how 'good-looking' he was. The farm-mare could see parts of his muscles pressed tight against the jacket, making her want to rip it off of him to gaze at the alluring traits while Scootaloo stared at the large wings beating behind him.

"Hey Sweets, are your friends alright? The orange one is um...drooling," Dusk noted, starting to feel uncomfortable under the two's gazing. Sweetie cast a stare back to the other crusaders which only spoke, 'Stop staring,' and turned around to the halfbreed who she was introduced to a few weeks ago.

"Yeah Dusk, they're fine, and it is okay for Jinx and Sketchy to come up." Dusk nodded his head, and with one flap of his wings, flew back down to the other two mares to pass the message on to them. Sweetie Bell didn't waste any time before she again turned around to the other two crusaders. "Look don't you guys go staring at Dusk, he has a marefriend...well two marefriends."

Again before either other crusaders could question the new bit of information, the sounds of the other three making their ways up the tree-house cut them off. A light-blue unicorn mare with two tone blue and green mane, wearing a sports tank-top and light-purple shorts, poked her head out from the trap-door to the clubhouse and smiled when she saw Sweetie Bell standing near the door.

"Hi Ms. Bell, thanks for in-" The mare wasn't given the pleasure of finishing her greetings before a pointy object jabbed her in the flanks and sent her flying in the room as another mare with white fur and a mane with three different shades of black, wearing a sleeveless dark-blue sweater and black pants, stuck her head through the trap-door. "Sketchy! What was that for," the other mare-who was apparently Jinx-asked as she rubbed the sore spot on her flank.

"Because I can only stand to see your flank only so much," Sketchy quipped as she pulled herself into the small clubhouse. The mare took a moment to look around, seeing the usual things fillies would have in a clubhouse; bean-bags, posters of colt-bands, and a...detailed map of the town? "Um...Sweetie Bell, why do you guys have a map of the city, and what's with the red X's?"

"Oh that's nothing," Sweetie Bell waved off, taking the map off the wall as Dusk started to emerge from the trap-door, and thinking that now would be the best time to spring the plan on the other three. "So…" She started, gaining the attention of the small group as they looked towards her. "How you guys like camping?"

Everfree forest; High Moon valley

Back in High Moon as the sun started to make its way down to the horizon, Wolf and Blaze happily laid in the bed in each other's embrace for some much need alone time, and silently enjoyed the warmth coming off one another. It was times like these that made fighting against Everfree worth it for the dog, moments where he could relax with Blaze at his side without having to worry about anything, and breath a peaceful sigh was far more than enough for him.

However, time stops for no soul, and soon it'll be time for the birth of their cub. Wolf only hoped that High Moon would be safe enough for the cub to play in without worry. The thought made him nervous and happy at the same time, to see the bright smiles of his cub, but also be wary of the dangers that lurk in Everfree.

It was frightening, but as long as he has Blaze, Wolf was sure everything would turn out for the better. He was also sure as long as the twins continued along the path that they are now, High Moon-no-most of Everfree would be a safe place, and he intends on keeping it like that.

The sound of the arcane-stone doors moving along with the voices of Lily and Spike told Wolf that the two were now making their way from Zecora's hut and that dinner would now be started.

Lily stuck her head through the crack in the wooden door to the lovers' room and spotted Wolf, who laid in the bed awake with his arms around the mare's body, and started to blush a little when she saw the tips of Blaze's nipples poking through the top of the bed-cover. "Lily, what is it," Wolf asked in a hushed voice to not wake Blaze up from her sleep.

Lily forced her eyes to direct towards Wolf's through the mess of hair that is Blaze's red mane. "Oh right I wanted to tell you that Spike and I are back and Spike is down stairs getting ready to cook," She informed Wolf of the things he already figured.

"Alright, tell him that there is some fresh boar meat hanging in the smoke chamber, and tell him that all he's got to do is skin them before cooking," Wolf said, still feeling the need to have some wild-boar meat for dinner tonight. Lily nodded her head before gently closing the door and walking down the rest of the stairs.

Once Wolf was sure that she was gone, he laid his head back down onto the pillow, and closed his eyes to resumed enjoying the quiet peace with the mare. However moment from the mare told him that she was now awake and looking for a better spot in his arms. "Sorry for waking you Blaze, just go back to sleep, someone will come and get us for dinner."

Wolf soon felt the mare licking the side of his neck, forcing him to open his eyes again only to be greeted by the sight of Blaze's bright crimson eyes. The radiating orbs of fire possessed the power to bring any creature to their knees, soothe the worries in any heart just by gazing into them, and were bewitching enough to change the way Wolf looked at the world.

The very same orbs were the ones to lead him from his dark and swallow path of simply ruling over a territory and pack. "Wolfie, I love you." Just hearing the words was enough to light a bright and passionate fire in Wolf's heart as he smiled and rubbed his hand along the side of the mare's body. "I'm glad I could have spent these last few years with you, and I'm looking forward to spending it with you and our cub," She finished with a heated kiss on the lips as Wolf happily allowed the mare access to his mouth. Hearing the joy in Blaze's words reinforced Wolf's resolve to protect High Moon and the ones that live within it.

Protecting High Moon from the dangers was a heavy burden for Wolf to carry, sometimes much too heavy for him to carry alone, but with his growing pack supporting him Wolf knew that life will soon start getting much better. The lovers soon broke the minute long kiss and placed their heads against each others.

Wolf continued to glided his hand over the mare's body as he used his claws to tickle her a little so he could hear the joyful giggles. "Wolfie stop, I'm ticklish, and you know this," Blaze giggled, wiggling around in the bed, but not making any move to get the dog to stop. She soon gave up with fighting the dog's pinchy claws from tickling her, so she wrapped her arms around his back, locking her fingers in his dull-blue hair, and giggling into his ear.

Wolf moved his hands towards the mare's back to drag a single claw down the line of her spine, which caused her giggle's to break into a moan and a slight whimper when he moved back up. "Wolfie lower, please," Blaze begged, wanting Wolf's claws to dig in her large flanks, but was denied that wish as Wolf continued to toy with the mare's back.

Blaze wrapped her legs around Wolf's waist, completely helpless to stop the pointy claws from gently dancing across her body-not like she wanted the to stop-and gasped when one of Wolf's claws moved down to her flanks and gave it a sharp pinch.

Suddenly Blaze rolled over, pushing Wolf to his back as she started to rub her fingers through his shaggy hair. Not missing a beat, Wolf continued to give her flanks a periodic pinch while her hips guided in his lap. Blaze stuck her flank high in the air, making her large breasts became press against Wolf broad chest, and started to nibble on his ear. "Come on Wolfie, where's that big bad alpha in you," She mocked as her fingers pulled on his hair and her teeth clamping down on his ear.

Blaze's mocking prompt Wolf to roughly grab onto her flanks with his claws, making her squeal from joy at the sharp bone-cutting claws digging into her flank, and groping the fat ass-seats.

Wolf started to instinctively gird the mare's hip to his, their pants being the only thing separating their bodies from connecting, but Wolf suddenly sitting up and pulling the long pants off of the mare soon ended that with him undoing the leather-belt around his waist.

Blaze looked over the top of her breasts, to see Wolf's shaft standing high and proud in front of her, and the hungry look on Wolf's face. She spread her legs open to reveal her gleaming marehood to the dog, making his shaft twitch from lust and desire. "Oh Wolfie, let's skip dinner, have some dessert instead," Blaze said, using her arms to push her breasts together, and shooting her lover a seductive smile.

Wolf didn't had to be told twice before he lined the large head of the shaft to the hole below Blaze's marehood and start pushing in. The mare's legs hooked on Wolf's shoulders as they winced and granted from the pain but the pleasure had both of them wanting more. Inch by little inch, Wolf's shaft started to spread out Blaze's tight rosebud, and continued until he bottomed out inside of the mare.

Blaze breath heavy slow breaths while Wolf nibbled on her neck and collar-bone as well as massaging her large breast with one hand and her equally large flank in the other. She took her hands and wrapped around Wolf head, enjoying the caring ministrations he was giving her before the real fun could begin.

"Wolfie, I'm ready," Blaze whispered, not sure how much more time they had before either another pack member comes looking for them. Wolf didn't reply but he still started to pull his shaft out of the hot rosebud to slam back in. Blaze whimpered from the stinging pain but moaned from the spine-tingling pleasure as Wolf continued to repeat the motion.

Wolf tailed his bites and nibbles down to the mare's large breasts to take the both of them in his teeth, and biting down making the mare stifle a scream. He stood up to get a better lavage as his canines roughly bit down on her hardened nipples while his claws continued to grope the sides of her breasts.

Blaze could feel Wolf growling around her sensitive nipples as his hands started to roll her breasts around. The dog removed one of the nipples from the vice grip of his canine teeth, only to focus on one nipple at a time while the other one was being pinched between his claws. The mare had to bite down on her lip to keep her screams from being heard by anyone else.

Displeased with the silence from the mare, Wolf pulled on her tail, and increased the roughness of each thrusts. However, Blaze held strong much to Wolf's annoyance, and even the new vigorous thrusting wasn't enough to get the mare to sing in her screaming voice.

Wolf removed himself from the mare's nipple, but replaced his teeth with claws, to further stand over the mare, and to gaze in her beautiful teary eyes. "Scream," He started in a low growl that made shake from the sheer power behind the voice. "I know you want to, it's written on your face."

Blaze couldn't hold on any longer, the fast pace motion left no room for Blaze to get used to any new movement that Wolf would make as she felt a climax quickly approaching, and by the shaft twitching deep inside of her, so was Wolf.

Wolf started to pull his shaft all the way out to the tip before he slammed back into the tight rosebud. Blaze did her best to suppress her whimpering screams, not wanting any of the others to hear her, but Wolf didn't make it easy as he went back for her nipples and used his teeth to pull on her nipples.

It wasn't long before Blaze couldn't take much more to the rough thrusting before she clenched her rosebud down around the thick shaft as well pulling Wolf's head towards her move while her marehood explodes with her juices. Along with the overwhelming climax, Blaze finally opened her mouth to let out a high-pitched scream, and the others would have heard it if it wasn't for the arcane doors having sound-proofing properties.

The mare's climax and joyous screaming was enough to bring Wolf to his own, as he again buried his shaft all the way to the base before he released a stream of hot cum inside of the mare. Blaze's eyes started to roll to the back of her head from the loads of flaring hot cum.

After a few more thrusts, and one last massive load of cum, Wolf released the mare's nipples as breasts to let them settle back down. Wolf collapsed on top of Blaze, too tied to move, and not wanting to leave the warm embrace from her. The lovers remained within each other's embrace, sweat dripping from their wet furs, and the smell of their lovemaking hanging thick in the room.

However as they lay in a sweaty mess of their loving embraces, all of it went unnoticed...all including the pair of bright green eyes in the crack of the door.

/ Ch. 8: Desires/-/

High Moon Ch. 8:  
Desires

Quill stood at the door to the couple's room, eyes widened with shock, and her body feeling an uncomfortable heat at what she just witnessed. She didn't know how to react to the lover's lovemaking, a part of her was shocked and slightly disgusted be on belief, however another part told her that it wasn't in her rightful place to judge; especially after the 'private' thoughts she had about the fillies and colts running around in Ponyville.

Her legs failed to respond to her pleading commands as she helplessly stood and watched Wolf repeatedly thrust into Blaze, each time increasing the force and speed while his teeth clamped down on her nipples, but even with the rough treatment Blaze seemed to continued to enjoy it.

Quill couldn't believe her eyes as she watched the two beings that was close enough for her to call real parents continued to make love, not knowing she was standing there. T-this is wrong. Quill started to see a clear line of drool forming around Blaze's mouth as she begged Wolf to move faster. I-I shouldn't be here, She screamed in her head just as loud as Blaze started to squeal when Wolf's claws drugged into her fur.

I...I have no right to judge. Wolf stood over Blaze's body to better slam into the mare, pulling out all the way to just go back in, and making a loud slapping sound. W-why, why can't I move? Wolf took his mouth off of Blaze's nipples, just to replace them with his sharp claws, and twisted them around to make Blaze let out a throaty moan. Is...i-is this how it's done? How I and Spike were m-made?

During Quill's staring, she didn't realize her hand moving down towards her own private spot, and didn't realize that she started to touch herself to the couple's lovemaking. N-no this is wrong, there has to be something-

What's the matter hatchling? Quill's body tensed up at the sound of the dark voice returning to echo inside of her head. Don't act like this is the first time we've seen this. Quill blushed at the faint memory of watching Rarity bent over by some stallion in Ponyville right before her last argument with Spike about her. If it's so wrong, then why are you still standing there. Touching yourself?

Quill's eyes widened when she finally realized that she had a hand down her shorts. She quickly removed it but still didn't leave her spot in front of the door. Admit it, you're enjoying yourself, and you have nothing to be ashamed about.

W-what are you-

It's like Twilight said, 'you are at that age,' and this is to be expected out here. For some reason, the voice-even if still dark and twisted in tone-sounded more caring towards Quill, but the dragoness didn't want to let her guard down with it around. I mean really, any female would want to have Wolf pounding deep inside of them. Blaze started to let out louder screams as Wolf's thrusts picked up in power while his claws twisted around her nipples.

Stop it.

Pounding in them over and over again, bring them to a joy that only his thick rod could, Wolf pulled on her tail as the roughness of each thrusts reached a new height while Blaze's eyes rolled to the back of her head and her tongue hanging out to the side.

I said stop it.

And then finally, when they're at their peak… "Oh Wolfie!" he ends it with a bang. Quill stood and watched as the couple finally reached their climaxes, Blaze's screams reaching the same peak, and Wolf's shaft buried deep within the mare. Soon Wolf collapsed on top of Blaze as Quill started to back away from the door. Why so afraid? You thought of doing the same thing to the CMC's a few months ago, not to mention the 'dreams' you had when you first saw Babs, and now you're going on a camping trip with them.

N-no.

Oh yes, admitted you can't fight off forever, and you know it. Quill became deeply ashamed by the truthfulness in the voice's words as a bright blush overcame her face. She couldn't lie to herself, ever since her last birthday, Quill had thoughts of doing the same thing the two sleeping lovers just did, but to actually witness it in front of her with her own eyes had her rethinking it.

Come now hatchling, it's a part of life, and a part of being a dragon. You'll learn one way or another, it might as well be on your own terms right? Quill looked towards the stone steps and dirt ground, shame of realizing what the voice was saying to be true, and the guilt of breaking Wolf's trust by watching them brought her to tears; tears she didn't want to shed. Well hatchling, I'm waiting.

Waiting for what? Quill heard the twisted laughter of her own voice echoing through her head before the voice spoke up again.

Oh you know, where's that smart and tough attitude you always have, It asked in a mocking tone. Usually, I would have thought you would try and tell me to leave right now, but no I'm still here. Well I guess our little 'talk' is over, I'll leave you to think about all of this, and hey, maybe you'll get lucky with one of those 'crusaders.'

Quill didn't respond as the voice left on it's own accord, most likely back to the deep recesses of her mind to hide away until it sees another chance to toy with her. She looked down to the hand that ventured down her pants, a clear shining line of her own juices dripped from her fingertips, and onto the ground below.

She looked back into the room to see Wolf lovingly stroking Blaze's stomach, the look of happiness and anticipation written on his face while Blaze was peacefully asleep. During the two months, Wolf had told Quill why he works so hard to protect High Moon, and the memory played clearly through her head.

Three and a half weeks ago

Both Quill and Wolf walked back from a cave after they cleared out a small pack of timberwolves that were too close to the valley. After noticing the injuries Quill and he received during the altercation, Wolf sat Quill on top of a large rock to field dress her wounds. "Quill, you want to know why I protect this valley from Everfree," Wolf asked after he finished cleaning the dirt and timberwolf slobber-which was like tree-sap-on her arms and legs.

"Wh- Ow that hurts," Quill shouted as Wolf applied the healing herb Blaze made for them. Wolf rolled his eyes at the dragoness's whiny cries and still continued to apply more of the creamy green paste to her stretched up arms. "So why, I mean, sure you want to protect your territory, but-"

"That's not the reason," Wolf broken in, reaching into a pouch that was attached to his leather belt-strap, and pulling out clean cloths to close Quill's wounds. "Sure it used to be my only reason, the same could be spoken for any diamond dog alpha, but my reasons changed."

Quill winced from the stinging pain from the small cuts along her arm, she was going to make sure not to let a timberwolf sneak up behind her next time. "From what to what," She asked after Wolf finished wrapping up her arms.

"From ruling over a land to making sure that to take care of my own." A small breeze passed through the two, bringing a calm and gentle feeling to the area around them, and reminding Quill what truly peace felt like. "Come on Quill, let's head back."

Wolf started to walk back to the temple, more importantly back to Blaze's welcoming arms. Quill remained rooted to the rock as she watched Wolf disappearing behind the bushes, that's when she finally realized, he wasn't fighting for the land-something that could be found anywhere else-he was fighting to protect Blaze and their cub along with Lily and Spike.

Wolf fought to insure their safety, to insure their happiness no matter where it took him, and Quill vowed to do the same. "Hey Quill, you coming or what?" She snapped out of her thoughts and stumbled off of the rock before she spared her wings to follow Wolf back home.

Present Day

Quill looked away from the door, still feeling guilty for invading Wolf's and Blaze's privacy, but knowing she'll make amends to them one day. She turned her head back to the door, seeing Wolf sitting in the bed with a pair of pants on while he continued to stroke Blaze's stomach as most of her body was covered by their blanket. She took in a deep breath and took her hand up to the old oak wood of the door to knock. "Come in." Quill heard Wolf softly say as not to wake the sleeping, whose head was in his lap.

After taking in another breath to calm her nerves, Quill pushed open the door, and started to intently blush when she saw the state Blaze was in. Drool and bite marks could be seen around the parts of her nipples and neck that wasn't covered by the blanket, her own line of drool still clear on her smiling mouth, and a heavy sweaty smell filling the room.

Wolf noticed Quill's blush on her face, and realized that he did a fairly bad job of covering Blaze up in the blanket. "Quill, what is it," Wolf asked, breaking Quill out of her observations, and locking eyes with her.

"O-oh right, Lily wanted me to tell you that dinner is ready, and we're waiting on you two," Quill informed Wolf of what Lily told her before she started to watch the lovers.

Wolf nodded his head towards Quill as he did feel hungry after the vigorous lovemaking he finished moments ago. "Alright, I'll be down in a moment." Quill nodded her head and turned to leave the room but Wolf stopped her right as she placed her hand on the door. "Quill," He started, alarming the dragoness a little as her wings jumped from their usual spot on her back, and getting her to turn her head around "There's something I want to speak to both you and Spike before you two leave for your trip. Okay?"

Quill let out a small breath of relief, for a moment she thought Wolf had figured out that she was spying on him and Blaze. "Yeah Wolf that's cool, see you in a few minutes?" Wolf gave one final nod before Quill stepped out of the room and back down to Blaze's work area to find that both Lily and Spike were sitting at a table with steaming bowls in front of them.

The smell of Spike's cooking hit Quill's nose and forced a growl out of her stomach. I think it's best if I kept it to myself, Quil thought, not sure how Lily or Spike would react to her dirty confession. "Wolf said we could start eating," She started as she walked over to the small-slightly misshapen-dinner table. The two looked over to see Quill walking towards the table and taking a chair to sit down in. "Blaze was asleep so I'm guessing that he'll be bring her something to eat."

"Well good I was getting hungry," Lily said as she started to eat the fruit and vegetable soup Spike made while the drake started to fix up his sister some food. Lily caught the bothered look on Quill's face, rarely does she ever sees it, and it worried her just looking at it. "Quill sweetie, is their anything troubling you?"

Quill snapped out of her thoughts and looked up to the concern expression of Lily's face. "Huh, n-no, I'm fine just a little nervous about spending time with the crusaders again," She said quickly as to not bring more suspicion down on her.

"You nervous," Spike said as he slid a bowl of the same soup towards Quill, the only difference was the chunks of meat in them. "The mighty dragoness, hunter of Everfree forest, and my twin sister; nervous? I don't believe it," He finished as he took a seat back down on the wooden chair with a sarcastic tone in his voice.

Over the last two months, Spike had learned to come to terms with what happened in Canterlot, and his usual sarcastic attitude returned in full force to annoy Quill. "Yes coal-brain, I'm nervous, and I know you have to be too-since you never went on a camping trip."

Spike looked down to his bowl with a sheepish grin. "Heh, yeah I-I guess you're right." Of course I'm right. "So do you have any idea where we're going," He asked, wanting to know where he was being taken for his first camping trip with the crusaders.

Quill looked up from the bowl after she discovered how sweet the soup was and chunky the boar meat was. "By my guess we're heading to the Rainbow Falls," She answered, licking off a piece of boar meat from her cheek before downing the rest of the soup. "Well, at least I think we're going to the Rainbow Falls, but knowing the crusaders, there's no telling where we're heading to."

"The Rainbow Falls huh," Lily asked, remembering the last time she ventured out to the natural wonder of Everfree. "Well that's a two day trip, looks like the both of you will be waking up bright, and early tomorrow to get ready." Both twins nodded their head, knowing that Lily was right. "Also I wanted to talk to you about training Peewee and Cinder."

"Huh," Quill started as she to play around with her empty bowl. "What do you mean about training them," She asked, looking up towards the bird's nest Wolf made-and she set up-to see the fire-birds happily sitting next to each other as they ate as well, and noticed that the two of them had really grown in size during the two months. "They seemed train enough."

Lily put down her empty bowl with a satisfied sigh after the-rather delicious-meal. "Well, for one, so far the most both of them knows is how to fetch something that we can't reach ourselves," Lily started, glad that the pair of phoenixes have been a big help around the temple and city ruins, but she also knew that they could do so much more. "Another thing, Cinder had been rather...clingy toward Peewee if you two know what I mean."

Spike just looked at Lily with a questioning gaze while Quill brightly blushed, not from thinking about the two birds, but thinking about the two lovebirds up stairs. "Huh, what are you talking about, Lily," Spike asked, still unable to see what the flutterpony meant while Quill got up from the table to grab more soup, but really to get away from the conversation.

"She right you know." Everyone-besides Quill-turned to the door to see Wolf walking towards them. "Peewee and Cinder are starting to mature just like you and I think they need a more active lifestyle," He finished, taking a seat next to Lily, and in front of Quill as she kept her head down not daring to look Wolf in the eyes. "And I think the best way to do that is to figure out what each one is good at."

Spike started to rub his chin in thought while Quill continued to down the soup. "Hm...well, Cinder is much faster than Peewee," He started, getting the red and orange fire-bird to screech at him with disapproval while Cinder used her wing to cover up her laughter. "Sorry bud but you remember a few weeks ago."

"You mean when you and Quill got lost in Everfree," Wolf asked, remembering the time Quill managed to get the both of them lost in a part of Everfree after she wanted to do some solo practice with him.

"Y-yeah, it was Peewee that found our way back, and I think it was because of the fire-stones." Both Lily and Wolf took a moment to think about Spike's hypothesis, they already knew that both Peewee and Cinder highly respond to the magic in the fire-stones.

Lily nodded her head after she and Wolf figuring out what Spike was trying to say "Hm...I see where you're going with this Spike, if we can some how alter the magical frequency of the fire-stones, and train the phoenixes to respond to them…"

"Then they could be used as guides to lead us back to High Moon," Wolf finished, liking what the idea entitled for the pack. "We'll be able to go further out of the valley and properly into other towns without getting lost."

"Does this mean what I think it means," Spike asked, following Wolf's thinking, and starting to become excited from the thought.

Wolf nodded his head with a big grin on his face. "Yup, we'll be able to do more trading with towns, and be able to get more stuff for High Moon. Not a big change but still welcomed," He said standing up from his chair, and walking over to the two large pots that Spike was able to get from a traveling caravan that came through Everfree not too long ago. "So what's for dinner anyways, my stomach is barking like a mad dog, and it smells pretty good."

Suddenly, Spike appeared from nowhere with two bowls wrapped around his tail, and two wooden spoons in his hands. "Thank you," He started in an unusually smug attitude that had Wolf chuckling a little. "It's just some fruit and vegetable soup but the other one has chunks of boar meat in them." Spike scooped up some of the different soups into the bowls and placed the spoons in them.

"Thanks Spike," Wolf said after grabbing the two bowls and noting which one was which. "Well I better go wake Blaze up so she can eat, I'll see ya'll tomorrow morning."

"Night Wolf," Lily said, placing her bowl into a container that Wolf showed Spike how to carve out, and gathering her things to get ready to head back to the city ruins. "Come along Spike we have a long day in front of us tomorrow. Good night Quill, I hope you sleep well," She said, bibbing the dragoness a good night before walking towards the arcane slab-door, and opening it with her fire-stone necklace.

Spike quickly grabbed his stuff and telling Peewee and Cinder to go on ahead with Lily while he spoke with Quill in private. The two firebirds looked at Spike with a questioning gaze but still followed his orders as they flew from their nest to the tunnel entrance where Lily had already started to walk through.

"Hey Quill," He started once the slab-door was closed shut. Quill finally looked up from her empty bowl and towards her twin brother.

Spike took a seat next to her, still keeping his book-bag on, and made eye-contact with his sister. "Yeah what?" A long pausing silence overcame the room as Quill awaited for Spike to tell her what he wanted to. "Spike if you're going to say something then-"

"Do you miss them," He finally asked after weeks of returning thoughts of the elements and Ponyville. Spike looked towards Quill, seeing the confused look on her face, but he knew she understood him. "Do you miss them, our friends in Ponyville?"

"Spike stop," Quill shouted in a hushed voice, not wanting to risk Wolf or Lily hearing them-even if the arcane doors are soundproof. "The last thing I want to do is think about them right now, in fact, that's the whole reason we're going on the trip with Applebloom and the other crusaders."

"But Quill-"

"But nothing Spike," Quill interrupted, standing from her chair, and walking towards the dish container. "We've been through this once, and I refuse to go through it again, now go to bed."

Quill started to walk towards the arcane door to her room but was stopped by Spike leaping over the table to stand in front of her. "No! Quill don't lie to me-more importantly-don't lie to yourself." The two locked eyes for a moment, both showing no signs of letting the other win in the staring match, but Spike continued to press on. "You miss them don't you, Quill I'm not saying that we go back, but a visit couldn't kill us. It's not like Twilight can make us stay any more, I think we've prove that far enough now."

Sighing, Quill closed her eyes to keep her anger running high, but really to think about what Spike was saying as she had thought about going back for a short visit. After what felt like an entirety, Quill opened her eyes only to be met with Spike's pleading eyes. "Fine, I'll think about it, but no promises. Now go on with Lily already, we got a lot to do tomorrow."

Spike lifted Quill off the ground with a tight hug, which was much stronger than she thought it would be. "Thanks sis, I promises you'll see," He said before setting her back down to the ground while Quill was still wide-eyed by the ease of which he lifted her off the ground. "See ya tomorrow Quill," He said from the round arcane slab-door as he used the fire-stones on his black work-gloves on his hands to open it up and leave the temple ruins.

Quill stood rooted to the spot on the ground, her mind musing over the unwanted thought of seeing the elements again, and still somewhat surprised at how strong Spike as became from-what she could tell-his domestic lifestyle. Again she sighed before heading towards her room to get some much need sleep.

Before turning to her room, Quill took a curious peek into Wolf's and Blaze's to see that the couple were already asleep in each other embraces. Wolf's head laid on top of one of Blazes breasts while one of his hands covered her some of her other one. Quill silently wished she could somehow use the large breasts as soft fluffy pillows for her head like Wolf is.

She eventually tore herself away from the door to walk across the hallway to her room, which was thankfully clean thanks to Wolf finishing all of his projects, and Spike sweeping out the wood chippings. Quill took of her brown vest and undershirt, reached into the bedside chest to grab one of Wolf's old shirts-which was large enough to reach down to her knees-and then striped out of her brown shorts.

After getting dressed for the night, Quill fell on top of the bed, and moved around until she was laying long ways across the bed. Another long sigh escaped her lips after the talk with Spike. "Stupid Spike," She breath out in a tired sigh. "So what if I do miss them, they deserve every second of sadness they get."

Well aren't we being cold, Quill heard the dark voice call out in her head. "Oh right, then there's you, the voice in my head telling me what to do. Fun." Haha, so now you're just going to speak to me out loud now?

"Why not? Not like anyone can hear me anyways." Quill rolled around in her bed and placed her hand over her head to cover her eyes. "Tell me what are you, and I don't want to hear some smartalic response, no matter how funny you think you are."

Alright, The voice started with a sigh, sounding sadden that Quill was done playing it's game. Fine hatchling, if you haven't guessed by now, I'm one of your ancestors. Quill shot up in the bed, thinking that she somehow missed heard the voice, or that it was still toying with her. No hatchling I'm no longer jesting with you.

"How did you-"

Read your mind, The voice interrupted, no longer speaking with Quill's voice, and sounding much older. Much older. Well I've been connected to you since your...'birth' by the ponies those many moons ago. Quill started to scoot towards the edge of the bed in shock and disbelief that all of her answers was sitting inside of her head. Shocking isn't? To know that everything you could ever wanted was right inside of you?

"H-how come you never told me," Quill questioned a small tear forming on the side of her eye. "We...we could have stayed, there wasn't a need for all of this."

Yes their was, Quill's ancestor said in the softest voice she ever heard it before, even Celestia's gentle voice sounded rough and scratchy in comparison. Hatchling you know you would have never grown living with those ponies. You would have been forever stagnant and nothing in your life would have changed. So I allowed you to look for the answers to your question on your own while my 'brother' have been rather silent towards the drake.

"What you mean Spike," Quill questioned, not thinking that Spike too must have an ancestor whispering in his head.

I do not know of his name, but if you mean your blood-brother, then yes. However he seems...reluctant, to embrace his dragon heritage. She didn't want to say it, but the voice was-mostly-right, Spike wasn't as opened to new things as she was. Even still, he has made an effort to adapt to their new lives as much as Quill, and that's all anyone could ask of him. No matter, you'll be reaching your first growth soon, and I will soon fade out of exist.

"Wait what are you talking about, why are you going to fade away," Quill further questioned, no wanting the closest thing she can call a real blood-relative to leave her after the discovery.

My young dragoness, you should know that every creature that had a dragon's blood flowing through their veins has an dragon ancestor laying dormant within them, but the four dragon makers need our souls to continue to drive the world forwards.

"Four dragon makers, I think I've read something about them," Quill mused, remembering one of the books on dragon myths and languages, and the first four dragons to master the basic elements of life; air, earth, water, and fire.

Yes child, and you will continue to learn more about your blood-line as you grow, but you will be doing it on your own. Our time together maybe growing short, but you must keep pushing onwards, I know you can do it as you have proved yourself a number of times before.

"Wait," Quill started, standing up from the bed, and looking up as though another is in the room with her. "I-I want to know, what happened to our parents, why did Celestia have our eggs?"

Sadly young one, I can not answer those questions for I have no knowledge of before you and your twin's birth, Quill's shoulders slumped downwards, still her biggest questions remained unanswered. However, I believe the guider of the sun would know of this, but now's not the time for you to worry yourself of the past.

The room around Quill started to fade into darkness, the air growing much colder than it should have been, and a thick fog layered on the ground. Quill didn't react to the world around her changing as she kept her head up and her emerald-green eyes locking onto a faded purple eyes of a silver and golden dragoness standing in front of her. A future lays await for you young one, don't waste a single breath on anything that is not important, and don't go back on your word; you will make it through this I promise.

Quill then understood that the dragon in front of her was the same one of her past. "Please don't go, I have so many questions," She begged reaching a hand out towards the dragoness as it expanded its massive silver wings, kicking the dense fog up in the air, blinding Quill for a moment.

And I will be here for the time being, however it is up to you to seek the answers, I only serve as a guide like you will of the next generation.

By the time Quill looked up again, the world around her was already back to normal, and any traces of the elder dragon was gone-for now. Quill fell back to the bed, her mind straining to understand everything that just happened, and with each passing second more and more questions started to take shape from the elder dragoness's answers.

Why did she choose now to reveal herself? How is she going to figure things out without her around? Why hasn't Spike's ancestor made any contacts with him? What will happen after their growth-spurt? So many questions, none of which she can begin to think of the answer to, and her time of getting those answers is drawing near; so near that she feared some of them may never be answered.

Quill's body started to shake from the overbearing weight of the pressing questions while her mind started to scream for an answer; any answer. However, Lady Fortune failed Quill this night, and many more nights if she couldn't figure out what all of the elder dragons words mean. Quill wrapped her wings around her body as to shield herself from the world around her while she crowded behind the leathery appendages but even that didn't help protect her from the realization that she may never know the absolute truth.

Never will she know the real reason Celestia had her and Spike's eggs, never will she know what happened to their real parents, and never will she be able to find the answers on her own.

Ever slowly, Quill started to stand up from the bed, too tired to even fix the collar of her shirt from hanging over her shoulder, and no longer caring about it any more. She started to walk towards the door, each footstep lighter than the last, and she had to force herself to continue onwards.

Finally, the door was pushed open by her hand, and she walked over to the couple's room where they laid asleep. Quill placed her hands on the door, her claws running down the fine grain of the wood before pushing it open, and stepping in the room.

The loud creaking sound from the old rusted hinges caught the attention of Blaze, waking her from her secluded dreamworld of her unborn cub to turn to Quill, and caught the bothered look on her face. "Mmm...Quill, what are you doing up so late," She asked, sitting up in the bed, and using the cover to conceal her nipples. The mare's movement was finally enough to disturb Wolf as he growled a few unintelligible words in his native tongue.

"I-I couldn't sleep," Quill said, keeping her eyes down towards the ground, and only glancing towards the sleepy mess of Blaze. "C-could I s-sleep with you guys tonight, I had a really bad...nightmare, and I don't want to be alone right now."

"I don't know, Wolf?" Blaze looked down toward Wolf, who found a spot right next to the mare while his arm still wrapped around her waist. Wolf refused to acknowledge Blaze's looks and only responded when she nudged the top of his head.

"Grrr, fine whatever, but this better not become a pattern hatchling," Wolf growled with a savage undertone of irritation as he disliked being woken by something as small as Quill having a nightmare.

Blaze waved Quill over with a finger as she laid back down, forcing Wolf to reposition himself on top of her left breasts while Quill slowly climbed into the large bed, and again forcing Wolf to remove his hand from Blaze's waist and around Quill's back-right underneath her wings.

Quill hesitantly took a spot on top of Blaze's right breasts, already enjoying the calming warmth from them, but a quick flash of the memory of what happened with the fluffy breasts made her tone down her joy-just a little.

Blaze wrapped her arms around the two pulling them closer to her. "Now is everyone comfortable," She asked getting a nod from Quill after she extended her wings out around the other two-something Twilight wouldn't let her do-while Wolf growled some more words in his native tongue. "Good night Quill."

"Good night Blaze, Wolf, and thanks for letting me sleep with you two." Quill knew she couldn't run from the questions forever but for now she was going to enjoy whatever peace she could get while she still had it.

"Anytime and good night-"

"Go. To. Sleep," Wolf growled at the two, getting Blaze to giggle while Quill just blushed in response as the three of them returned to their peaceful dreams, putting the worries of the future aside for now just to enjoy the peace of the here and now while the still could.

High Moon; mansion ruins

Spike pushed opened the large stone doors to the mansion ruins after making his way through the tunnels. He was glad to hear that Quill was at least thinking about talking to the elements again as he thought it was high-time that they sort everything out before old bridges are completely burned.

Maybe we'll be able to ask Twilight and the others to help with rebuilding the city, He thought to himself after hearing Wolf say that some part of the city was in too much disrepair to fix. Spike looked up to the wooden support-beams above his head to see that both Cinder and Peewee were nested-rather close-together. Go get her Peewee...at least you have a shot.

Over several times during the two months, Spike had thought about Rarity, and the many years leading up to the last argument he had with Quill about her. Spike quickly pushed those feeling a side, not wanting to dwell on the past as he still had a future to work towards, but a much different one than he used to dream of a few years ago.

No longer was he Spike the shining white knight destined to save the day and get the mare of his dreams. Now, here in High Moon, he was Spike the dragon potion-maker, and he didn't mind it really. Spike enjoyed reading about all different kinds of potions and their many uses, along with the diversity of plant-and animal-life that hold special ingredients, of which he was taught how to use to his advantage.

Then there was his elemental-magic; water. At first he thought that he'll never understand the difficult art of bending water, something that's been named the blood of the world in dragon culture, to his will. However, after seeing how much Quill was able to do, Spike continued to push onwards with his lessons, and soon started to show results.

It was slow at first, just as slow as Quill was. Small wave by small wave Spike was able to awaken his skills of mastering the technique. First it started just as a small orb, but within time, Spike was bending streams of water to his will. However, to him, something felt missing. Something that was holding his magic back like a bottle cap on bottle of water.

He didn't know what it was, the thing oppressing his magic, but he found that if he meditated enough that he continued to grow. So he and Lily made meditating a big part of his training, along with the potion-brewing lessons with Zecora, and the large amount of studying he does about water-magic-regardless of how rare the arts were-and dragon culture.

"It can't be easy for everyone," Spike recited out loud the same motto that's got him through much of his life as he reached the door to his room to go to sleep for the night, knowing that tomorrow is going to be a long day, but still glad to know that he and Quill will have the chance to catch up with old friends.

Canterlot castle; 1:18AM

Back in Canterlot, in the engineering department, Obsidian sat at his work-bench working on a secret project that most would call a pointless dream. In his hands were the pieces of cobalt -aluminum, a lightweight yet durable metal designed for pegasi armor and weapons, but the dog had no millet intentions for the machine.

On the wall, diagrams of pegasi wings, and other avian creatures' wing structure anatomy were held again the wall with pins and clear tape. Pre-made sketches, designs, and changes to those designs were placed next to the diagrams.

Bits and pieces of circuits, wires, scrap metal, bolts and screws, and a small assortment of tools laid next to him on the smooth wooden table of his private workplace. All of these small pieces-alone mere scrap-will serve as another piece towards his dreams.

Dreams of flying high with his love, Sky Bloom back in the famous sea-port of Baltimare. Ever since they've met, Obsidian had been working on a way to fly high in the sky with his love, but progress have been rather slower than he would have liked.

And after joining the guard, progress on the project came to a near screeching halt, but he was still granted moments like this where he was free to work on it. One major plus side of joining the guard, particular becoming the head of the engineering department, Obsidian had access to a vast supply of equipment and tools at his disposal.

So once a month, he would find some way to work on the dream project of creating artificial wings, but thanks to the twins he was now behind schedule. Also he has noticed a slight change in Celestia's personality, she was acting more easygoing than she usually is, and the two's 'meetings' had become a near weekly thing.

It wasn't that he didn't like spending time with the mare, she need a friend to help her through the…'change' of living choice the twins made, and he happily filled that spot as he was half the reason the twins stand with the other diamond dog.

However it didn't stop with weekly visits, Obsidian's whole duty cycle was also changed shortly after the twins' choices, and now he was quickly becoming a full-time personal guard of the princess herself.

He had even escorted her on a business trip to Manehatten to attend a performance with the princess. Another case was a meeting with foreign nobles from the Griffon kingdom of the far south that he was the sole Solar guard stationed in the room while the nobles had several large falcon-griffons with them.

Celestia had even broken her princess status on several occasions be it allowing Obsidian without her royal attire, cracking fairly vulgar jokes around him, or simply breaking the already small space that he holds personal.

Obsidian wasn't the only one to notice Celestia favoritism towards him as other guards started to make small rumors of the return of 'Molestia,' even Celestia's maids knew of the dirty perverted-most likely untrue-rumor, but everyone seemed to know if it besides Celestia herself. Or she was hiding it.

Either way, Obsidian didn't care for anyone mudding up Celestia's name like that, and not even have the gall to say it around her. That's when he called a department wide meeting not to long ago, to 'pursue' anyone from using the degenerating nickname at all, or any offenders of the new rule can get used to seeing the training course every morning for the next three months.

Even still he had to put up with the side comments from other officers and others that dwell in the castle. So tonight he was hoping that working on the skeleton framework of the artificial wings would divert him from the two months of extra work and distracts from Celestia, however that was far from happening.

Sighing, Obsidian made the tough choice of putting the project on another month-long hold to get some needed sleep, but knocking from the door of the barracks stopped him from turning in for the night.

"Great, who in Cerberus's name could this be," He growled, walking through his private work area, and into the lounging area where the soft knocking continued to persist. "I swear, if it's somepony coming to tell me that their waterline needs fixing, I'm going to be pissed." Obsidian reached the door to answer the unwelcomed knocking to find the last pony he expected to be standing right in front of him; Sky Bloom.

The light-blue pegasus mare had never looked a breathtaking as she had now, her curly snow-white mane covered over one of her eyes, going over the length of her neck to the base of her light-blue wings, and her usual white dress with her cloud shape cutie-mark never seemed so bright before. What made her sudden appearance better was the dark-blue makeup highlighting her snow-white eyes and darker-blue lipstick.

Along with Sky's stunning from, a single dark-blue and silver ribbon, tie into a bow, holding up the other side of her mane. The same ribbon she has been wearing since their first intimate time together.

Obsidian stared wide eyed at the mare, not believing that it was actually her standing in front of him while the mare shifted on her feet with a giggish smile. "Sidy, you know it's not polite to stare at somepony," She finally said, giving Obsidian the only piece of proof he needed by her using the pet-name she gave him.

He didn't think twice before he wrapped his arms around the mare and buried his head in her mane to smell Sky's natural sea-salt scent that he loved. Sky Bloom returned the dog's affection, missing his strong grip as much as he missed her soft touch. "Sky, how the...I don't...how are you here?"

Sky started to giggle at the dog's stuttering, she loved it when he was flustered with questions, and could keep his mind straight for a single moment. "And I've missed you too, now if you'll let me down, I'll happily explain," She said, getting Obsidian to do what she asked while he stretched the back of his head with the sheepish grin she loved. "Come love," Sky started, grabbing Obsidian's hand, and leading him out of the engineering department. "I'm still just as shocked as you are, one minute I'm at home cooking some dinner, and the next a pair of royal guards show up at our doorstep, then I'm here."

"So you were brought here by Celestia huh," Obsidian said, quickly figuring out what was really going on, but for once in his life decided not to questioned it.

"Weird isn't it? Anyway, I get escorted by those guards all the way to an empty guest room, and was told to stay there until someone came and got me." Wait a second.

Obsidian stopped at the corner of the hall where Sky was leading him, getting her to stop as well. "Sky, these guards they weren't dressed in full armor were they?" The mare paused for a moment to place a finger on her chin in thought.

"Well, yeah aren't all guards supposed to be in full armor," She asked, never really understanding the system that was set up for the Solar guard.

"No," Obsidian said, shaking his head, and knowing something had to be up now. "Only on important missions, and VIP escorts are guards ever to be in full armor." Even Obsidian wasn't an exception to the rule as he had to wear the modified armor, that had to be custom made for his more rigid bone structure, for the many escorts he had to do in the past two months.

"That's because I told them Ms. Bloom was a VIP." The two turned to look down the hall to see Celestia walking down towards them, wearing a tight dress that was cut along the sides of her thighs, showing off much of her flanks and sun-flare cutie mark, and the top cutting off at the tops of her large breasts.

It didn't help that she was walking with a sway that belonged to a celebrity supermodel. In his four years of being a guard, Obsidian can't recall her ever wearing the dress, or her ever walking with such a sway before. With each striding step she took, the dress shimmed with small lights from the pale light from the moon shining through the windows. As she got closer to the two lovers, they saw the change in color of her mane from the multi colored marvel, to a more pale-pink, and even her fur-which she was showing off quite a bit-was slightly off colored.

Sky and Obsidian both bowed their heads towards Celestia as she approached them, their mind trying still to wrap around her new look. "Please, there's no need for you two to behave in such a way," She said, waving off their respectful bows, and gently lifting their heads up with her fingers. "Tonight, we are friends, and I want to invite my friends to a special event." Obsidian and Sky looked towards each other cock-eyed the thought Celestia calling them friends greatly surprised Sky while Obsidian had a feeling the term would be thrown out one day. "Now Obsidian, would you do us ladies the fine honor of wearing at least a shirt?"

"Huh, oh um...sure thing prin- Celestia," Obsidian said, getting Sky to turn her confused gaze towards him, but only for it to be shrugged off by the dog.

"Great, we'll be waiting outside of the castle for you," Celestia called out as she led Sky by the arm to the front door of the castle. Once the mares were behind the corner, Obsidian bolted towards the engineering barracks, and once inside headed straight for his room.

"Something's wrong," He whispered even though no one would have heard him. "First the twins, then her sudden mood change, now Sky showing up here." Obsidian ripped open the closet and looked for something to wear. "And now Celestia is taking us out somewhere, none of this adds up." He grabbed an old silver sleeveless jacket, since he didn't have much to wear in the first place. "But you know what? I simply don't care any more."

Satisfied that he looked somewhat presentable Obsidian headed back out to go meet up with the other two mares. "So as long as nothing happens to Sky, I could care less right now. This is future Obsidian's problem to deal with." Once he was down the hall again, which again was remotely empty, Obsidian headed straight for the castle doors.

The soft sounds of Sky's giggling, something he missed for the last few months, caught his ears as he spotted her and Celestia standing by the massive doors. "I take it that you two are getting along?" Both mares turned towards Obsidian as he walk the rest of the way towards them. "So just where am I escorting you to lovely mares tonight."

"Ah-ah, no escorting," Celestia teased with a wave of the finger, her voice sounding higher in pitch, and more playful than Obsidian had ever heard it before. "You are just going on a much deserved date with your marefriend. It's the least I could do for you and you team keeping the castle up and running."

So is that what this is? A thank you 'date?' "Celestia, please that's not necessary. We're only doing our jobs," Obsidian said, waving off Celestia's praising words.

"No, no, no that will not simply do," Celestia waved off with an exaggerated shake of her head and short pink mane. "Your team have done much more than what all of you should be called for, you in particular Obsidian. So tomorrow morning, I want you to tell your team that they all will be cycling with short breaks."

Obsidian's eyes widened at Celestia's words, the thought of seeing the joyous faces on his wary team at the sound of cycled breaks-regardless of how long-brought shock and surprise to the dog. "Celestia, that's...that's great! Gizmo been meaning to see her parents again and I know the rest of the team could do the same. Thank you."

"Hey what are friends for," Celestia joked with a slight tease. "Now come along my little pony and canine, our real escort is awaiting for us outside. Oh and could I ask you two one thing?"

"Of course Celestia," Obsidian started, willing to do just about anything to stay on Celestia's good graces, and since he apparently was now off-duty, whatever she had to ask shouldn't be that hard.

"Would it be too much trouble for you two to call me, Mia?"

/ Ch. 9: Lust/-/

High Moon Ch. 9: Lust

After helping both 'Mia' and Sky into the motorized ground transport-called a Terram-Obsidian climbed into the marvel of engineering that he read about during his first year of being a guard, and he still was impressed with the machinery and magical crystal technology.

However, now wasn't the time for him to be admiring the ground transport. As the transport started to move away from the castle, Mia kept her eyes on the window next to her while the couple sat close together, and neither one moved their eyes away from the lay-back princess.

Obsidian kept all of his thoughts to himself while Sky thought the best way to get some answers from the source. One bit at a time. "So...Mia," Sky started, still not sure about the 'nickname' Mia had given herself. "Where are we going this night?" Mia looked from the window and towards the loving couple as Sky had already-without much thought-placed a wing around Obsidian's body while his oddly larger tail was intertwined with her's. The sight alone was enough to bring a small smile to her face.

"Oh just a little place I have heard great things of around the castle," Mia answered, shifting in her seat to properly face the two lovers. "So tell me, I've been quite curious about how you two met, but Obsidian wouldn't ever tell me," Mia pouted, sticking her tongue at the dog, and getting Sky to cut a glance towards Obsidian while he scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Oh is that right," Sky questioned as her glare increased in force. "I see the guard training couldn't break you out of that little pup still in you."

Mia nodded her head after seeing Obsidian act extremely flustered every time she teased him over the last few weeks but she kept doing it because she enjoyed seeing how someone as analytical as him reacted. "Quite, I've never see such a well-train soldier act so adorable when they're flushed," Mia giggled at the blushing soldier while Sky joined the alicorn in her laughter.

Obsidian blushed more from the mares' laughter, and with having no way out, he was doomed to suffer underneath it. "Hump, well excuse me for being slightly socially awkward sometimes," He said with a grimace on his face as he looked out the window on his side of the Terram.

Sky hopped over to her side to wrap her arms around the pouting dog. "Come on Sidy," She started, wiggling closer to the dog, and placing one of her hands on his chest while the other one played with his long flat ears. "We're just teasing, there's no need to be ashamed, and besides," Sky paused to lift herself upwards while she rubbed his ear in two of her fingers "I already know of the real alpha in you."

A chill went down the dog's spine at the suggestive tone in Sky's voice, brief flashes of times when they made 'alone-time' for each other went through his head, and he had a feeling-if everything falls in the right place-that another memory would be made inside of the castle. While the couple were showing their affection for one and another in their playful manner, Mia looked on with a sense of happiness for the lover joy and jealousy for that same joy, and a soft faint glow came from her horn as she started to perform a spell that she hadn't used since Nightmare's and Luna's banishment.

"Okay, okay I get it," Obsidian began, nuzzling on top of Sky's head, and moving his mouth over to her ear. "And I see that you brought your special ribbon to," He whispered before biting softly on to her ear, making Sky moan from the sharp canines nipping.

"So," Mia broke in after completing part of the spell, getting the couple to blush at the realization that they were acting too affection as they looked toward Mia, but still refused to move away from each other. "About how you two met?"

"Oh right, right." Sky sat up to lay her head on Obsidian's chest, and hearing the fast pacing of his heart beat. "Well, we've been going out for five years now, but we've know each other for six," Sky started, using her wing to wrap firmly around Obsidian in hopes to calm him down a little. "You see prin- Mia, my father owns the Baltimare sea docks, and the blacksmithing shop Obsidian used to work at made the parts he needed."

Mia nodded her head, already knowing that Sky's father was a major owner of the sea-port dock thanks to what little information Obsidian would tell her, but kept quiet to allow Sky to continue speaking. "And I used to help him fill out some of the orders for the parts. That's how I met Obsidian, of course he was just the assistant blacksmith, but a good one no the less," Sky finished with a nuzzle on the dog's chest as he rolled his eyes.

"And I assume you two became friends," Mia asked, seeing the two being good friends before lovers.

"Well...no, mister 'tough-guy' over here," Sky broke, to slap her hand on the other side of his chest, but the only sound made was her hand hitting him. "thought that he didn't need any friends but I was able to break through that." A bright confident smirk stretched across Sky's face, giving her the impression of a victorious champion, but the illusion was shattered by Obsidian breaking into a low laugh. "And just what's so funny mister tough-guy?"

"Are you sure you're not forgetting something," He joked, looking down into her white eyes, and rubbing noses with her. "Something about a dark-blue ribbon with a sliver trim and your cutie mark on it."

Mia again secretly lit her horn, adding more magic to the spell, and smiling at how smooth everything is going. "S-Sidy," Sky shouted, breaking Mia's concentration, and hiding behind her white mane. "I-I'm sure that Mia d-don't want to hear that."

"Hear about what," Mia asked, wanting to know more about her friends, and needing them to show off their affection towards each other more.

Sighing, Sky looked up towards Obsidian how gave a firm nod, and towards Mia who also nodded her head. "Fine," She sighed in defeat and embarrassment. "Shortly after my eighteenth birthday, I forgot to take my heat suppressing pill, and well…" Sky trailed off, too embarrassed to finish the story so Obsidian did it for her.

"We managed to get locked in the furnished room of the shop and...to put it lightly, things go 'heated,'" Obsidian said with a bright blush of his own while Mia broke out in a fit of laughter and that's when Obsidian realized the suggestive pun that he didn't mean to make. "Forgive the pun."

"No forgiveness needed," Mia said, waving off Obsidian's half-apology as she did enjoy a genuine while Sky's face brightened at remembering the day. "So you've two sheared a private moment together, everyone in their live had a least once, well...mostly everyone." The couple looked towards each other, thrown back by Mia's sudden sadden voice, and neither one knew what to say next to her. "So any plans of foals, or rather cubs?"

Mia's question was enough to break both lovers out of their thoughts as Obsidian started to violently blush along with Sky Bloom. "M-Mia, I-I don't think um…" Sky was at lost for words, she has thought about having a cub with Obsidian, but she wasn't expecting Mia to ask the question so suddenly. "Sidy help me!"

"I um...well you see Mia I, grr, we...well you know…" Even the hardened soldier engineer was at a lost of words, first was seeing Sky after a long period of time, then there was Mia's sudden new look, and now was the most pressing question in any couple's relationship. "Yeah I got nothing, I mean, it would be awesome I guess." Sky's ears perked up when she heard Obsidian's sly confession as both she and Mia looked towards him. "I'm not going to lie when I say I haven't thought about it."

"Really," Sky asked, still blushing, but not as flustered. "Y-you have?" Obsidian stretched the back of his head, still blushing like a little pup, but still nodded his head. unexpectedly, Sky wrapped her arms around Obsidian's head and pulled him in for a passionate kiss, and pushed him against the window on his side. Obsidian, caught off-guard by the sudden kiss, slowly closed his eyes to better enjoy the pleasure of the mare's loving warmth.

The two lovers were so absorbed in the heated kissing, that they forgotten that Mia was still sitting in the Tarrem with them, but the alicorn's presents continued to go unnoticed as well as the soft pink glow of her horn.

Sky rubbed her hands in Obsidian's shaggy hair, always finding it cute when she scratched the back of his ears, and getting his tail to waggle behind him as she had used them before to tease the dog. While the mare toyed with his ears, Obsidian gilded his claws down Sky's back, and to the base of her wings. Sky started to moan in the kiss when she felt Obsidian's sharp claws prodding against the muscles at the base of her wings, sending jolts of pleasure down her spine, and forcing her wings to ruffle slightly.

Mia continued to look on the lover's amorous kissing, the spell now working on near full tilt, and gave her all the affection she needed from the two...for now. Slowly, with equally great displeasure, the lovers pulled away from each other as the need to breath started to build to an unbearable point, however they refused from leaving each other's tender embraces just so they can stare in each other's eyes.

Obsidian took his hand to brush the hair that was covering over one of Sky's eyes so he could gaze into Sky's pure snow-white eyes while she looked into the shining irises of his silver night-vision. Both of their breaths were slightly heavy from the intense kiss but only loving smiles were on their faces.

"Well," Mia started, snapping the lovers out of their dazes, and getting them to awkwardly turn their heads towards her. "I think we know what she was thinking now." Obsidian's face started to blush again, which was brightened by the darkness of his fur while Sky tried to hide in her canine lover's fur and her wings, but neither one thought of leaving the close embrace. "Ahh, young love," Mia joked while the transport started to come to a stop. "Oh looks like we're finally here."

"Speaking of which," Obsidian started with his hands still underneath Sky's wings. "Where is here any ways?"

Mia began giggling at the thought of the kind of night she planned for the two, along with the 'special' place she took them at, however she didn't answer the dog's question as the door was opened by another royal guard dressed in full armor. Mia climbed out of the Trraem with the help of the guard outside, followed by Obsidian and Sky.

Once outside the two lovers stared at the building in front of them, large like a warehouse, bright neon signs all across the front, a long line of ponies wrapping around to the next block with a large miniature dressed in complete black with a list in his hand, and the sounds of heavy beats coming from the building with lights flashing at the top.

It was a club.

"By the fangs of Cerberus," Obsidian started in a low whisper while Mia talked to the other guard. "Did princess Celestia really just take us to a nightclub," He asked Sky in her ear so Mia wouldn't hear him.

"Yeah, yeah she did, but it could be fun," She answered with a more cheery voice than Obsidian's alerting one. "What's the worst that could happen?"

Obsidian shook his head, knowing that tonight could end bad if things go the way he was thinking. "Sky there's something you should know about Celestia, she can't-"

"Welup friends," Mia started after sending the guard off back to the castle until she or Obsidian calls for him. "Let us head in, that's where the party is anyways." Mia started for the front of the line with Sky being lead by Obsidian, who had already snapped back into attention at the first sound of her voice, and reached the front of the line only to be stopped by the miniature.

"Sorry, no matter how much fur you show, you're not getting in without waiting in line like the rest of them," He said in a gruff voice, after having dealt with the same thing several times before. Obsidian was going to suggest listening to the miniature body-builder, not wanting to get in a fight in front of Sky, but Mia lighted her horn and made a scroll with the solar seal glowing a bright golden inscribe on it.

The moment the miniature recognized the symbol, he quickly bowed his head towards the sun goddess while the rest of the ponies in the line also bowed their heads. "Not even for the solar princess and her guard escort," Mia joked showing off her wings to the crowd, just to add more proof of her claims.

The miniature stepped aside to allow Mia and the two lovers entry to the club. "O-of course your majesty, please step right in." Smirking, Mia strolled right in the club with Obsidian and Sky right behind, and all three of them were impacted with the heavy house music that was being played by the mare deejay at the turntable booth.

"Come along you two," Mia started walking past ponies, who were giving her admiring looks, but didn't returned any of them as she lead the lovers to a special place in the nightclub. "I have a space rented here just for the three of us."

As the group continued through the crowd of partygoers, Obsidian noticed the same obvious sway in Mia's hips, and adverted his eyes when she turned around. "So um...Mia, how you know this place," He asked over the electronic dance music pounding against his sensitive eardrums. However Mia did not respond to his questions, properly because she couldn't hear him over the music, or that she didn't want to right now.

While Obsidian followed Mia, Sky remained close to him to no bump into any other pony, and took a look around to find that there was a second floor that acted as a lounging area. Soon the three make through the dance-floor and into a darkened hall way with only a faint red light. Here mares wearing skimpy clothing-if you can call it that-hanging onto stallions or other mares, much closer to each other than normally any other would do so every day, and it was obvious by the hushed moans why they were hanging close.

Obsidian wrapped a protective arm around Sky and pulled her close away from any prying eyes while Mia continued to walk past them without much reaction. The air in the hall didn't have much of a pleasant smell as well, to Sky it smelt like her father's workout room, and to Obsidian it smelt of the training hall of the recruitment barracks back in the castle...with a dead skunk laying in the middle of the room.

Luckily for the dog's sensitive nose, they finally reached a set of elevator doors. While the three were waiting for the doors to open, Sky noticed that Obsidian was acting slightly antsy and his face was an unnatural shade of blue. "Sidy, are you okay?" Once the doors were open, Obsidian rushed to get the two mare's inside, only giving Mia a slim chance to push the button for the right floor number and once the doors were sealed shut Obsidian took a big gasp of air.

Sky started to pat him on the back as he doubled over coughing and gasping for air. Eventually he got his breathing under control enough for him to stand on his own. "S-sorry, that hallway just sink to high-" Obsidian caught himself, remembering that he was still 'hanging' out around his boss, and quickly changed the phase he was going to use. "Um...I mean, it smelt bad."

Sky wrapped her arms around Obsidian to comfort him and help him forget the Cerberus awful smell while Mia rolled her eyes and placed her hand on the-hopefully-clean white wall as they awaited for their floor to come up. "Oh there's no need to sugar coat it Obsidian. That hall sink something of a dead foul creature, half of those ponies should be arrested for indecent exposure, and I will have a talk with the owner about the smell to have something done."

"Heh, yeah that's what I was going to say," Obsidian said, scratching the back of his head while Sky continued to rub his back. "So Mia, you said that his place is known around the guard?"

Mia was pulled out of her thoughts by the dog's conversational question and turned her head to the loving couple standing near her. "Well, not the guard exactly, but I did overhear one of my maids talk about this place a few days ago." Obsidian nodded his head, taking Mia's word as he didn't pay much attention to things like this while Sky had little knowledge about Canterlot in general. Soon the floor number came up on the display as the doors opened to the top floor of the club and to a hallway that made the last one a distant past.

Ponies still inhabited the halls, chatting amongst themselves, and mares still had on the skimpy clothing of the last hall. However, at least Obsidian's nose wasn't under attack by any offending odors. "Akchoo!" At least not in the same way. "Akchoo! By Cerberus's fangs...akchoo...why, why does it smell like a perfume factory up here," He asked before he was sent into another fit of sneezes, gaining the attention of everypony in the hall.

"Hm...I didn't think about your sensitive nose Obsidian, sorry," Mia apologized for forgetting the canine's heightened sense versus a pony's. "Come on the room isn't that far from here." Both she and Sky lead Obsidian out of the elevator as he tried to cover his nose from the heavy aroma of perfume. Soon they came up to a door at the end of the hallway and Mia opened it for the two lovers so Obsidian would cease his loud-painful sounding-sneezing.

Luckily for the dog, the room they were going too wasn't filled with any heavy overwhelming odors, or any shady ponies to stare at any of them. In fact the room itself looked to be of a private lounging area, having only a couch, oddly a bed as well, personal bar set up on the wall equipped with the finest wines for the mares, and the strongest beers for Obsidian's natural resistance against pony alcohol.

On the far side of the room, a sliding door that-no doubt-lead to an outside balcony. The color of the room resembled the same as the hallways outside; a soft pinkish light. Obsidian started to whistle at the sight of the room, far be on impressed by how well put the room was while Sky too was in the same state of awe, but Mia simply strolled past the two already having witnessed the room and all of it's added 'benefits.'

Lighting her horn, Mia to taking out a tall bottle of wine, and a cold beer for Obsidian. "Well friends, what say you a drink?"

Sky started to scratch the back of her head with a sheepish grin, times where Obsidian had to carry her home after she tried to drink with her father and his workers, flashed through her head. Also times where she was called a 'light-flyer' as well, the first time she heard the term she thought of it as an insult, but after a talk with Obsidian she learned that was another way to say lightweight for pegasi.

But she wasn't going to let that ruin the night.

"Um...sure, I normally don't drink, but why not?" Obsidian sighed at the thought of not only dealing with a drunken Sky, but also an alicorn that's been known-by rumor-to be an aggressive flirt when she had too much wine. "Come on Sidy, it's not going to be that bad," Sky begged, pressing her chest against his board chest as a means of temptation, and batted her eyelashes to add a since of innocence to make it look like she didn't know what she was doing.

"She right you know," Mia said, floating a dark-brown bottle towards him, and shaking it for added measure.

However, the dog remained unmoved by the mares' attempts to get the soldier to kick back, and Sky quickly recognized the flat look on his face also knowing what to do. She stood up on her tip-toes to reach into Obsidian's ear to whisper in a hush voice. "Pretty please Sidy, I promise to give you a treat when we're alone." Again Obsidian sighed, this time in pure defeat, and reached out to the floating bottle. He pop the top of with his claw and watched the trapped air inside escape.

Turning back to the still puppy-eyed look on Sky's face and the oddly tempting look on Mia, Obsidian raised the bottle high in the air before proclaiming: "Here we go."

three hours later

Time started to fly past the three friends as they soon found other means of entertaining themselves. "Woo, do it again Sid," Mia cheered on after having her third full bottle of wine by herself while Sky was barely on her fifth glass before she was too intoxicated to think straight. However, Obsidian himself was far be on what he normally allow himself to be, but that didn't stop him from having enough balance to stay on one hand while his feet were high above his head.

"Yay Sidy," Sky cheered with Mia, clapping her hands together while she and the alicorn sat on the couch. To keep his small crowd pleased, Obsidian-a good distance away from the mares-used his other hand to pivot around in a cyclone pattern resembling that of a street performer.

After his fifth rotation, Obsidian stopped on his right hand, and bent it down to get him closer to the ground. With strength that only belongs to diamond dogs, he pushed off of the ground into a tight barrel-roll spin in the air, and landed back on his one hand; the same one he started with.

"Woo, go Sidy," Sky cheered again for Obsidian's dexterity movements, captivate to his abilities of near perfect balance, and slightly turned on by it. "Haha, do another thick!"

Mia started to cheer and clap along with Sky, demanding the same thing from the dog, and enjoying the free performance the same way she was as well. "Oh yes another one," Mia applaud for another awe-striking surprise from the dog, soon becoming a chant for the both of the mares.

Not in the mood to displease, Obsidian again started to pivot around on his hands, but this time his rotation was aided by the side of his head as he allowed himself to spin around on the ground. He soon build up a fast paced rotation before he again leaped into the air, however this time, instead of landing back down where he started, Obsidian landed on the couch right next to Sky, and pulled her into a sloppy kiss.

The mare giggled as she accepted the kiss, neither of them no longer caring if Mia was sitting right next to the, and still not noticing the soft glow from her horn. The lovers started to run their hands around each other's bodies, Sky's going for Obsidian's ears to again get his tail wagging behind him, and Obsidian's towards the base of Sky's wings to hear the mare's appreciative moans.

Sky's hands moved down towards the hem of Obsidian's shirt to remove it and feel on his board chest. The dog's muscles felt much stronger than she last remembered, bring a drunken giggly smile to her face at the thought of seeing how strong Obsidian has gotten over the last few months.

She was given a peek of his strength when he lifted some of her dress and roughly grabbed onto her flanks with his sharp claws. Lustful gasps escaped Sky's lips as Obsidian continued to play with the modestly sized flanks. Not that Sky would like having a large flanks or larger chest as it would get in the way of her flying.

The two lovers continued to display their affection for one another in front of Mia, who couldn't be any happier for them. "Hehe, I guess now would be the best time to head back," Mia said getting up from the couch, only to be given slutty looks from both lovers. "What, was it something I said?" Sky whispered something in Obsidian's ear forcing a nod and lustful smile to come to his face.

"Oh Mia," Sky started in a singing voice, crawling towards the alicorn, and removing the ribbon from her mane. "Sidy and I want to show you a little game we play." Soon the shorter mare was right in front of Mia, ribbon in hand, and a lusting look on her face. "It's call…" Sky leaned in closer to Mia, whose legs refused to listen to her commands, and was helpless to stop the pegasus from placing the ribbon around her eyes. "Trusts."

Mia took a sharp gasp when she felt Sky's teeth clamping down on her ear and moaned when she felt the mare's hand on her breasts. "You trusts us right," Sky whispered into her ear, using that as a way to see if the alicorn was alright with being...intimate with them this night.

"I-I do," Mia said, already knowing that Obsidian wouldn't take advantage of either of them if they didn't want to, and having grown to deeply like Sky and her commitment towards her hardworking soldier dog.

"Are you sure? We don't want to force you or anything," Sky again repeated, forcing herself to sound serious about the manner, and giving Mia her last chance to back out.

No turning back now, I need to finish this spell, Mia thought to herself before steeling her nerves. "I do but I haven't done something like this in a long while." With being a princess, dealing with the everyday noble's mundane requests and compliances, ensuring the safety of a whole nation, Mia-or rather Celestia-didn't have much time for herself.

"Don't worry," Sky started, reaching her hands underneath Mia's larger wings, and pulling on the zipper of Mia's tight dress. "That's why the game is called trust," She finished with pulling down the dress and revealing her naked from to the two lovers.

Mia's wings twitched when she heard Obsidian give a long whistle. "I'm sorry to say this Sky, but Mia sure has you beat in the chest department, and flank department," He said, eyeing every curve on the alicorn's body, and forgetting who she really was.

"Well excuse me, but we all can't eat cake whenever we want," Sky retorted, crossing her arms, and starting pout.

Mia groan at the memory of the CMC's writing that newsletter about her eating massive amounts of cake during her visit to Ponyville a few years ago. "Oh come on, the chiefs in the castle can't cook half as good as Pinkie Pie, and I was craving cakes." Now it was Mia's turned to start pouting, forcing a chuckle out of Obsidian as he watch the two mares act like little fillies who didn't get their way.

"And just what's so funny," Sky asked, turning her attention towards Obsidian, who had his his body laid out on the couch with an obvious bulge in his pants. "Enjoying the view a little much aren't we?" Sky started to slip out of her white dress to show off her much more slender form than Mia's but that didn't meant she was lacking. "Come on Mia," She stated, grabbing hold of the blindfolded mare's hand, and leading her towards the awaiting dog. "Let's give mighty mutt here something really to laugh at."

Still guiding Mia by her hand, Sky reached down to Obsidian's zipper, and started to pull down taking his boxers with his pants. The pegasus mare licked her lips at the long desired sight of Obsidian's shaft standing proud in the air. "On your knees your majesty, we have a dog's ego to put out."

Mia followed Sky's lead as she knelt down in front of the shaft but didn't know what to do next. "Okay but don't you think that would be easier, you know, without the blindfold," She asked, unable to see a single thing that was going on around her, and the loss of sight was starting to make her anxious.

"Oh but that's the whole point of the game," Sky stated, wrapping her slender fingers around Obsidian's hardened shaft, and guiding it towards Mia's mouth. "Now say 'ah,'" She instructed, getting Mia to do as she asked after an encouraging pat on the back of her head. Once her mouth was open, Sky slowly pushed Mia closer to the large head of Obsidian's shafts.

Mia could smell the musky scent of his shaft and knew what she was being asked to do. Soon, she found Obsidian's shaft filling her mouth along with the intoxicating musky scent that spurred her onwards until she couldn't push any further.

She took Obsidian's groans and small growls as a sign she was doing something right after not having done anything like this in too long of a time. So Mia started to pull her mouth out, dragging her tongue underneath the throbbing shaft, and pushing back in to circle her tongue around.

Sky didn't even have to keep her hand on Mia's head as she turned out to be a natural, giving her the opportunity to have her own fun with the alicorn. knelt down behind Mia and slowly wrapped her arms around her waist, scaring her a little before whispering into her ear. "Shh, take it easy Mia, you're doing much better than for somepony who hasn't had sex in a while, but you need to relax." Sky danced her hands over Mia's flat stomach to get the mare to calm down, which she succeed with more ease than she first thought.

Mia continued to suck on Obsidian's shaft, coming to love the musky scent and slight bitter taste, and manage to place her hands on his thighs so she could have a better angle. Upon hearing more of the dog's groaning, Mia increased her bobbing after getting a small taste of pre-cum, and wanting to know what his actual seed tasted like.

While Mia was working on Obsidian's shaft, Sky slid her hands down to Mia's soaking marehood, and started to play with the wet folds after. She may have never been with another mare before, but Obsidian's absences while he was in the guard gave her the chance to learn more about herself. If Mia was like any other mare, than Sky would know just the right bottoms to push.

She brushed her finger over the wet slit, getting Mia to moan around Obsidian's shaft, and quickly learning just where and how to push the mare. Mia's muffled moans reached a new pitch when Sky took to fingers to spread open her walks and stuck her middle two fingers inside.

Mia couldn't believe the feeling she was getting sucking Obsidian's shaft while her marehood was being toyed with by another mare. Her loss of sight made anything the couple did an electricity jolt down her spine.

Soon Sky found that not only her wings became stiff but also did Mia's and she took advantage of being on the floor behind her. Mia's body suddenly tensed up when she felt Sky's teeth nibbling on the tips of her wings, forcing her to moan again around Obsidian's shaft pushing him closer to the edge.

Unable to help it, Obsidian reached out to Mia's soft ears to rub them in between his sharp claws, and reminding Mia of the evolutionary difference between them. But none of that mattered to the lovers as they looked past the difference in species to find something other ponies-including her-dream of.

Sky took her teeth off of the tips of Mia's wings only to bring them to her ear. "You can feel it can't you," She started with a low seductive voice that Mia didn't think the cheery mare was capable of. "Sidy's shaft throbbing deep within your throat, just ready to burst with cum." In all honesty, Mia didn't think that Sky was one to use such...colorful wording, but for some reason she enjoyed the dirty talk. "And look at you, you're still bobbing your head down his shaft. You want him to cum in your throat don't you?"

"Yesh," Mia answered with a bright blush on her white fur. She couldn't lie, over the last few months she'd been having an eye for the dog, but all of her attempts were ended with him saying that he has work to be done or that he couldn't do something like that with a princess. Well now, when the spell was done, Mia didn't have to worry about him pushing her aside because of her status.

Celestia may no longer have to deal with it but Mia wants to.

"Well than I hope you know what you're wishing for," Sky said, taking the tips of Mia's wings again, and starting to move her fingers faster inside of the mare. Sky's sudden movement encouraged Mia to increase her bobbing, ignoring the pain in her neck, and taking most of Obsidian's shaft.

Sky moved her free hand to grope Mia's larger breasts, teasing the nipple in her head, and tugging on it some. Mia started to groan as her nose worked double time to take in as much air as she could.

Obsidian's shaft started to twitch more violently inside of Mia's mouth as his groans and growls started to become more furious sounding while Mia could feel her own marehood reach a breaking point.

Suddenly, Sky removed herself from Mia's body, causing the mare to groan in disapproval at being denied sweet release. "Wy yu stofh," Mia asked around Obsidian's shaft, causing vibrations to run into his groin.

"So I could do this," Sky said, grabbing hold of Mia's heavy flanks, and lifting them high in the air to gaze at the juices glancing off of Mia's soaking wet marehood. The sudden change in position forced Mia's head to move upwards and forced the rest of Obsidian's shaft to go down her throat. "You know Mia, I've never tasted another mare's juices before, but I hope yours is just a sweet as mine," Sky said, using her fingers to toy around with the swollen petals, and licking her lips in lustful hunger.

Without thinking much of it, Sky dived straight in Mia's marehood, using two fingers to keep her spread apart so her tongue could have easier access to the sweet honey nectar. Mia's wings flared out from feeling the mare's tongue pushing past her walls while her fingers continued to prod against them as well. Along with Sky's fingers and tongue, Mia felt Obsidian's claws wrap around her pink mane, and forced her to resume bobbing her head.

Mia soon got used to the new position and again started to swirl her tongue around Obsidian's throbbing shaft as it was fit to blow. Her breasts got stuck between his legs as she stained all the muscles in her neck to get Obsidian to finally release his cum in her throat.

Sky had to fight herself from reaching a hand down to her own wet marehood, but she wanted to save that for later. So took keep her wandering hands busy, Sky kept Mia's flanks held up high with her left hand while two fingers of her right aided her tongue inside of the mare's-rather-tight walls.

But it wasn't enough for her, so Sky moved her left hand towards Mia untouched rosebud, and pushed her thumb in. The motion was the final straw for Mia as her body tense up and marehood clenched down on Sky's fingers and tongue as she released a massive amount of mare-cum on Sky's face. The pegasus mare tried to drink as much of the sweet nature as she could, however there was simply too much for one mare to handle, and a large number of it slipped on Sky's breasts.

Mia's body grew heavy as she slumped to her side, her mouth releasing Obsidian's throbbing shaft, but kept her head next to it. The lovers allowed Mia to catch her breath before Obsidian picked both mares up off the ground, getting both of them to squeal from joy and surprise, and walked over to the bed sitting next to the balcony doors. Obsidian then dropped both mares, again getting them to squeal from surprise before he pounced on Sky.

Mia followed the sounds of the other mare's giggling until she again was picked up by Obsidian, this time her marehood was placed right on above Sky's mouth. Sky again was able to breath in Mia's intoxicating scent, reminding her of a field of sunflowers, and making her desire that much more stronger.

Her hands reached up and started to pull Mia down to her face while Obsidian lined the head of his shaft to her awaiting marehood. Obsidian teased Sky with the head of his shaft to toy with Sky bruning marehood, forcing whines to come from her. The moaning whines took the sound of Mia's cries as she grabbed her breasts in her hands while Sky continued to moan into Mia's marehood.

"Sid...p-please get i-it over with," Mia started with a low throaty moan as Sky's moans vibrated inside of her marehood, driving her crazy. "I-I don't know…" Obsidian chuckled at the thought of having not only Sky begging, but the sun goddess as well, brought out a hidden lust for power that all diamond dogs carry; no matter how pure of heart.

Obsidian continued to tease Sky's marehood with is shaft while his hands held down her hips. Mia took a sharp gasping scream when she felt Obsidian's canines reach into the joints at the tips of her wings. "Then beg, come on Mia, I want to hear you say it."

Mia didn't know where the dark tone in Obsidian's voice came from, but right now wasn't the time to think about it as she tried to force herself to speak in such a manner she never done before. "P-please Sid, push y-you shaft inside of Sky, and show me why she your mare."

Obsidian darkly smiled, please to have a powerful mare like Mia begging, and was more pleased to grant her wishes. "Sure thing princess Mia," He said, pushing his shaft all the way in Sky's walls, and getting the mare to loudly moan in Mia's marehood.

Mia's hand shot from her breasts and went straight down to Sky's white mane as her hips started to grind on the mare's face. Sky took the hint from Mia and redoubled her tongue work, no longer toying around with her marehood.

Obsidian didn't let the mares have all the fun as he continued to thrusts in Sky's tight marehood, groaning as he already felt himself building back up to a climax, and upped the speed to get the mare closer to the edge as well.

Each time Obsidian thrusted deep in her, Sky moans were trapped inside of Mia's marehood, and traveled up to the alicorn's vocal cords to be released as a heavenly song. Sky could feel Obsidian's shaft filling up her thigh walls, bring her to a joy that was equally matched by the sweet taste of Mia's juices.

Obsidian grabbed onto Sky's flanks to get better lavage as he started to feel Sky's marehood clenching around his shaft, telling him she was ready to burst as well. The power behind his thrust were enough to get Mia moving back and forward as her tongue hanged freely from her mouth while Obsidian tried to hold back a savage growl.

Soon, none of the lovers were able to hold back any more as Mia's and Sky's wings shot outwards while Obsidian buried his shaft deep with Sky's walls. The mare was quickly filled with Obsidian's hot seed as Mia's sweet nectar poured down her face. Again Sky tried to drink much of the mare-cum as she could while Obsidian continued to pound his shaft into her leaking marehood.

Eventually, all three slowly stopped cuming, and with the help of Obsidian, Mia was off of Sky's cum-stained face. After placing the mare to the left side of Sky-careful not to hurt her wings-Obsidian pulled his shaft out of her and fell to her right side. All three were shortly asleep in a drunken daze with smiles on each of their faces, and a soft pink glow from Mia's horn.

The Very Next Morning

Obsidian happily held his mare in his arms, as during the night some moving around happened, and she eventually found her way to be pressed against his bare chest. However their short lived peace was going to be shattered by an-half-unexpected invader.

"Obsidian," Celestia's voice called out after the spell had played it's part, just not in a way she thought it would. "Sargent Obsidian, wake up." Obsidian growled from being pulled from the peaceful world of sleep, a world where worries were near non-existent, but one can not run from their duties in the real world forever.

Obsidian started to sit up in the bed, his head pounding as though beaten by a hammer, and memories of last night as foggy as any morning mist that he's ever seen. "Guh, Mia can it wait another five minutes."

"Mmm...Sid what are you talking about?" Obsidian rubbed his temples to end the pounding in his head, his mind must have been playing tricks on him, because it almost sounds like there is two Mias in the bed with him.

Wait. Obsidian forced his eyes opened, fighting through the bright glares from the opened window, and staining to focus on the room around him. "Sargent, I need you to stay calm," Celestia said, sounding back to her old self again, and sounding nothing like the voice that he just heard moments ago.

With his eyes fully opened, and able to somewhat stand the glaring lights, Obsidian was greeted to the naked body of Celestia. He was going to question the mare's peasants, when groaning that didn't belonged to Sky caught his attention, and turned to the naked from of Mia.

Obsidian blinked a few times, his hangover refusing to let him draw any conclusions as of yet, and so he relayed on the ever so handy process of eliminations. He looked over to Celestia to note everything he could see on her. White fur, multi-colored mane, horn, and a pair of large wings. He then turned his head to Mia to repeat the same process. White fur, pink mane, horn, and a pair of large wings.

Obsidian turned back to Celestia, who was blushing from his staring, and again turned back to Mia. He repeated this several times over before last night started to flow back into his head in series of flash floods. When the lines were starting to be drawn, and the dots connecting in his head, Obsidian's face started to grow pale and his breathing started to become labored.

"Sargent, remain calm, and don't-"

"By Cerberus's fangs, what's going on!?" Obsidian started to back away from Celestia, managing to fall out of the bed, and waking the other mares in the bed. Sky sat up and got ready to yell at Obsidian but stopped when she recognized Celestia sitting in the bed without any clothes on.

But before she could gather her thoughts, Mia sat up as well and stretched out her wings around Sky. "Mmm...that had to have been the best sleep I've ever had in a long time," She started with the same high-pitched sounding voice. "So, sis how are our lovers talking the news?"

Sky whipped her head between the mare's while Obsidian tried to gather as much memory of last night as he could but each new faded memory held another reason for him to be freaking out. Sky suddenly collapsed in Mia's arms from the realization of what happened last night and the far unexpected surprise of the morning. "Yes, um...I haven't got the chance to tell them yet, but it could be better."

"But what, how, when...I don't know," Obsidian gave up, falling back to the couch in a defeated sigh. "Would either of you just please, tell me what the fuck is going on?" Mia giggled form the defeated tone in Obsidian's voice while Celestia tried to use the covers-which was covered in their cum-to cover her body up.

"Yes, well that's going to have to wait until we all take a nice shower, and get some fresh clothes on." Celestia lit her horn to teleport all of them back to the Canterlot castle to better explain her new 'sister's' sudden appearance, hoping that she did the right thing.

/ Ch. 10: Wants/-/

High Moon Ch: 10 Wants

After Celestia had teleported the four of them back to Canterlot, in Obsidian's room, Celestia began to quickly explain herself to the lovers for the other alicorn laying down on both of their laps. Celestia explained that she spell she used on herself allows the user to clone themselves or someone else, all that was needed was a set amount of initial emotions. She also admitted that she used the same thing on Luna right before the Lunar Rebellion.

Celestia claimed that her attentions were true when she used the spell on Luna to separate herself from her dark thoughts. However, Celestia had gotten caught by Luna while she was still trying to use the spell. The two apparently had a huge argument over, not only that, but all the other selfish and foolish things Celestia had done in the past.

The argument caused Celestia's worst nightmare to happen, the coming of Nightmare Moon, and the beginning of war. After imprisoning her sister on the moon for a thousand years, she soon she learned that Nightmare was angry because she only tried to take out Luna's dark emotions.

Further in the explanation, Celestia revealed that Mia, who was a small part of her mind, had been around for quite some time, and had been around just as long as the 'Molestia' rumor has been. However, luckily, it was just that...a rumor. Mia didn't really enjoy the thought of having sex with everything that moved, in fact the thought seemed to angered her slightly, but she seemed to be unable to properly show it for some reason.

When Sky questioned this, after getting over the fact she and Obsidian technically had sex with Celestia either way anyone looks at it, Celestia explained that Mia was given form by her magic and the couple's emotions. Last night Obsidian nor Sky showed any angry or hostile emotions so the spell didn't pick up on them.

Then it was Obsidian's turn to question her, asking for more information on the spell. "So let me get this straight," Obsidian started, rubbing the side of Mia's wing as she 'nap' in his lap. "This 'spell'-if you can barely call it that-allows the user to clone themselves or someone else as long as they have enough magic and using the emotions from others?"

"Mostly," Celestia started, burrowing one of Obsidian's large shirts to cover herself, and wished her 'sister' would do the same thing. "The spell requires a lot of emotions, not necessarily from others, but Mia insisted that we use your love, affection, protectiveness, and lust for Ms. Bloom here and also Ms. Bloom's...um...kinks." Everyone turned down to Mia, who was still wearing the blindfold over her eyes, and from the looks of things, wasn't going to take it off anytime soon. "Also a few other things that we've picked up during the night."

"Okay but why, and why us," Obsidian asked, not sure to be honored, or angry that Celestia involuntary got them to have sex with Mia last night. "I mean, surely there's a good enough reason you'll go so far out of your way to do this. Right?"

Celestia giggled a little, always impressed by Obsidian's inquisitive mind, and she knew that they at least deserved a straight answer. "Alright, the truth is Sergeant, I loved you." Obsidian's jaw could have fell off of his face, as the biggest bomb to ever be made, was set off inside of his head. As the dog stammer looking for something-anything-to say, Sky remained quite, appearing calm while Celestia continued. "At first, I thought of it as me having a simple crush on you for being there for me when the twins left, but I soon found myself constantly thinking about you."

Obsidian continued to open and close his mouth, unable to think of a single thing to say while Sky took his job of rubbing Mia's wings. "I've met a lot of ponies before, I've watched a lot of them move on from this world to the next, and I've met a lot that had the same feelings as I do for you." Both lovers heard the sadness in Celestia's voice, a sadness that only comes from generations of living, and watching helplessly as other die in front of her. "But I've never met someone like you Obsidian, smart, strong, and completely devoted to the one you love," Celestia paused to look at the blank expression on Sky's face, an expression even her many years could not peer through. "Which is why I leave you with her," She continued waving a hand over Mia's still naked from. "You've been a better soldier than I could ever ask for, more importantly, a better friend than I deserve. I know this is a lot for you two to bare, and I know that you may dislike me for this, but please, I want to give you something in return."

Both lovers looked at Celestia with disbelief at what she was saying and doing, she was giving up a part of her own mind to the two of them to do as they pleased, but the responsibility was something that neither one was ready for.

Lighting her horn once again, Celestia got ready to teleport back to her room, but not before whispering, "I'm sorry." In a bright golden flash, Celestia vanished from sight, and left the couple to somehow deal with the new alicron dropped in their laps.

Obsidian just stared a hole into the spot Celestia was in moments ago, unable to wrap his head around the fact that he stole the alicorn's heart just by being a good friend, and not believing the extremes she was willing to go to show that love.

He was finally pulled from his thoughts by Sky leaning her head on his shoulder. Obsidian returned the gesture by laying his head on top of her's. "Sorry," He said, breaking the uneasy silence in the room. Without even knowing it, Obsidian has captured the heart of Celestia, and driven her to take out a part of her own mind and give it form. "I must be the world's biggest idiot right now to you, and I understand if-"

"Stop talking," Sky interrupted, not liking what Obsidian was going to say, and didn't want to hear it now-or ever. "This isn't you fault, its ours, and we just have to live with it." Sky had no idea what they are going to do with an alicorn that supposed to give herself to Obsidian and neither did he. "Obsidian, what's next, what are we going to do?"

Obsidian heard the shaking fear in Sky's voice, knowing that now they have an alicorn to hide from Equestria, but right now he didn't know anything that would work. "I don't know Sky, I don't know, but I'm sure we'll think of something right? Two heads are better than one."

"Now's not the time for lame jokes Sidy," Sky giggled from Obsidian's unattended joke, which was a sign that everything really was okay for now. "I love you Obsidian." Obsidian turned his head so he could kiss Sky on the top of her ear, making her giggle again, and help lighten the mood about their new situation.

"I love you too Sky Bloom, I promise I'll figure something out." Sky nuzzled against his fur, making him chuckle when she started purring like a cat.

"I know you will, you always do."

High Moon; Fluenta falls

While Obsidian and Sky where high in Canterlot, trying to figure something out for Mia, and find a way to further confront Celestia about the matter, Spike and Quill were showing off all the things they've learned over the two months.

Spike was working on his water-magic at the waterfalls near the temple, using his magic to make the downward current propel himself up the three towering water falls, and repeating the process over again when he reached the top. Quill worked on her flying as well as her fire-magic by creating fireballs as she's flying and hitting a target-which was merely a rock or dead-wood-that Wolf or the phoenix pair throws up in the air.

While the three of them did this, Blaze and Lily sat at the waterfalls to soak their feets in the cooling liquid, and watched the twins further progress in their respective fields of magic. Since both dragons were just doing a little practice, and not learning anything new, the two took this time to simply chat amongst themselves.

"It won't be long now," Lily started, watching in awe at the speed of which Quill was flying, and her accuracy of shooting down the targets while Blaze was impressed how far Spike had gotten with his water magic. "Soon they'll be looking after us."

Blaze giggled at Lily's wishful tone, she too have been thinking the same thing several times over the two months, but she knew she'd wouldn't be able to allow the twins to face everything on their own. "I doubt Wolf would let something like that happen," She said, rubbing her growing stomach, and overjoyed with the cub that growing inside. "No matter how good they get, Wolf won't just let them protect us themselves."

"Yeah you're right," Lily started nodding her head, knowing Wolf better than that to think that he'll sit around while everyone do the things he wanted to do for High Moon. "Still though their growing quite fast and their first growth-spurt seems to be around the corner."

A large splash near them, broke the two mares out of their conversation as Spike emerged from the water to start 'water-sliding', as he calls it, back up to the top water pool. "Yeah they are," Blaze giggled at the drake's cuteness when he's not even trying. "But you know what that means right?"

Lily sighed, knowing full and well what Blaze was talking about. "Yes I do, but they have self-control, so I don't see any immediate dangers." It was highly evident by Quill's aggressive attitude, and Spike's 'condition,' that the twins were maturing in another way than just magical or physical ability. "But it's also like Wolf said, we can't rightfully stop them when they are ready."

"I know, just hope either one makes the wrong choice." While the mare continued their talk about the twins and anything else that could come up in her heads, Wolf made sure that Quill landed a hit on every target that was thrown her way, and that Spike was pushing himself with his training.

Man have these two grown, He thought picking up a piece of dead wood and throwing it high in the air, only for it to be incinerated by a purple fireball. Two months and look at them now, hell, look at High Moon. Wolf couldn't be more happy with the way the twins had help out with cleaning up the city ruins and Quill help keeping the predator count low as well. If things continued on the path they were on now, by the time his cub's birth came around, High Moon would be safe enough for it to run around in without worry.

These could be a little easier as some parts of the temple was too dangerous to wander in, but as far as things are going, Wolf could care less right now. Once he felt that there was no more targets to throw up, Wolf thought it was best if the twins finished packing for the camping trip with their old friends, and started to call the twins over.

"Quill, Spike come on it's time to go!" They heard the dog shout at them as Spike reached the top waterfall, performing a backflip in the air before landing back down to the water's surface at the top water pool while Quill was pulling out of a sheep aerial dive. Wolf chuckled when he saw the determined look on Quill's face, no matter what she doing, Quill always somehow reminds Wolf of himself during his cubhood.

Moments where he had to fight alongside his brothers, all of them striving for the same goal, and all working together to achieve that goal. To this day, Wolf doesn't regret his decision of leaving his den home in search of a pack to call his own, and he was sure the twins wouldn't as well.

As soon as Blaze and Lily heard Wolf calling for the twins they started to get up, thinking that it was time for them to start heading back to the temple if the twins were going to be on time for their camping trip tomorrow. Spike and Quill also got ready to head back as Spike performed a swan-dive into the bottom water pool while Quill used her claws to slow her landing.

Wolf rolled his eyes at the dragoness's brash landings, she was going to hurt herself one day, but the best way to learn is by you own mistakes. He turned to Lily and Blaze as they started to walk up to them and nodded to Blaze. "Lily could you walk back to the temple with Blaze? There's something I want to talk with the twins." He glanced towards the twins' phoenixes, who were resting on their dragon owners' shoulders. "In private."

Lily soon understood what Wolf was going to talk about with the twins as she and Blaze had been wondering when he'll give them the talk. "Sure Wolf, we'll start getting their things ready so they can be ready to stay at Ms. Zecora's hut for the night." Wolf nodded his head, glad to see that Lily was on the same page as he was. "Come along Peewee and Cinder, let's get the carnivores their privacy." Both fire-birds looked towards their owners, who just gave them a reassuring nod of approval. Soon Peewee and Cinder were of into the sky heading straight to High Moon; Cinder following Peewee.

Lily gave another nod before walking past Wolf to give both dragons a hug goodnight before heading back herself. "Well I guess this is goodnight," Blaze said, giving a kiss on the cheek to both twins, and wrapping Wolf in tight hug as well. "Good luck Wolfie," She whispered into his ear before skipping to catch up with Lily.

Once the mares were gone, Wolf started to lead the twins to the path to the higher waterfalls, but instead of heading to the right where the top pool was, Wolf continued up the dirt path. Both Quill and Spike were starting to wonder what was going on and why was the three adults acting so strange but before they could question it, Wolf suddenly stopped in front of them.

He sighed before turning around to look both of them in their emerald green eyes. "Spike, Quill," Wolf started with another sigh, kneeling down to their heights, and never breaking the lock on their eyes. "Now I know that you two may not look at me like some kind of...father figure, that understandable, but," He paused for a moment to gather the right words. "But, I can't let you two walk around completely naïve about your bodies."

Both Quill and Spike started to blush when they figured out what Wolf was talking to them about, but wasn't given the chance to speak as Wolf continued. "I can tell that you two are really smart, you also have the self-control to know what's right and wrong, but you two are dragons and as such you need to know this," Wolf again paused, this time standing up, and motioning the two to follow him further up the path.

"Spike," Wolf started, figuring that it'll be easier to start with Spike since he was a male as well. "Lily had told me and Blaze of your...'sleep-groping.'" The young drake started to blush from the shame of his condition and what it entails. "And I want you to know that its perfectly natural for a drake your age. However, you can't just push it aside, understand?"

"Y-yeah, I understand," Spike said, knowing what Wolf was saying, but having no idea how to approach the new venture into maturity.

The group reached a wall of ivy, which was brushed aside by Wolf, and allowed the twins to entre. Behind the overgrowth was a hidden hot-spring with bright plants around the small pool that reflected the pure crystal blue light. Neither Quill nor Spike could believe their eyes from the serine sight while it brought memories back to Wolf.

Wolf placed his hands on both of the twins shoulders, tearing their attentions away from the tranquil pool of water, and to the dog who was quickly filling a missing role in their lives. He knelt down again with another sigh at being faced with the hardest part. "Quill," He started again, this time having no right idea how to approach the dragoness about her own urges. "Now, I don't really know to say this, but I know that you are a strong and proud dragoness. Don't let anyone take that from you, but don't force yourself on anyone as well." Quill nodded her head, guessing that Wolf was talking about her unnecessarily aggressive attitude, and was hoping that she found some way to control it.

"That goes for you two Spike," Wolf said, rubbing the top of the drake's head, and chuckling a little. "The both of you need to know the difference between love and lust." From the twins' looks Wolf could tell that they knew little difference between the two types of affections. "You see hatchlings, the difference is, love usually-not in all cases-comes first, then you have lust."

Wolf pushed down on the twins' shoulders, hinting them to sit down before he went on, and motioning them to close their eyes so they can focus only on his words. "Love is a privilege, it allows you to trust someone else with your deepest fears, and have them do the same to you." Both Quill and Spike started to think back to the only pony that caught both of their attentions; Rarity. They started to question all the reasons why they worked so hard and fought over the mare for her affection. Spike did it because...well because he just really liked how good Rarity looks, only after did he even think about the rest of her.

While Quill did it for the same reason, however, started to lose interest in the mare after repeated times of being dragged around by her looks. It also didn't help the fact that Rarity wasn't even into females from the start, the thought upsetting her when she thought back to how she used her looks to get her to do things around the boutique.

Sure they both soon learned more about the mare, but that only served to push Quill farther away from her. Her high-class attitude towards things she liked, how needy she was over the simplest of tasks, and her melodrama drove Quill insane to where she just want's to kick down the door to the boutique and tell her off. The only rightful reason she kept doing the things Rarity asked of her was because she didn't want to sit back while Spike worked himself into an early grave.

It was pretty evident to the both of them that their initial reasons were for lust, which is why the love wasn't ever returned in the same way. "I'm not saying that you have to know everything about the other, since that's just a bit creepy, but don't let their looks be the only thing you go for. Eyes are a very deceptive thing, they can play tricks on our minds, but our hearts will never lie."

I never loved her, Spike silently thought to himself as Wolf's words started reach him. I only did it because she resembled some of the ponies back in the castle. Back when Twilight, Quill, and himself moved away from Canterlot to Ponyville, Quill was the main one that looked forward to the move as it gave her a chance to do more as she pleased without Celestia around.

However, Spike wasn't so happy about the move-well he was-but he still missed living in the castle back in Canterlot. Luckily, over the years he gotten over this, and had moved onwards. Rarity played a big role in this as she looked like some of the maids from the castle, which gave him something to remind him of his first home. I won't make the same mistake twice.

"Don't let someone else's choices ruin your chance at happiness. Find your own life to live, find your own love to cherish, and never look back." Wolf didn't know exactly what kind of lives the twins lived with the elements so he didn't know that his words were hitting as hard as they were, but from the growing smiles on the twins faces, he was in the right direction. "Love isn't something that you should have to kill yourself over, regardless how romantic it is, dying for a loved one is actually a very selfish thing to do."

Heh, guess he's right, Quill thought to herself, thinking of all the times she thrown herself to Rarity just so Spike wouldn't carry all of that mare's weight by himself. It was Spike's choice to go after Rarity, I gave up a long time ago, and I'm not going to be going back to her any time soon.

A long moment of silence overcame the three as Wolf allowed the twins to take in everything he said. Once both of the twins open their eyes, Wolf breath a long sigh of relief, thankful that the 'talk' was much easier than he thought, and was getting ready to leave before Spike raised his hand.

"Huh, oh right questions." Great. This should be fun. "What is it Spike," Wolf asked, wanting everything to be cleared up in one go so he doesn't have to do this again...that is until his cub reached their ages.

"Um...yeah, I get everything you said, and it really made a lot of thing clearer." Wolf allowed a self-satisfied smile stretched across his face at the drake's unintended praising words but soon disappeared at his question. "But how do we...you know...do it?"

"Um…"

"Yeah I was wandering the same thing," Quill spoke up, adding to Wolf's nervousness, and continuing to add thing on. "Because you know, I'm not into guys really, and all I have to go on is Rainbow Dash's vague explanation."

"And what about-" Wolf placed his hands over both of the twins mouths to get them to be silent for a few moments while he gathered the appropriate words to 'enlighten' the twins on the nightly affairs.

Came this far… Wolf removed his hands from their mouths to rub the sides of his head and taking in a deep breath. "Okay," He breath out before looking back up to the twins' eyes that were filled with wonder. "I'm going to be straight up with you two, your best bets are to either find someone that knows what they're doing, or find someone just as inexperienced as you."

"Well that's not really fair," Quill started with a deflated tone, not speaking for herself, but for Spike who had no knowledge of what to do. Quill could not believed that Wolf refused to tell them in the ends and outs of sex. However, she already had a head start on Spike after watching Wolf and Blaze share an intimate moment yesterday.

"Sorry, but that truly is something you have to learn on your own, but hey that's what mating instincts are for." Both Spike and Quill stared at the dog with blank faces before breaking out in laughter with Wolf following along with. "You two shouldn't be worrying that much though. Like I've already said you two are smart and you make good choices, even if you don't, you still stick with them to the very end."

Wolf stood up from the ground, ready to get heading back to the temple before it gets too dark, and still needing to get them setting off to Zecora's hut. "Come on, you two. We still need to get some stuff done before your camping trip tomorrow." Both Spike and Quill got up from the ground to follow Wolf out of the hidden sanctuary.

His 'talk' may have not been as informative as they would have hoped, but Spike wasn't joking when he said that it cleared up a lot of his questions. Questions that Twilight could have answered herself if she tried.

However, neither one of the twins thought of this as they looked forward to the next few days with the CMC's, and sharing new memories with their old friends.

Ponyville, Edge of Everfree forest; The next day

The next morning, after sleeping in Zecora's hut last night, Spike and Quill stood at the edge of Everfree forest right outside of the Sweet Apple acres. To Quill's displeasure, Zecora had awaken her with the awful smell of her potion-making while Spike-who is used to waking this early-was assisting with her daily routine.

Through the months of studying, Spike had grown fairly attached to Zecora. Much more than he would have by staying with Twilight. It turns out that Spike-and just about everyone else in Ponyville-knew little of the zebra, mostly because nopony wanted to be caught in Everfree after Luna and Nightmare had risen the moon. From the stories she had told him, Zecora came from a small tribal village where potion-makers, shamans, and tribal warriors thrive in peace.

Her father held an important role as chief shaman of the village, teaching her all he knew before she set off in her around world journey. Equestria, a much pleasant place to live in, wasn't her intended destination, nor was it Blaze's. Zecora's journey had started but with a simple direction to where the sun raises and the moon falls; east.

In that journey, she met Blaze in a sea-port town doing the same thing as she was, which was looking for a new land to call her own. Since they were young to this very day, Blaze and Zecora had been friends to the very end, which as yet to come.

Spike and Quill wanted the same thing to happen with them and the CMC's. So what if they were no longer living in the same place as they were, that did not matter, they still could met up and enjoys each other's company.

However that would be easier if they would show up on time.

"Where are they," Quill shouted out to the empty fields, tired of waiting for the teenaged fillies to show up, and still somewhat sleepy. Spike, sitting on a rock near a large dark oak wood tree, turned to his twin's irritated look, and shrugged his shoulders. "You would think that since they are the ones putting this together, that they would show up on time."

"What can you do," Spike questioned with another shrug of the shoulders as he was more level headed than his sister but still did question the crusaders' lateness. "Knowing Rarity, she properly making sure that Sweetie Bell had everything she 'needs.'"

Quill threw up her hands in destine, a faint memory of 'helping' Rarity with her camping equipment a few short months ago flashed through her head, and it didn't help with her irritation. "Great that's just perfect," She started, kicking an apple tree to knock out a few apples. "Leave it to little miss perfection to slow everything down." Spike started to chuckle at how Quill sounded just like Rainbow Dash, getting her to raise an eyebrow at him. "What's so funny? Usually when I down on Rarity like that, you come to her aid."

"Well, I can't help if it's the truth." Spike laughed, throwing Quill for a loop. "Hey remember when Pinkie Pie showed Rarity that donkey that lives on the outskirts of town? Oh man, I've never seen her freak out like that before!" The drake continued the laughter, holding his sides, and leaning against the tree so he doesn't fall off.

Quill simply watched on with a small smile, it seems that Spike really has moved on from Rarity, and she had a feeling that Wolf's 'talk' was what did it for him. She was glad to see that Spike was no longer looking to work himself to the bone to get the high-class mare's attention any more. Now all she had to do was get him a marefriend their age and she could finally take it easy.

Or better yet, let him flail around until some lucky mare reaches out to him, and pulls him from the deep. Hey what are sisters for? Quill started to laugh at her own joke while she munched down on the bright red apple. "So Quill," Spike started, breaking Quill out of her thoughts, and getting her attention. "Do you think I look alright?"

Quill instantly spit out pieces of the apple at Spike's sudden question. "What?" Spike's question caught her completely off-guard as she tried to wrap her mind around why and where the question was coming from.

"I mean the way I'm dressed," Spike corrected, hopping off the rock and spreading out his arms as they started to show more signs of growth. Quill quickly looked over what Spike was wearing, a pair of Wolf's black shorts tied at his waist with a alligator's leather hide and tied midway of his legs with some white cloth. He also had on his old purple jacket which he had to cut the sleeves off. "I had to borrow some of Wolf's pants because mine were dirty."

"Uh...you look fine, Spike." Quill had to admit that it wasn't Spike's clothes that made him look good. His flat chest-not overly build-showed signs of muscle growth along with his arms, legs, and tail. Even she had grown just a little in muscle, her arms were still slender, but the muscle underneath was much denser than it used to be.

Her wings were slightly longer but refused to grow larger for the power she craved. Other than that was the same for her arms, slender in design, but holding power that some females dream of. She was glad that Spike still had some kind of pride, but one question still was on her mind.

"Why?"

Spike started to scratch the back of his head with his trademark sheepish grin and red blush on his face. "Well you said that Sweetie had a crush on me so I was thinking that I, you know, try impressing her." Quill shook her head and chuckled, she should have guessed that Spike would have tried to move on in the weirdest way possible; by going after the younger sister.

"You've got to be joking," Quill started, getting Spike to blush even more, and walking over to the love-dumb drake. "First Rarity than Sweetie Bell. Spike do you have a thing about white mares?"

Spike snapped out of his sheepish grin after realizing that there was a pattern to his crushing. "What no just that well…" He stopped for a moment, only making Quill that much more suspicious. "It's not because of her fur, Sweetie is a really cool mare."

"So is Applebloom and Scootaloo." Spike again started to blush when he realized that Quill was right. "Want to give any specifics lover-drake?"

"Well she smart, funny, a really good friend, and um…" Spike tried to think of anything else he could use to describe Sweetie Bell in a high light. "A good singer, never gives up, and…"

Quill sighed at Spike half-minded thinking and at the fact that he took her seriously. "Okay Spike, I was joking around, and if I wanted a filed report on her I would have asked," Quill said flatly, getting the drake to blush even more as she started to shake her head at his denseness. "That's another thing Spike, you've got to stop taking everything so seriously." Spike stopped his blushing to look straight into Quill's eyes. "If you're going to have any hope with either of the crusaders then you need to lighten up alright?"

"Heh, yeah I guess you're right." Quill rolled her eyes at the drake's periodic annoyance, but someone had to deal with it. "So what about you?" Again Spike's question threw her back, and she was not sure of what exactly he meant. "I mean, you have to like one of them right? So which one is it?"

Quill sighed an irritated groan, she had wished that she could have one of the crusaders, however she was meant with the same issues as Rarity. "None of them," She flatly answered, going back to munching down on the apple. "Neither Scootaloo nor Applebloom like girls so that dead before it could start." Spike's mouth made the shape of an 'O' as he realized that-yet again-he said the wrong thing. "But meh, I'm sure that I'll get lucky somehow." Yeah right.

"O-oh I see." A fore-looming silence befell the two of them as Spike was too afraid of saying something stupid again while Quill was brewing over the odd fact that all lot of mares seemed to be straight regardless of the sewed pony gender ratio.

She guessed it had something to do with mares' tendency to join herds. Figures.

The twins went back to waiting for their friends so they could start the-hopefully-three day camping trip if Everfree doesn't literally rain on their parade. Soon, their wait came to an end when Spike spotted the familiar colors of the crusaders along with two mares that they didn't know and...a flying diamond dog?

Neither Spike nor Quill had the time to question the sight of the unknown dog flying with pair of dragon wings that could put Quill's to shame before Sweetie ran up on Spike. "Quill, Spike you guys made it," Sweetie Bell cheered, wrapping her arms around Spike, and getting a pleasant surprise at the tough muscles underneath his jacket. Everyone watched with awkward silences as Sweetie started to nuzzle against his chest and purring slightly. "I've missed you Spike."

"Ya mean that we've missed him right," Applebloom asked, wearing her usual camping out fit of a tied plaid shirt and short jeans. Sweetie looked back to her friends to see that both Applebloom and Scootaloo had their arms crossed with a displeased look on their faces.

"Yeah right, we have missed you Spike," Sweetie corrected, unwilling removing herself from Spike's body to skip back over to the other crusaders, her light-purple shirt swaying with each step she took. When Sweetie stopped her skipping, she turned on one heel, and waved her hand towards the three new faces. "Oh right, Spike, Quill I want you guys to met Sketchy,"

Both twins looked over to the white fur unicorn mare, who had her three tone black mane tied back in a ponytail behind her head, and was wearing another sleeveless blue sweater in tight black skinny-jeans. "Hello, it's nice to met you. Sweetie Bell had told me a lot about you two," Sketchy spoke with an air of maturity that resembled Lily's.

"Jinx," Sweetie continued, waving a hand over to a light-blue unicorn mare with a two tone blue and green mane tied into long pigtails on the side of her head and wearing a short-sleeved dark-blue jacket in a pair of black shorts.

"Hiya, I don't know much about you two, but I'm sure we can be friends." Spike chuckled at how Jinx sounded a bit like Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy at the same time, but then his attention was drawn to the winged dog.

"And their dog/drakefriend, Dusk Flare." Quill was thrown back at the halfbreed's size as he was almost as big as Big Mac but not quite. Through his sleeveless purple jacket, Quill could tell that he had stronger muscles than Spike, and all of that weight was perfectly supported by the large set of dragon wings on his back.

Dusk stepped forward towards the twins, the smile on his face betrayed the thickness in the air around them, and for some reason, Quill enjoyed it. "Hey, name's Dusk, and if you were guessing, I'm a dragon and diamond dog halfbreed." Dusk's voice was something Spike had dream of for years now, deep and smooth, like the manliest of men. "Nice to met another pair of twin breeds again," He continued, taking his hand out of his out of his pockets, and stretching it out to the twins. "So you're the famous Spike and Quill I heard so much fuss about."

"Yeah," Quill said, taking his hand, and giving it a firm shake. "The name is Quill Dragul and that's my twin Spike Dragul," Quill said, introducing her and Spike to the halfbreed as he gave the same firm shake to Spike. "So you said that you've met another pair of twin dragons?"

Dusk nodded his head, already starting on the clear dirt path in front of him with the other's close behind. "Yup, back in the republics, I was friends with a pair of twin breed dragons," He said, sparking the curiosity of both twins.

"You're from the republics," Spike asked, never meeting anyone from the Lunar Republics before, and always wanting to visit the many lands that dwell within Luna's and Nightmare's rule.

Again Dusk nodded his head towards Spike. "Yeah, to be exact, I'm from a small island call Nebula about deep north into the snow regions." Dusk chuckled at the memory of his home island being covered in snow and ice, making the perfect wonderland for all of the young children of the small fishing island. "So what about yourselves? From what Sweetie told me, you guys ran away from Ponyville not too long ago."

Dusk's bright purple eyes connected with Quill's emerald green, having an unintended effect on her. "Heh, yeah." Quill scratched the back of her head with a slight blush on her face, she wasn't into guys, so why was she acting this way around Dusk? "A few things went down, and we learned that Equestrians don't know enough to care for dragons, so we left."

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that," Dusk said with genuine concern, now believing the rumors about Equestrian's lack of dragon knowledge, and seeing how it may have affected the twins. "Hey if you two got any questions, I'm happy to tell you what I know." Again, Quill and Spike locked eyes with the older dragon halfbreed, and realized that their biggest first-hand knowledge about dragons was walking right in front of them. "Dad made sure I knew as much about dragons as I could before we left the republics."

"We," Spike and Quill asked in unison, making Dusk laugh at the two of them.

Dusk pointed a thumb back towards the teenage fillies and mares walking behind them, specifically towards Jinx and Sketchy as they talked amongst themselves. "Me and marefriends, duh." Both twins smacked each other on the head for their own empty-mindedness, making Dusk laugh from the odd pair. "Yeah, after high school ended a few months back, we started looking for a new place to live, and here we are."

Quill and Spike nodded in response, both of them having dreams of traveling to lands far away from Equestria, and to the rest of the outside world. To met not only a-half-dragon that was willing to help them, but also someone from another nation, got the twins day-dreaming about going on adventures around the world to find riches be on their wildest dreams and to see exotic creatures just like Dusk.

"Wow that's cool, but um...we kind of have the dragon thing covered," Spike said, forcing Dusk to raise his eyebrow in mild-disbelief. "You see, there's an ancient city ruins here in Everfree that has all kinds of knowledge about dragons, and me and Quill has been studying them for the last two months."

"Oh I see," Dusk said in thought, he didn't know much about Everfree, so he couldn't question the information Spike was giving him. "Well studying only gets you so far, you two know of your elements right?" The twins nodded their heads, already acquainted with their elemental-magic, and guessing that Dusk has his own. "Well, how much do you two know?"

Both twins put a finger to their chins in thought, that's when Spike spotted a river leading further into Everfree, and an idea coming to his head. "Well I can do this," He said, handing his back-pack to Quill, and jumping on the water's surface before anyone could question him.

Instead of falling in like everyone thought he would, Spike landed on his feet in the flowing stream of water, and using his water-magic to propel himself forwards against the natural flow of the water.

Everyone stopped walking to watch in awe as Spike moved against the waters current without much effort on his part, still shaky when he had to jump over a rock or two, but keeping his balance before shooting out of the stream with a sideways flip.

Spike landed on the ground with a skidding stop before he looked back up to Dusk with a cocky smile that Quill though didn't fit him well. "Water-magic huh? Well Spike that makes you a diamond in the rough," Dusk said with a chuckle, only having met a few small number of other dragon-blood creatures that could use water-magic; one of them being his sister Wave Flare.

"Yeah? Well watch this," Quill said, handing her and Spike's stuff to Dusk, and spreading her wings to take flight in the air. Dusk was impressed at the speed Quill ascended the air as was much faster than any dragoness he met before, only his younger sister, Vernil Flare, was as quick as Quill.

Once she reached a high enough distance, Quill pressed her fists together, and reared her head back as she took in a large amount of air. Draconem flagro. Keeping her lips close together, Quill let loose a small stream of concentrated purple fire before it expanded outwards into a massive fire-ball that engulfed the most of the clouds near her.

The fire-ball burn so hot that the clouds instantly evaporated into hot steam before vanishing into the air. Soon Quill ended the stream of fire after the fire-ball dispersed into the air and landed back down to the ground with a toothy grin.

Dusk let out a long whistle of amazement, never seeing a dragoness with so much raw power before outside of his family. "Woo, you go dragoness. With that kind of heat, you properly already can use blood-fire." Quill cocked her head at Dusk, not recalling reading about the ominous term, and Dusk caught onto this. "So you don't know yet huh? Well, keep working on that fire of yours and you sure will." Dusk handed Quill back her stuff and tossed Spike his before continuing down the path again.

Quill snapped out of her inexplicit daze and started after Dusk with the crusaders and his marefriends right behind. "Okay but what about you," She asked, jogging back up to him, and getting his full attention again. "You must have an element-magic too, even if you're a halfbreed."

"Yup that's right," Dusk answered, nodding his head with his eyes closed. "But mine is completely different from either of you two's magic." This time it was Spike who cocked his head at the halfbreed, and before either of them could question him, Dusk took off the large camping bag off of his back, and handed it to Spike.

Once the bag was out of Dusk's hands, Spike almost tripped from how heavy the thing was, but then realized that Dusk was carrying not only his stuff but Jinx's and Sketchy's as well. "You see, not every dragon is blessed with one of the four makers' magic, and I'm one of the few that aren't." Dusk quickened his paced, and something told Spike and Quill not to try keeping up with him. "However, this isn't a bad thing, but it does make it harder for me to learn any spells or techniques like you two. But when I do…" Suddenly, archs of purple and black electricity started to swirl around Dusk's body in a violent display of power along with control.

As his foot started to reach closer to the ground, Dusk's entire body disappeared in a purple flash, and all that was left was a few residual arcs of electricity. Before either the twins or CMC's could understand what happened, Dusk reappeared behind the twins, and placed his hands on their shoulders.

"It's awesome. Isn't it?" Quill and Spike whirled around in shock at how fast Dusk was able to move using his elemental-magic, just giving them proof that they have only scratched the surface while Dusk was already through the mantle plate.

From whirling around too quick, and still carrying the heavy camping bag, Spike tripped on his feet. Again, everyone was given a demonstration at how fast the halfbreed was able to move, by him grabbing the bag with one hand, and Spike's jacket with the other saving him from being crushed underneath the bulky bag.

"Whoa, careful there drake." Dusk pulled on Spike's jacket to straighten him out on his feet and set the bag back on his back. "So where was I...Oh right, my elemental-magic," Dusk started, resuming along the path with a very invested Quill on close heel while Spike started to jog to catch up with the two. "As you can see," Dusk again started, raising his hand near his face, and allowing his lighting-magic flow freely. "I can use electricity, but really it's lighting. Since my element isn't of the original four, that puts me in an awkward position."

"How's that," Quill asked, pushing past how strong Dusk is in comparison to Spike.

Again a bright heat rose to Quill's face when she locked eyes with Dusk and immediately turned away, reminding herself that he had two marefriends, and that she wasn't into guys. Right? "Well that's because lighting-magic is the product of two of the four original four elemental-magic. Mine being fire and wind, making lighting."

"How," Spike asked, unable to follow the logic behind the new type of elemental-magic.

Dusk turned to Spike and shot a toothy grin. "Well how is lighting made in the real world?" Spike put a finger to his chin and started to stroke it in thought, remembering all of the books he read about how pegasi control the weather and made storms. then changing it to fit how it would work without pegasi.

"Well, hot air blast past cold air, making it split apart and slam back in on itself." Dusk reared back at Spike's knowledge, usually when his ask that question to someone, it's meant as a joke not a literal question.

"Yeah right, well you just said the answer, heat and air-or wind-whatever you want to say." The twins nodded their heads at Dusk answer, seeing what he was talking about, and how it made sense. "So you can see, I had to learn not just lighting, but fire and wind magic first. Which was a major pain."

The group finally had reached the first camping-site Applebloom told Dusk about and everyone took a moment to rest their feet. The CMC's were already hard a work setting up their tents with much failure until Spike came over and put the tents together with ease.

"Wow, Spike, you sure you never been camping before," Scootaloo asked with her usual scratchy voice that Spike found cute sometimes. When Spike looked over to her, that when he noticed what Quill was talking about the three of them have grown, and had to shake those thoughts out of his head so he could stay focused on getting with Sweetie Bell.

"Yeah I'm sure," He answered with his usual sarcastic voice that got the other two crusaders laughing, more importantly Sweetie. "So what exactly have you guys been doing lately? You know, besides getting into trouble every single day." While Spike made conversations with old friends, Quill was still questioning Dusk about dragons and his home.

However the halfbreed had troubles answering the question because of the pesky, overcomplicated, tent-set that Sketchy brought from Ponyville. Jinx held the instructions in her light-blue magical aurora while Sketchy was checking each step before Dusk, who was on his knees, moved own with building the tent that was supposed to be large enough for the three of them.

Which would be easy if the instructions wasn't written in a different language, if not, in some kind of code that neither Jinx nor Sketchy could crack. So as a fallback, Dusk was going by his own knowledge of how tents should look like, and used the pictures on the hieroglyphic instructions. "Come on you stupid piece of…" He strained to get a-supposedly-flexible rod to bend into a loop-hole on the sides of the dome-like tent.

When he finally did, much to his pride and joy, Dusk realized that he missed one of Quill's questions. "Huh, oh sorry Quill you were saying?"

Quill waved a dismissive hand after seeing Dusk struggle with the tent, knowing that he was far stronger that either her or Spike, and again was impressed by his ingenuity. "Nah it's fine, that looks a little hard anyways. So I was asking did you ever heard a...voice inside of your head?"

"A voice inside of my head? Oh you mean my ancestor speaking with me," Dusk asked, remembering days during his cubhood where he heard a voice talking into his head, and revealing itself to be one of his dragon ancestor speaking to him. "Yeah that happens to every dragon, why haven't you spoke to it yet?"

"Oh y-yeah I have," Quill said, remembering all the things her ancestor told her a few days ago, but still had questions that she wouldn't answer. "Is she really supposed to go away after my first growth-spurt?"

Dusk sat on a log in between his mares with a sigh. "Unfortunately they all do, some too soon, and others too late." Quill sat down on an adjacent log, not liking the darkened tone in Dusk's voice about the topic. "You see, you ancestor is to act as a guardian, and protect you until you're ready to do that on your own." Quill thought back to her first time hunting, all of the damage she took should have done a lot more than it did, and it didn't until her ancestor stopped holding back the pain for her.

Then she got the thinking about all the times some kind of misadventure had her and Spike running for their lives, or when some chore around the library went wrong and sent a stack of books tumbling on their heads; it should have killed them. The mass pile of books falling from the bookshelves, a prank from Rainbow Dash that had them falling from the sky-before Quill grown her wings-and that time they fell into that lake during winter wrap-up.

She and Spike should have been long since severely injured or dead, yet the worst to ever happen to them was a fire-breath cold, which should have been the only reason they were trapped in the library.

Hell, the only time she even experienced pain-true pain-was the day she learned that Rarity couldn't care for her. Quill wasn't the one to put in so much work only have it put to waste like that, regardless of what it was.

"But then there are times where they leave too late," Dusk started again, pulling Quill out of her thoughts, and regaining her full attention. "You see Quill, as good as it is to have our ancestors looking after us, they must leave at some point, and if they don't the dragon goes under...changes."

"Okay but how, does it make the dragon weak or something?" Quill didn't like the sound of that really, after working so hard to the point where she thought her bones fall off, and be in a coma-like state for hours on end from training with Wolf for whole days. To lose what she worked so hard to gain would outright destroy her.

However, her initial worries were set aside by Dusk shaking his head, but new ones started to spring up at his low tone. "No, nothing like that-or rather-nothing to that low of a level." Dusk hanged his head low to the ground to where Quill could no longer gaze into his eyes and both of his marefriend placed their hands on his chest in concern. The soft touches got his body to twitch and his wings to wrap around them.

The sound of Spike and the CMC's walking towards them went unnoticed by Dusk as he continued. "No, dragons that are unable to move past their ancestors, unable to live with them are doomed to a faith-that I find-worse than death." By the grim tone in his voice, Spike could tell that Dusk was talking about something serious, and made sure to pay close attention to his every word. "The greatest humiliation any dragon could go through, being transformed into a Wyvern."

"Wyvern, isn't that just another word for dragon," Spike asked, remembering the term from the only book he managed to save from the fire in the Canterlot library.

"No!" Everyone jumped from Dusk sudden angered voice and the dark plumes of smoke coming from his nose. After seeing the fearful looks in the twins' eyes, and feeling Jinx shaking in his wings, Dusk closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "No," He started after a few moments of breathing the dark smoke out, this time in a much more calm tone. "Wyvern is not another term for dragon, it is an insult to any dragon's pride and honor, and it is the price one pays for not accepting their ancestor's guidance."

Dusk lifted his head up and breath out a special type of fire that's known as spirit breath. The faded purple flame danced into the air taking the shape of an elder dragon's outline. Spike and Quill watched as the fiery creation started to soar proudly above their heads like any dragon should be, but something was wrong, something felt...missing from the dragon.

"Any healthy dragon can come to live for decades, in some rare cases, centuries." The image of the dragon dive down towards the twins, only to pull back up. "However, if a dragon grows to dependent on their ancestor for aid…" Spike and Quill watched in horror as the fiery dragon suddenly was without its proud wings and crashed to the ground. As the dragon started to get up, it was hacking up sickly smoke clouds, and moved as if it was a hurt animal.

"They lose so much more than just their strength or wings," Dusk finished as the image of the dragon started to distort and shrink in size. "They lose not only their pride as a true dragon, but also the everything that connects us to our ancestors, a dragon's soul."

Dusk blew another puff of spirit breath over the image of the sickly dragon, changing it into a much smaller creature, no bigger taller than to Scootaloo's knees if it was in scaled comparison. "Wyvern…those pitiful and sad creatures, once powerful dragons the size of two-story buildings, reduced to the size of a mere house pet. Without their dragon soul, magic is but a distant dream to them, and shame is placed upon them and their entire clan."

The twins watched as the wyvern wander about, as if it was lost, and without the security of a place to call home. "Smart they are, responsible for more than half of the written knowledge about dragons, but that's all they're good for; bookkeepers." Suddenly, the wyvern stood up on its back legs, somehow pulling out a blank book and quill to take notes on anything that caught its fancy.

"However, they are only given this much credit, other than that wyverns are the shame of the dragon race." From Dusk, another blast of spirit breath. To the wyvern, piles of wrapped bodies. "Shame can only follow you for so long, most wyvern barely make it after the tenth year after their transformation, and the oldest one to ever live turned to only be thirty-two years old."

Quill had to fight back tears as the lone wyvern walked amongst its fallen brothers and sisters, their times have long since past, and his was head of him as well. The wyvern became encased in bindings just like the others and then the dirt. Dusk's spirit-flame soon started to fade away, taking the memory of the once proud dragon with it, and leaving only a mixture of pity and hollowness towards it.

Dusk took in another deep breath as it still took a lot out of him to use such a flame that his father and other elder dragons use as a means of telling of the past and of the future. "You see that's why it's important that you two keep doing whatever training you've been doing." Quill and Spike looked up to met Dusk straight in the eyes, they knew he had to had some experience towards the great humiliation, and knew that he didn't want to talk about it to anyone for a long time. "You guys understand what I'm saying right?"

"Y-yeah," Spike started, his hands shaking a little at the fear of being turned into one of those wyvern. "So that voice in our heads, we should listen to it?"

Dusk shook his head with a slight smile. "No, not all the time," He said in chuckle that betrayed the grimness of his words. "You are to listen to your heart, follow what you believe, and prove that you are deserving of calling yourself a dragon."

"A-and if we can't," Quill asked in just as much fear as Spike.

Dusk slowly turned his head towards the reding sky as the sun started to make it's descending journey over their heads; a fitting sense in Dusk's eyes. "Then I pray to the four makers to have mercy on your souls." Sound around the camping friends, died upon his words, and created a dreading silence that everyone was afraid to break.

Rumble. Aside from Jinx's empty stomach.

Everyone turned their heads towards the blushing mare as her stomach made itself known to them by a series of rumbles that could scare even a hydra. Jinx tried to hide underneath Dusk, only succeeding of drawing more unwanted attention to her.

"What, I'm hungry." Once again silence befell the group until Dusk broke it by his deep laughter, more than happy to change the mood of the air around them, and quite hungry himself.

"Yeah it's about that time anyways." Dusk stood from the log seat, forcing Jinx and Sketchy to do the same thing, and unwrapping the two from his wings. "I'll go get some firewood. Spike Quill you two think you can start a big enough fire for us with what's around camp?"

"Heh, sure we got this," Quill said looking around the campsite to find that there was already a few dozen pieces of dry sticks in the area. "Come on Spike, help me build this thing. Everypony else, help also." Everyone then started to do as the dragoness order, ready to eat so they can continue their venture to the Rainbow Falls, and to live their lives as much as they can.

Because you never know when is your last day until its upon you. /-/  
/ Ch. 11: Heart's Will/-/

High Moon Ch. 11:  
Heart's Will

"...and so I was like, 'Let him do it,'" Dusk laughed as he was telling a story about a fishing trip his father and brothers did to help feed the family and to strengthen the bond between each other. Spike and Quill intensely listened to the wondrous tail of the periodic fishing trips as the CMC's and Jinx had a hard time breathing from laughing so hard while Sketchy rolled her eyes from already hearing the story along with Jinx. "Man I telling you guys, I've never seen Volt so scared before. He stop taking a bath for hours!"

Everyone, even Sketchy, had shared a laugh at Dusk's younger brother after he was tricked into swimming with a school of tuna fish, and became deeply horrified by the already fearful fish. "Oh man, he was flailing around like a scare wet cat, and those tuna fish were driven into a mad frenzy!"

"Hahaha...Dusk that's so mean," Quill said, wiping a tear from her eye while Spike fell back on his log along with the CMC's. Dusk continued to laugh while his and the twins' food, which was pieces of rabbit meat for the dragons and fish for Dusk, cooked in the roaring fire that fought against the cool air of the nighttime. "So you guys really did fishing trips like that all the time?"

Dusk nodded his head while the bright red embers from the campfire was reflected in his deep purple eyes. "Yup, dad would wake us up on any given weekend, load us up in the family scooter, and head out to the open sea." A soft reminiscent smile stretched across Dusk's face at the memories of fishing with his father and brothers, sharing stories, and jokes to pass the time while they caught enough fish to feed the family for weeks before the next fishing trip.

"Do you ever miss it?" Attention was drawn to Spike as he had already dusted himself off and straightened up to ask a rather close to heart question. Dusk chuckled a little before reaching out to the stick with a cooked-brown fish speared at the end and raised it to the moon above.

"You never forget your first family," He started, remembering the quote his father told him and his other siblings before they left home to live out their own lives. "Those perish first years of life with the ones that cared for you, will follow you for as long as you breath." Quill bit her lip, his words held more truth than he could ever hope for, and a part of her wished he wasn't right. "Our knowledge, our love, our instincts, are passed on from one generation to the next in a great big cycle that's been called over the many years as life."

Dusk finished as he brought the fish down to his jagged teeth and took a massive bite out of it. Everyone watched as the halfbreed happily munched down on the fish, thinking about their own families and friends, and all of the good and bad times they spent with each other. No matter how hard she tried to fight it, Quill was thrown into the past with living with Twilight, and as much as she hated it, there was moments she was glad to be living with the alicorn.

Spike was in the same spot, however he was more welcomed to the thoughts, warm bed, able to eat gems at any time he wished-mostly-and the friendly smiles of the elements and everypony else. However still, his time in High Moon was just a cherished, and he'll never regret making the choice to stay.

"Wow...t-that's beautiful," Sweetie Bell softly said, wiping the tears that started to from around her eyes, and feeling bad for every time she and Rarity got into an argument.

Dusk initially missed the teenaged unicorn's question as his teeth was already cleaning the fish of much of its body but soon opened his eyes towards her. "Really?" An exaggerated nod came from everyone around him, making him bust out in a quick laugh. "You all should know, my dad was stone-faced drunk when he told us that." Again everyone shared a good laugh amongst each other, quickly strengthening the bonds between them as friends again, and will always hold these memories with each other.

"You had a crazy life you, know that," Quill joked after everyone had mostly calmed down and starting eating themselves. "Hey you said that you and your siblings trained with each other right?" Dusk looked over towards Quill with a curious look on his face but still nodded his head. "And you all sparred with each other right?" Again another nod, followed by Spike becoming nervous where Quill was going with it. "Well I was wondering if we could have a match tomorrow."

Everyone's gazes were transfixed on the dragoness as she was openly changing the strongest creature she knew besides Wolf and everyone awaited Dusk's response. "A sparring match," Dusk asked in a chuckle, getting a firm nod from Quill who wasn't going to back down. "Hatchling, that's not a smart idea." Quill was going to further question him before Dusk got up from his seat in between Jinx and Sketchy and walked over to a thick tree. "For one, I can tell I'm older than you since you two are still worried about your ancestors. For two…"

Dusk placed his right hand on the tree and started to push against the rooted behemoth. At first, the tree refused to move, but as Dusk's claws started to dig into the dark-brown-almost black-tree bark, loud cracking sounds ripped through the forest. Soon one, two, three of the tree's roots started to be uprooted from the hard dirt ground as the tree started to lean forward.

All aside his marefriends, sat and watched in mind-shocking awe as the tree started to move closer to the ground before falling away from Dusk's hands, and onto the adjacent tree behind it.

Turning around, Dusk wiped the bits and pieces of tree-bark in his scale-like fur hand as he walked back to his seat, and wrapped both of his mares in his wings. Dusk continued to ignore the shocked looks on the CMC's and Spike's faces as he turned his head towards Quill. "I can do a lot more than that."

While everyone was shocked by his strength, Quill felt as though a fire erupted in her chest as she stood up from the log, and looked Dusk straight in the eyes with an unyielding passion. "So, that will just make it more fun for me when I beat you."

Spike shot up from his seat with a wide eyed expression on his face at his sister's near suicidal choice. "What Quill are you-" However was stopped by Dusk breaking out in a chuckle.

"Well aren't you a little headstrong dragoness," He started, seeing much of his younger sister Wave in her as well the fire in her eyes. "Okay fine, why not? You want to know what a real dragon is supposed to do fine, I'll show you. But, don't expect me to treat you like kin."

The determined smile on Quill's face didn't falter, nor yield, to Dusk warning. In fact it only grew in size and meaning. "That's supposed to stop me?" Dusk again chuckled at the dragoness's confidence and knowing any time spent around her was going to be an interesting one to say the least.

"Alright, tomorrow morning. You, me, no magic, and as much time as it take before one of us cries uncle. How's that sound Ferox draconis?" Quill along with everyone else raised collective eyebrow towards Dusk, which he answered without much thought. "It means 'the aggressive dragoness,'" He said after calling his sister Wave that for most of their cubhood.

Quill smirked at the title she was given as she thought it suited her just nicely. "Quill Ferox Dragul, I like it, and tomorrow can't come any sooner." Quill finished off the rest of the rabbit meat that was on the stick and reduced the whole thing to mere ash. "Better rest up halfbreed, 'cus come to tomorrow, your butt isn't going to know where to be kicked next." Quill marched off to the stuffed sleeping-bag that was rushed to be put together, but was fixed up by Blaze's magic. However before Quill could reach the makeshift mattress, Dusk had one last thing to say.

"Than may the wills of our hearts clash into a heated fire that engulfs the world." Quill turned back to look at Dusk standing and walking over to his tent with his marefriends in tow. Soon, after they all got comfortable in the tent, Dusk went to zip it up, but not before cutting one final glance towards Quill.

Sparks of heated rivalry arched from their eyes, burning brighter than the campfire that fought off the cold, and with a will that could move mountains. Dusk ended the sparks by zipping up the tent to rest up for the much anticipated mock-fight tomorrow and Quill did the same, bidding everyone goodnight before closing her eyes.

The CMC's turned their gazes towards Spike, who waved off their worries, and turned in for the night as well. He knew even a sparring match with Dusk was still dangerous for Quill, after trying to take Wolf on himself, and failing to land a single blow on him while Quill was able to do something to him.

As the crusaders turned in, using the same kind of large tent as Dusk, and after Spike put out the fire with some water in a boar-hide pouch on his side, Spike took a spot on his makeshift bed right next to Quill-still a good distance away so he doesn't 'sleep-grope' her. I'm not going to let you fight on your own Quill, like it or not, we're in this together, Spike thought to himself before closing his eyes to have enough energy to take on Dusk with Quill tomorrow.

While the younger members of the camp was-supposedly-drifting off to sleep, Dusk was undesirably kept awake by Sketchy as she again filled the role as the 'responsible' one by chewing him up about agreeing to fight Quill tomorrow. "Are you crazy," She shouted in a hushed voice as to not alarm the others. "What were you thinking? Oh wait you don't."

Dusk, who was taking off his jacket to get comfortable enough to sleep-if Sketchy would let him-rolled his eyes at his mare's usual insult for when she thinks he does something stupid. "I was thinking that Quill is due for some real knowledge about dragons."

"But Dusk, you're only a halfbreed," Jinx pointed out, already had let her long mane down, and removed her jacket so she could sleep in her light-purple tank-top. "Right?"

Again Dusk was forced to roll his eyes, but this time with a chuckle following after. "Yes, but as far as I can tell, I'm the closest the twins have ever been to another breathing dragon." It wasn't much a rumor to all that dwell inside of the republics, that Equestria wasn't the home for many dragons, and if it was, they were the more traditional kind. "So I want to let them know as much about dragons, without reading about it, as possible. You see where I'm coming from here right girls?"

"Aww," Jinx started, wrapping her arms around Dusk's body, and nuzzling into his hardened chest with a slight purr. "Dusky is trying to be a big brother to them." Dusk blushed when he realized that Jinx was right about what he was doing for the twins seemed to be him filling in a missing big brother role for them. Well it made sense, seeing as he had two younger siblings and another two older ones, putting him in the middle, and making him the perfect one for the role as 'big brother' for the twins.

Jinx lifted herself over Dusk's shoulder to look at Sketchy, who was sitting behind Dusk in one of the corners near the door to the tent. "Sketchy let him do it, Dusky won't hurt Quill anyways." She lowered herself towards Dusk's ear, close enough to where he could feel her hot breath. "Right Dusk?"

"Heh, um...right. I hadn't plan on hurting her, um...Jinx?" Dusk had to fight back a shiver from Jinx trailing her hands down to the base of his wings but still making them twitch upon the softest of touches. Sketchy caught onto what Jinx was up to and lighted her horn, placing a sound-proof barrier around their tent, starting to sneak up behind Dusk to wrap her arms underneath his wings and around his chest. "G-girls I really-"

"Shh," Sketchy started while Jinx toyed with Dusk's right ear. "Calm down, if you have to fight Quill tomorrow, than you have to relax." She moved to Dusk's other ear to nibble on it with her teeth while her hands danced across his chest, trailing along the dense muscles that had grown from his highly active life back in the republics.

Jinx's fingers circled around at the tightened muscle in Dusk's wing-base, forcing his body to shake from the slight ping of pain that the tight muscle placed on his back. "She right Dusky, your wing-muscles are really tough. No wonder you've been complaining about flying around, well let us fix that."

"J-Jinx its fine, we don't have to-" Dusk's pleas were heard only by the tent's walls as both mares used their collective weight to push Dusk to on his stomach, so they could 'relieve' the stress in his wings, and have a little fun with their half-blood lover.

While the older mares were enjoying the benefits of their close relationship with Dusk, the CMC's however were going over a much more serious matter, but all plans were placed on hold for now as Sweetie Bell was caught again day-dreaming about the sudden attractive Spike.

"Sweetie Bell," Scootaloo said, clapping her hands in front of the love-struck teenager, and snapping her out of a heart-filled dream of the drake. Sweetie blinked several times, still having troubles telling the difference between reality and her fantasy world with Spike. Scootaloo shook her head at the other crusader, already having caught her do this several times in the past, and multiple times today alone. "Gezz Sweetie, if you want to ask Spike out then just do it, or I will."

The pegasus's half threat was enough to fully grab Sweetie's attention as she stood up and shouted, "No!" The other two crusaders immediately shushed, not wanting to face the fury of Quill who was-no doubt-planning for her match tomorrow, or the wrath of Dusk after his display of frightening power. Sweetie covered her mouth, hoping that the late move would stop the sound of her shout from leaving the tent, but no one was that fast.

Well maybe Dusk, but that's a different case.

"Sorry," Sweetie said with her head hanging low after a few intense moments of waiting. "It's just that," She sighed, knowing that there wasn't a need or point to lie to herself, or her best-friends. "Before, I could look at Spike without thinking much about it, but now...I mean just look at him."

Scootaloo rolled her eyes, as much as she wanted to agree with Sweetie, they still had to focus on getting Spike to somehow make a connection with the elements again so things could at least start going back to normal. "Whatever Sweets, you have a crush on Spike, we know, but can we focus a little here?"

"I do not have a crush!" Again the other two had to shush a blushing Sweetie before she continued. "I don't have a crush on Spike, I just really, really, really, like him. As a friend."

Again Scootaloo rolled her eyes, taking a seat back down on her bright orange sleeping-bag, and deciding to move the first meeting of the camping trip onwards. "Whatever," She started with a dismissive hand, making Sweetie stick out her bottom lip in a pout. "So as I was saying, I think we should let Dusk and his herd in on the plan."

The other two crusaders placed their fingers to their chins in thought. After seeing how close the twins became with Dusk, how nice Jinx is, and how persuasive Sketchy can be as she got Sweetie Bell to reconsider turning down singing lessons with a famous pop-pony, it made since. In fact it seemed dumb not to tell them of the real reason for the camping trip.

However, they wasn't so sure about how they would take being tricked into going on the trip, but on the other hand, they didn't really think that they would be too mad. Upset maybe, mad? Hopefully not.

"Okay I'm in," Applebloom said, liking how easier it'll be if Dusk would know, and how easier it will be for him to get the twins to come back to Ponyville. "What about you Sweets?" Applebloom and Scootaloo turned toward Sweetie Bell only to see the same dreamy look in her eyes. "Sweets?"

"Huh, oh um...yeah sounds good to me," She quickly answered before she was too deep in the bright emerald-green eyes of Spike. "Well night girls." Before Scootaloo could call Sweetie Bell out for day-dreaming about the drake outside of their tent, Sweetie was already in her light-pink sleeping bag, and with fake soring to hopefully convince the other two that she was asleep by the time her head hit the thin pillow.

Still, Scootaloo tried to call her out for being too engrossed with the fantasy of being in Spike's strong arms, but Applebloom stopped her and said to just leave it for the long morning that's ahead of them tomorrow. It's not fair.

Rainbow path; Everfree forest, the next morning

Celestia's bright sun...wasn't even over the horizon before Spike was already up and at the near by river to do as Lily had told him and practice his water-magic during the camping trip. Once he was close enough to the river-side, a new idea entrained Spike's mind, not once had he actually tried to mediate in water, and it made a bit more sense to do so. Spike walked into the chilly stream of water and pierced the soft muddy ground with his tail.

Soon, he was in the Zen position, and instead of the usual one orb of water, three separate orbs started to form around him. One taking a spot in front of him, another to his right arm, and a final one behind his back. However that wasn't the only thing that has changed. Inside of Spike's mind, the expansive lake felt...larger somehow, and a sickly black dead-wood tree stood might and proud in the background.

Spike didn't see it of course, his eyes remained closed to continue his training, but he could feel the tree's presets. Dead, stagnant, doubtful, and reclusive; a perfect reflection of his old life.

Spike pushed through these feelings to retain whatever focus that wasn't wasted on the tree. Slow, breath slow, He recited in his head, calming his nerves, and forgetting his surroundings. However, the tree still managed to steal some of his attention as it started to take further root in his lake, and spreading his sickly branches outwards towards him.

Every inch of movement from the tree branches, sent another shiver down Spike's spine, and his hold on the orbs of water started to flatter. His breath became shaky and ragged, as though his own throat was trying to collapse in on itself.

A small ripple in the darkening lake was enough to send him out of his mind and back into the real world. Spike's sight was near pitch black, far too dark for the raising sun in the horizon, but as the black tendrils started to fade from the corner of his eyes, Spike was horrified by the sight.

In his right hand, a twisted frozen scythe-whirling all the a way around him- and the jagged blade was mere inches away from a shocked Dusk's face as he had one foot in the lake. Both males kept their eyes locked on the frozen weapon, as it could have easily cut Dusk's head off, and as it shimmered with the faint light of the sun rising behind Dusk.

Spike didn't know what to make of the chilling scythe made of complete ice but had no feeling in his hand. "Whoa," Dusk started, scaring Spike as he started to trembled from a wave of uncertainty flowing around his head like the very stream he was in. "Spike, didn't mean to startle you like that man." Spike, now somewhat back into his right mind, threw the scythe far away from him and into the stream where it shattered like fragile glass. "Hey man are you alright? You scales were turning dark, and you were breathing heavily, but still had a twisted smile on your face."

Dusk placed his hand on Spike's shoulder, shocked to find that his scales felt completely frozen, but the drake was still standing. What the, he...he should be dead by now as cold as he feels. Unless… Spike was suddenly pulled out of the lake by his shoulders as Dusk lead him to one of the long wooden log seats and was sat down by him, facing away from everyone's tents, and to the clear opened path head.

"Stay their Spike," He said, rushing towards his tent as his mares were still asleep. Once Dusk was in the tent, he reached into his bag, and started to look for a special spice his father made him carry with him to Equestria.

During his search, both Jinx and Sketchy-who slept in the same sleeping bag-was awakened by their lover's commotion. "Grr, Dusk what is it," Sketchy asked, only to not be given an answer as Dusk found what he needed, and left out of the tent without a word. The two mares looked at each other with curious glares, both wondering what got Dusk in such a rush this early in the morning, and left out of the tent to find out for themselves.

Once out they found that Spike was sitting on a log, facing away from them as Dusk poured some of the spice into a water bottle, and gave it a good shake. "Drink,' He said in a grim tone that matched the one from yesterday. Spike's hand reached out for the bottle, and by what Sketchy could tell, was in a forced matter not of his own.

Spike soon started to drink the pale-red water with Dusk tipping back his head to make sure he drank all of the spice in the water. Which happened rather quick, as for some reason, Spike was really thirsty, and continued to drink until there wasn't anything left in the bottle.

Dusk took a step back from Spike, holding out his hand towards his mares to tell them to do the same, and awaited for the spice to take effect on Spike. Slowly, Spike's purple scales started to darkened again as he doubled over from unforeseen pain, and tears started to from around the corners of his eyes. It felt as if his whole body was being weighed down by some unknown force; the same from the lake.

He opened his mouth to scream from the tremendous pressure on his body. But, instead of his cracking voice, a bright-near white hot-green flame erupted from his mouth, and refused to allow him to close it. The green flame was loud enough to wake the others as they were given the early morning surprise of Spike spewing fire much hotter than he's ever before.

Quickly the flames ended with Spike hawking up black gobs of some sticky of goo on the ground and continuing to cough uncontrollably. "Spike!" Quill along with CMC's started to run over to the fallen drake, however was stopped by Dusk teleporting in front of them, and glaring into their eyes.

"You can't touch him yet," He started in a dark voice that scared the CMC's and made Quill even more worried about Spike. However, he refused to answer these worries as he started to make his way over to the small pool of black goo, but stopped for a second to check on Spike. Dusk placed his hand over the scales on Spike's back, only to feel the immense heat coming from his body. Good, that should keep him going for a while now, but no I've got to deal with it.

Dusk moved from Spike's body as he was wheezing for air, and walked in front of the puddle of black goo. "You think you're so clever, preying upon the young, and weak when their ancestors can't defend them. Well I've got something for you…" Dusk reached into the puddle, still warm from crawling around in Spike body for who knows how long, and pulled out a swarming mass.

"W-what is that?" Dusk turned his head back to Spike while the black mass in his hand was still trying to escape. As he continued to look down to Spike, the quickest of flashes from a dark memory from his cubhood, flashed through Dusk's head, and the memory alone was enough to make his grip around the black mass tightened to the point small high-pitched screams could be heard from it.

Dusk willed his magic to flow throw his entire right arm, sending an massive segue of purple and black electricity to the black mass, causing its screams to rip through the cleanse, and incinerated the black mass until it was nothing but a hardened misshapen stone. "Animam cordis, the heat's ghost, and nothing any more." Dusk dropped the stone to the ground and crushed it underneath his foot. Black smoke lines started to flow from the stone and straight up into the raising sun.

Dusk bowed his head slightly before saying, "Kerber, molimo vas da ovaj zli duh daleko od ovih zemalja. 'Cerberus, please take this evil spirit away from these lands.'" After a few moments of silence Dusk started to walk over to Spike and help him up from the ground while his scaled-fur provided him some protection from the burning heat from Spike's body. "Spike you okay?"

"Y-yeah," Spike answered, rubbing his sore throat, and was followed by a rough cough. "C-can I get something to drink?" Dusk looked over to Sketchy and gave her a nod to silently tell her to do what Spike asked. She sighed but still left to the tent to grab another bottle of cold water.

Dusk then helped Spike to sit down on the log behind him, he then turned to the CMC's and Quill. "Do any of you have a towel or something like that?" Sweetie nervously raised her hand as Rarity had forced her to pack enough towels for all of them-minus Spike and Quill, since none of the elements knew the twins were coming on the camping trip.

"Could you go get it Sweets and dip it in the river, then bring it here after you ring-out the excess water." Sweetie Bell nodded her head and went to do what Dusk asked, knowing if anyone knew what to do about Spike, it was him. "Quill, could you bring Spike some food, I'm sure he's hungry."

"Right, but I want a full explanation of just what the fuc- freak that thing was." Dusk nodded his head towards Quill, her slight anger was understandable after the rude awaking, and thought nothing of it. "Spike just...just try not moving." Quill dashed over to his bag that had a supply of apples and other fruit just incase they ran out of meat while Sweetie Bell was returning from the river with the wet towel.

"Is he going to be alright," She asked, handing the towel to Dusk, and stepping back when he motioned her to do so.

Dusk slowly-with as much care in the world-placed the towel on Spike's back. The very moment a single wet inch touched his scales, visible lines of steam came off of his body, and forced him to grit his teeth from the slight pain. "Now he is," Dusk finally answered Sweetie Bell's question after the towel was laid on top of his head, making it look like he had a stuffy nose, was trying to clear it up with steam.

As Quill approached with a few apples in her hands, everyone else too approached the recovering drake, and all had questions for Dusk. "What's wrong with him and what was that thing," Quill demanded after Dusk tried to reach for an apple but was denied as she pulled them away.

"If you give me one I would be able to," Dusk quipped, snacking an apple from Quill's arms, and placing it in front of Spike's nose. The drake sniffed the dull-red fruit before shooting his tongue around it and pulling it into his mouth to crunch down on it. All aside Dusk, flinched from the munching sound as Spike chewed the apple-and hardcore-whole. "Great, he's eating that's a good sign, but it'll be awhile before he could move on his own."

"I'm going to ask again. What is wrong with my twin brother," Quill shouted at Dusk, feeling helpless that she didn't know what was wrong with him, and tired of not having that answer.

Dusk turned toward Quill's fiery eyes, burning with a bottle rage that was in danger of boiling over, and sighed. "He's just tired, properly from overusing his elemental-magic, and not really working on conditioning his body to take the added magic that's growing in him." Dusk took another apple from her hands and placed it in front of Spike's face again, only for him to repeat the same savage munching. "Spike," Dusk paused to allow his words to make it through the thick cloud of fog blanking Spike's mind. "What do you mainly do for training?"

Spike didn't respond right away, not like his cloudy mind would allow him to, but slowly words started to from. "Mostly meditation and position making...w-why?"

Dusk nodded his head in response already seeing how that would cause the ghost heart to grow inside of Spike. "Because, you can't just work on you magic, and leave your body behind Spike. There needs to be balance or else…" Dusk jabbed his finger at Spike's stomach, making his spit out another gob of the black mass from before. "That will consume you whole," Dusk finished, pointing a finger at the black mass, and blasting it with a bolt of lighting. "So until you have your first growth-spurt, don't try meditating in the water. Okay?"

"Y-yeah," Spike answered, much faster than before which was a good sign of his speedy recovery. Sketchy soon re-emerged from the tent with a bottle of water in her hands, she walked over to Dusk, and handed the bottle to him.

While Jinx was catching Sketchy up with everything that happened and what Dusk said, the halfbreed himself was busy making sure that Spike drank enough of the water, and continued to eat the apples. "So Dusk," Quill started, sitting down next to her brother, and taking the job of feeding him the apples. "How you know all of this, you don't seem like the type to read a lot."

Dusk started chuckling at Quill's observation, impressed that she was able to make guesses like that only after knowing him for only one day. "You'll be right, I really don't like to read many things unless I have to, but…" Dusk paused again, the same dark memories flashing through his head made it slightly harder to continue, but his pressed on any ways. "But, I had a friend-okay cousin but only by marriage-who had went through the same thing."

"W-what happened to him?" Dusk looked over to Spike, starting to see the similarity, but one thing separated them.

"Her." Both Spike and Quill blinked for a second, confused to what Dusk was talking about, but soon was cleared up when he continued. "It was-or rather-is a her. Dimsi was her name, flying wasn't her game," Dusk laughed at his own mean joke about his winged-dragon cousin, who couldn't fly as well as she should. "Dimsi, Dimsi was a weak flyer, and we we're lucky to hear from her for weeks." Dusk started to shake his head at remembering how Dimsi's parents would allow her to lock herself in her room for day, even weeks, at a time.

"The only times we did hear something from her, was when she-and this is going to sound ironic-practicing her wind-magic." Spike's eyes started to widened at the thought of a dragon-who had their wings-not being able to fly, yet still having wind-element while Quill had to force back a giggle. "It got so bad that she had to move from her island to ours, where my dad made sure she did more than just read and practice all day."

Man, she sounds like Twilight, Both twins thought to themselves, not knowing for once they could agree on something.

"However," Dusk cut through the twins' thoughts as his expression turned rather dark. "It was too late by then, and Dimsi would have die that day if it wasn't for my father's quick thinking. Also his hidden supply of piperis vulcanici." Just thinking back to Dimsi's normally bright golden and pure white scales turning a into a sickly pitch, forced Dusk to shake from the dark memory.

Her sudden anger towards everything, her inability to control herself, the ferocity of her magic, and how she lashed out towards everything that was around her. It started out as a sickness, just like the common-cold; something anyone can pull through, but she didn't. Dimsi's health and attitude started to deteriorate at an alarming rate, soon she was too sick to even move on her own. But one day, when her parents were able to visit, Dimsi walked out of her room-something of a rarity of its own-but when her mother, a pegasus mare, tried to embrace her daughter, Dimsi lashed out in a cyclone of wind.

She would have torn apart the house if it wasn't for Wave shoving her out and the rest of her halfbreed siblings holding her back until their father returned. Dusk took a deep breath to force the memories to be put away deep into his mind again. "Spike, for now on, add some kind of heavy workout to your training routine alright?"

"Okay, I understand." Spike didn't have to be told the whole story before he knew how serious Dusk was about the matter. He down the rest of the water and tossed up the apple in the air so his tongue could extend around it and pull it to his mouth. Dusk started to laugh at the drake's silliness while Quill shook his head. "So...no fight today huh?"

"What are you talking about," Dusk asked in a mocking tone and with a raised eyebrow. "Of course there's going to be a fight."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah Spike," Quill said, hopping from her seat, and taking off her green jacket that was down to only one sleeve. Sweetie blushed when she saw torn pieces of her purple tank top barely covering all that it should be. "The world don't stop for you and neither do I!"

Dusk, who still wasn't wearing his jacket-shirt, stood up from his seat and walked away towards the slightly charred path with Quill following. "Sorry Spike, that's the way the world works, and it was the way I was raised." He placed his right foot outwards with the other one staying behind him while his hands remained at his sides.

Quill smirked, not caring if his fighting-stance was weird to her, and got into her own. She raised both hands up with her claws at the ready and her legs spread far apart; the same way as when she hunting.

Everyone watched in silence as the two of them locked eyes and awaited for the other to make a move. Spike tried to stand up, but was stopped by a sharp pain ripping through him from the sudden movement. No, I can't fight like this. He sighed at the misfortune of being unable to assist Quill with the sparring match. But, in his condition, he would be in her way, and so was left on the sidelines.

For now.

A strong morning breeze rushed through the campsite with Quill following it as she rushed forward towards Dusk. She brought her right hand low to the ground and started to bring it up as she closed the distance between her and Dusk, who has yet to move.

As she started to get closer, Dusk closed his eyes, and took in a slow breath while Quill took that as a sign of insult towards her. "You're mine!" Quill started to use the forward moment that she's been building up during her charge to swing her hand towards Dusk's head.

However, the moment Dusk opened his eyes again, Quill initial attack missed it's target as Dusk used his left foot sidestepped under her hand and to her opened left side. With her now wide open, Dusk dragged his right foot on the ground towards Quill's, and shoved his left hand on her back-somehow missing her wings.

Quill was sent tumbling forwards to the ground, repeatedly rolling around in the dirt, but was able to recover by slamming her claws into the ground. By the time she was able to look up again, Dusk was already standing in the same position as before, and the smirk on his face sent her into a blind rage.

Quill again started to charge at Dusk, this time making sure to watch his movements closer, and aimed her fist to his chest. However, even if she changed tactics, Dusk was able to still sidestep her attacks. Quill didn't allow him time to counter as she unloaded a fury of attacks, mixing in kicks, and elbows in her barrage.

Through, her attempts were all for nothing as Dusk backpedaled out of her reach, and punished her when she tried to bring her leg down in a ax-kick. Dusk moved his head out of the way so he could cross his wrists over each other to block the kick. His hands wrapped around the sides of Quill's ankles, provided her from moving away as their eyes locked dead on, and she knew that she was in trouble from the look.

Dusk confirmed her worries as he pivoted on his right foot, picking Quill completely off the ground, and tossing her to where the hard dirt met the green forest. However, after being in a similar situation before, Quill used her wings to slow her unwanted flight, and was able to give a good flap of her wings to turn around mid-air.

When she landed back on the ground, Dusk wasn't anywhere to be found, but she could feel that he was somewhere close. That's when Quill noticed that there was a shadow being casted over her, she knew it couldn't be a cloud covering the sun, and she leaped to her side.

Just as Quill thought, Dusk came crashing down to the ground from an attempt of a surprise aerial attack, however failure was the last thing on his face as he turned his head towards Quill. Quill glared back, not surprise that Dusk was able to crush the ground underneath his feet, but still shaken by the fact. "That's how a real dragon does an ax-kick, by the way." Dusk's mocking tone only served to further Quill's rage, causing her to charge straight at him, and again unloading a barrage of attacks with more fury than ever before.

Everyone still just watch as Dusk dodged all of her attacks with ease, even growing bold enough to use her own momentum against herself, and sent her constantly tumbling to the ground only for her to get back up again.

"This can't be fair," Scootaloo said as Quill missed another roundhouse kick and was punished for it by Dusk sweeping his leg from underneath her. "Dusk's way too fast, how is she going to do anything if she can't land a hit on him?"

Sketchy sighed as Dusk sidestepped another punch from Quill so he could grab her arm before she could pull it away and flipped her to the ground. "You know Dusk didn't always used to fight like this." The CMC's turned their heads towards Sketchy, missing Quill being shoved to the ground again. "Back in high school, about what, a few weeks of him being transferred in as a new student, Dusk got into a serious fight after school with the entire rugby team."

"Oh," Jinx exclaimed, not from Dusk again grabbing Quill's writs to deliver a quick jab to her ribs and a throw to the ground, but from remembering what Sketchy was talking about. "Yeah I remember that, over half of the team was put in the hospital, and all Dusk got was a broken arm and collarbone."

Applebloom's and Sweetie Bell's jaws fell open as Quill was thrown up in the air with Dusk following close behind. "Seriously, t-the whole team," Scootaloo asked, being the only one to remind able speak, and turning her head back to find Quill giving case to Dusk.

"Yup." It seemed in the air is were Quill was able to get the upper-hand on Dusk as her slender wings gave her a speed and maneuverability advantage while he only had height. "However, Dusk didn't get in any trouble as the whole team was suspected for using muscle enhancing spells and pills."

"Wow, that's bad," Scootaloo said as Quill was able to out maneuver Dusk and get behind him. "So what happened next?" Quill pushed her wings as hard as they would go so she could grab onto Dusk's tail, in hopes of returning the favor for being thrown around during the entire fight, but her hopes were dashed as Dusk shut his wings closed to flip Quill with his tail.

Sketchy placed a finger on her lip while Quill was recovering from the head-over-heels spin out with Dusk diving straight towards her. "Well on top of being expelled from school." Quill managed to recover in time to shove Dusk's head towards the ground. "Having to say in the hospital for a few weeks." After recovering, Dusk quickly returned the favor by wrapping an arm around Quill's midsection, and throwing her higher up in the air. "And some facing criminal charges." Quill was able to stop her flight, only to be met by Dusk as he went on the offensive. "None of them will ever be allowed to play a sport ever again." To avoid his fists, Quill closed her wings tight, and entered into a free-fall dive with Dusk following quickly behind. "Some of them needed it to, trust me, I've seen their grades."

"So what Dusk was doing it for the school," Sweetie asked, not knowing much about sports, or stuff like that.

Sketchy shook her head while Quill managed to block Dusk's kick. "No not-" Sketchy was cut off by Quill roughly landing back on the ground, using her claws leaving a deep crevices in the rocky ground, and coming to a skidding stop while Dusk gently landed on the ground. Quill tried to stand on her feet, the simple task proved to be as challenging as it was fighting Dusk, and she could tell that he was barely trying; just like Wolf.

And just like Wolf, Quill was able to land a few good blows on Dusk, but again like Wolf, he was able to brush them off to deliver retribution for her costly mistakes. Why? Why, they...they aren't even trying, but here I am giving it my all and I can't even do anything to them. Quill's right hand began to tightened into a fist that-undoubtedly-can destroy any balder in her way, but yet couldn't move fast enough to land a hit on Dusk. Take me serious, know my power, and stop treating me like a kid!

Quill let out a desperate cry as she charged towards Dusk, only able to move at half of her speed, and was no where near as fast enough to even hope to land this hit on Dusk. But she was still going to try.

Just like at the beginning, Dusk closed his eyes, but this time it was followed by a sigh. Right when Quill was going to deliver the blow, Dusk lunged forward, diving under her fist, taking her face in his hand as well as hooking his right foot with her's, and pushing his hand down taking Quill with it.

In all honesty, the fall didn't hurt, what hurt was the fact that Dusk was able to do it with his eyes closed, and it made Quill question everything she had done over the two months in High Moon. "Quill," Dusk started, opening his eyes, and looking down toward the defeated expression on Quill's face. "You're really fun to fight." The words shocked everyone, especially Quill, as they watched Quill be thrown around like a ragdoll all day. "I wish I had your burning will when I was your age. I would have won more fights if I did."

That's when it made sense to Quill, neither Dusk nor Wolf started out where they are now, no one does. The two of them had worked for years fighting and working on their talents before they got to where they were at and they still are working for a higher goal.

Yes hatchling, the half-blood is right, Quill's ancestor started after observing the fight through Quill's eyes the entire time. Nothing is mastered in short two months. Even this half-blood's power took him years to reach, and you too will take time before you grow, but this is the will of the world.

Quill started to get off the ground, a new fire taking hold in her chest, and her resolve not only being re-instilling in her heart but also finding a new meaning. Winning, it didn't mean a single thing if you didn't have the will to stand up when you fall, and failure was meanless when you had the heart to bare its heavy weight.

Dusk allowed a smile to break the stone look on his face, he could feel Quill's drive not to win, but to let him know that she was deserving of the honor of calling herself a dragoness. "Come on Quill, show me." Show him hatchling. "Show me that fire burning in your chest." Show him your will. "I want to know the power you carry." Let him know. "The resolve that make you see what is important to you." Show him why you work so hard. "Let me see your heart's will!" Do it Quill!

Both Dusk and Quill charged at each other, full steam, no doubts, and with their heart's wills burning brighter than the very sun rising over their heads.

Rainbow Path; Everfree forest

"I can't believe how close it was," Jinx said as she skipped down the dirt path after the fight between Quill and Dusk had ended with Quill fainting after finally landing a strong blow to Dusk's chin, leaving a cut mark along his cheek as a sign of her own victory.

However, the strenuous battle, and being tossed around before hand, had drained Quill of most of her energy. Even as she was passing out from fatigue, Quill had a smile on her face, and she had every right to.

"Too bad Dusk was holding back," Sketchy said, carrying Quill's stuff on her back while Dusk carried the unconscious dragoness, and Jinx using her magic to carry their stuff with the CMC's-mainly Sweetie-helping Spike walk.

Dusk started to laugh, no longer caring if Sketchy was going to be mad at him, and turned his head back to the group. "Barely." Everyone did a double take towards the halfbreed as he continued down the path as though he couldn't feel their collective stares. "Come on, we still need to make it to the next campsite before it get's too dark." Dropping her head in annoyance, Sketchy continued to follow her lover with Jinx still happily skipping behind, and the CMC's plus Spike also in tow.

No one noticed the soft smile growing on Quill's face.

/ Ch. 12: Dragon's Honor/-/

High Moon Ch. 12:  
Dragon's honor

Just as the sun started to reach over the top of their heads, the seven young campers, and one young 'adult' mare were finally reaching the next campsite-which was an empty cave. Quill had already woken up by this point and was setting up her stuff in the cave while Dusk was out to gather firewood again. She didn't feel the stinging pain of defeat, the only pain she felt was the one from being thrown around like some baby's toy, but she wore it with pride.

Spike too had already recovered after hawking up the ghost heart and was chatting with the CMC's while Quill made small talk with Dusk's mares. "What, Diamond isn't in Ponyville any more," Spike asked, shocked by the news as her father was a major contribution to Ponyville, but glad to hear that no one has to put up with her rotten attitude any more.

"Yup," Scootaloo said with a hit of too much joy but she had a reason to. "I was able to…convince her to leave Ponyville and go to her mom's mansion out in Los Pegasus." Scootaloo darkly laughed at the memory of getting into a real fight-not just some playground argument. "So I was suspended for three days, grounded for about a good four weeks, and couldn't try-out for the Jr. Wonderbolts sport team." Okay all of that sucked. "It was still worth it."

"Scoots," Spike walked over to Scootaloo and wrapped her in a tight hug. "You shouldn't have let somepony like Diamond ruin your goals like that." Scootaloo started to blush from the close contact with the drake while Sweetie was pouting.

Scootaloo fought through the blush to wiggle out of Spike's surprisingly strong grip. "Okay Spike, it wasn't that bad. Ms. Fleetfoot said I could try-out during fall-break, so I having until then to work on some awesome new moves." Spike stared into Scootaloo's eyes to see if she was telling the truth and found that she wasn't lying mostly.

"Alright, but don't go doing that again," Spike said, not wanting to see Scootaloo let the choices of others affect her.

"Gee, thanks mom," Scootaloo joked, getting a laugh out of Spike. "I'll be sure to do that." Spike chuckled while he scratched the back of his head. "So what exactly have you and Quill been doing for two months?"

"Huh, oh well…" Spike paused for a moment, remembering that Wolf told the both of them not to tell anyone where the temple or city ruins were at, and something about him wanted it to be secret for as long as he could keep it like that. "There's training, potion making for me, hunting for Quill, and been reading about dragons."

The CMC's blinked a few times at what Spike said, but all of them pushed it aside, knowing that Everfree housed every mystery that one could think of. "Oh that's cool, but why?"

Spike started to blush a little while he glanced over to Quill, who was laughing at a joke Jinx was telling, and happy to see her smiling after the bout with Dusk. "To be honest, I do it for Quill," He started, smiling at the joy on Quill's face while the crusaders looked on with curious looks. "That's why we haven't returned to Ponyville just yet, we don't just want to be able to protect ourselves, but everyone back home."

"Okay, but again, why?"

The drake turned back around to the CMC's and looked each of them in the eyes, the same eyes that held wander, and the will to face any challenge that came their ways. The same one's he's been envious about for years. "I don't know about Quill, but for me, I can't just sit back any more while Twilight and the elements put themselves in danger. I can't sit back while my friends are out there fighting to protect everyone and I'm stuck behind the library doors. And for now on, I won't."

All three of the teenagers stared wide-eyed at Spike's sudden determination and sense of duty, none of them knew why, but it felt like a fire was burning in their chests. "So you guys can understand why we haven't came back yet right?" All three of the CMC's nodded their heads, Spike had a goal of becoming strong enough to protect them, and he couldn't do that if he stay within the safety of the library. "Okay good, I've been trying to at least get Quill to visit, but she's being stubborn about it."

That's when the three of them looked into each other's eyes, never will the perfect moment to spring the plan on Spike will come up again, and they were sure not going to waste it. "Um…" Sweetie started, hoping Spike will have a different reaction than Quill. "Spike there's something we've got to tell you..."

While the CMC's were telling Spike of what has happened to the elements over the two month during their stay in High Moon, Quill was learning more about Jinx, Sketchy, and their almost three year-long relationship with Dusk "So...you work with Ms. Bonbon at her bakery," Quill started, asking Jinx who gave an exaggerated nod. "And you're working for Rarity as a sketch artist?"

"Well the way she puts it is inspirational 'sketchista,' but yes," Sketchy answered while they all sat around the cave awaiting Dusk to return with the firewood-and his dinner. "However, I've noticed that she seems rather...base." Quill quickly knew what Sketchy was talking about but didn't interrupted her. "I've seen some of her old work, and it was simply amazing, but now however...it's repetitive."

"Repetitive?" After helping Rarity with her work for years, never actually doing any sewing like Spike, Quill couldn't believe that Sketchy would describe it as 'repetitive.' "What do you mean by repetitive?"

"Well…" Sketchy thought back to all of the dresses Rarity have made since she got to Ponyville, which wasn't much. "Same dull base colors, boring patterns, and one time she used a lot of purple sequence on one dress for no particular reason." Great, now's she caring. "I've took study under her to hopefully get noticed as a sketch artist but…"

Quill raised an eyebrow towards Sketchy as she started to become silent. "But?"

"But, I was thinking of just trying to make it out on my own, but again I don't know." Sketchy sighed, she liked working with Rarity, but if things continued on the track they were on now, her dream of being a famous sketch artist would surely follow Rarity down into the dark pit of despair.

"Oh come on Sketchy," Jinx started, wrapping her arms around Sketchy, and pulling her into a hug. "It'll get better I'm sure of it." Sketchy giggled from her friend/lover's reassuring nuzzle, which she returned with a pat on the head. "So, Quill, just how old are you and Spike?"

"Heh, um...we're both eighteen, and our next one is in a few months." I just hope this time we don't go through that greed-growth. Even thinking about the uncontrollable surge of rage and greed swirling around Quill's mind, making everyone around her look like a threat scared her, and she never wants to relive those events again.

"Aww, you two look absolutely just adorable," Jinx said, reaching from Sketchy to pinch Quill's cheek. Quill managed to wiggle out of the mare's pinchy fingers, making both Jinx and Sketchy laugh a little. "And it sounds like Dusk was right, I've just turned twenty last week." Jinx blushed, remembering the birthday 'surprise' Sketchy and Dusk had waiting for when she got to her house. "Dusk is the same age as me too, well a few months older, but still."

Quill and Jinx shared a laugh while Sketchy rolled her eyes. "And that leaves me as the oldest," She said, taking the job as the responsible one in the relationship. "Wonder what's taking Dusk so long?" As if by command, Dusk started to emerge from the bushes with several logs under his arms with a bundle of fish tied together wrapped in his dragon-like tail. "Dusk, what took you so long?"

"Ah fave ta ght fise." Jinx and Quill started to giggle at Dusk trying to speak with a large tuna-fish in his mouth while Sketchy flatly stared at him with an unamused look. "Waft?"

"Dusk, would you spit that out?" Instead of doing as Sketchy asked, Dusk tossed his head back to send the fish flying up in the air, and caught it in his mouth again to swallow it whole. Everyone watched as Dusk's serrated teeth tore apart the fish and crushed the bones. "Really?"

This time Dusk swallowed all for the fish before speaking. "What, after that fight with Quill, I'm been really hungry." Dusk walked over to the bare entrance of the cave and dropped the logs, along with the fish, guessing that it would be a good spot to set up the camp fire. "So what were you guys talking about?"

"Our ages," Jinx answered in a mock matter of fact tone, that was enough to get Dusk chuckling as he took a seat in between the two of them, and wrapped them in his wings.

Jinx wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled in the halfbreed's embrace while Sketchy started blushing but made no move to leave. "Ah I see, so Quill how are you feeling? Last time I was thrown around like that was when I was fighting my dad, and it wasn't pretty."

Quill rolled her shoulders around, moving joints back into their normal spots, and feeling just as she usually do after fighting Wolf. "Yeah I'm fine," She answered, knowing doing any sudden movement was going to hurt, but none the less fine. "So is that how you learn to fight, from your dad, or was it something different?"

"Well," Dusk paused, crossing his arms above Jinx's head, and tilting his head in thought. "You do learn from those you respect," Much of this Quill had to agree, she learned far more from Wolf than she ever had with Twilight or any of the elements. "and dad did show me a few things when it comes to fire-magic, but their was a few times where I had to figure things out on my own. But hey, that's apart of life, I guess."

"Heh, makes sense," Quill said, slightly rocking back and forward while her legs were crossed underneath her, and her hands gripping them. "So what was with the whole rugby thing anyways?" Both Jinx and Sketchy cocked their heads at Quill, who still had a curious look on her face, and then turned to Dusk who had a more knowing look.

"Yes, we did hear you. In fact, it was one of the reasons Quill was able to dodge my dive." Both mares started to blush in embarrassment, none of them thought that the two was able to hear their conversation during their fight, and forced Dusk to roll his eyes. "Anyways, it was two weeks after I had just transferred into Jinx's and Sketchy's school, after I had learned some rather...unpleasant news..."

Lunar Republics, Nebula High; Two years six Months ago

Two years and six months ago in the Lunar Republics, three months before Jinx and Sketchy happily called themselves his marefriends, Dusk was forced to yet again transfer to the last school on his home island of Nebula. This school was his last chance to stay with his siblings and continued to enjoy the fishing trips, so he vowed not to get into any fights, but everyone has their backing points.

"I absolutely won't stand for this!" Through the empty halls of the Fine Arts department of Dusk's new school, Nebula High, his enraged voice echoed only to be heard by one of the few students that would actually approach him. "Who the fuck does that little bitch think he is!"

"D-Dusk p-please calm down," A small pegasus mare, known as Arctic Winds, pleaded her friend as tears still continued down her snow white cheeks, and made her icy-blue eyeliner run. "I-it's not t-that bad."

Dusk wiped his head around towards the shaking teenager and blew out more smoke in her face. "Not that bad, not that bad!? Arctic, he fucking cheated on you for three years! How can that not be bad," Dusk shouted at Arctic, making her shake even more as new tears started to from around her eyes. Once he saw what his voice was doing to her, Dusk closed his eyes, and took in a deep breath. "Arctic," He sighed, still breathing out black smoke, but in a much more calm voice. "Go home. As fast as you can, get home, and stay their. Can you do that for me?"

"Dusk w-what are you-" Arctic was cut off by Dusk looking her straight in the eyes, a dark flame burned through the shining purple that she knew belonged to Dusk, and started to shake in fear from them.

Dusk placed his hands on Arctic's small shoulders, forcing her tumbling to stop. "Arctic, please promise me that you'll go straight home. Promise me." Even if Dusk was one of her few real friends, Arctic was still terrified by the darkness in his eyes and tone, but still nodded her head. "Good, don't worry. I'll get everything straightened out." Dusk surprised Arctic with a-strictly platonic-kiss on the forehead before leaving to go face her ex.

Arctic stood in the hallway, watching Dusk march off to the sports department of the school, and towards the rugby field. Words failed her before Dusk was completely gone and out of earshot and Arctic knew that it will be the last time she'll be able to see Dusk at school any more.

Once outside, Dusk's eyes locked onto the track and field area where the school's reigning champions practicing for next season, and spared his wings to take flight toward them. Dusk eye, which have been trained to see through the murkiest of waters, located the captain of the rugby team.

Tall, muscles on near every inch of his body, slick black and red hair, two long deadly sharp horns on top of his head, and a face mothers couldn't even love. Why Arctic ever went out with a half-brain minotaur was the last thing on his list of issues to deal with. As the ball was kicked high in the air, Dusk aimed his hand towards it, and shot it down with a massive bolt of purple lighting.

The entire team's collective attentions-which couldn't stay focused on one thing for too long-rose to met an enrage halfbreed that none of them knew. Dusk slowly landed on the ground with the team of minotaurs started to gather around him in a close circle. However, Dusk answered none of their demands as he only kept his eyes deadlock on the captain of the team.

"Who the fuck do you-"

"Shut up." Some of the minotaurs flinched from the hollowness in the halfbreed's voice. It had sounded as though a ghost was standing before them and not the dragon dog. "I want you to shut the fuck up and beg."

The captain was the only one who remained unmoving from Dusk's emotionless tone, that somehow still carried the rage to melt stone, but not like he cared. He was known throughout the entire republics for taking down other minotaurs-as they were the main ones to play the near suicidal game-that were twice his size, even putting most in the hospital for weeks, and forcing some to quit the sport.

So why should he fear something that was half of his own size? Because he never fought an alpha diamond dog with salamander dragon blood flowing through him. That's why.

"Why should I?" Dusk kept his eyes buried underneath his black hair, his body trembling from holding back his rage, and small arcs of purple electricity arched across him. "Heh, look at you," The minotaur joked, unimpressed by the violent display of dragon magic, but the same couldn't be said for the rest of the team. "What's the matter mutt, cat got yo-" The captain wasn't allowed to finish his insult as Dusk launched a strong right-hook to his jaw, and from the sounds of snapping bone, broke a few pieces.

Everybull jumped back from the surprise sucker-punch and watched as their captain was thrown to the rough dirt ground. Dusk returned to the darkened look, breathing pitch black smoke, and holding onto his arm to keep it from shaking. "Either start running, or fight."

"What are you idiots waiting for," The captain minotaurs grumbled, fighting through the pain of his jaw being broken with the high rush of adrenaline pumping in his veins. "BRAKE HIM LIKE A FUCKING TOOTHPICK!" Not wanting to fall under the wrath of their captain the entire team of minotaurs charged at Dusk, who refused to look any of them in the eyes, and kept his head down as time for him started to slow with his breathing.

In fights, one-on-one, regardless of your opponent's strength, you have a chance of winning. By luck or your own power yourself, any challenge that is thrown your way, you still have the chance to come out on top. In wars, where two sides are pitted against each other, it is known that the side with the greater numbers have a higher chance to come out victorious. On even ground, any have the prospect of claiming victories.

The team of minotaurs truly believe that, and countless times before, have proven this fact to be true. Team after team, region after region, the Nebula High rugby team have proven that against any odds that they can come out as the victors. Now they were faced with their easiest challenge ever; taking on one lone halfbreed.

This will be over quick, they thought. There's no way one dog could take them all on, they reassured. Better him than me, they guessed.

They were wrong.

In one massive flash of bright purple light, Dusk's entire body vanished from thin air, and the dust kicked from the sudden surge knocked the minotaurs off their intended path of attack. By the time they were able to see again, Dusk was nowhere to be found. Not on the ground, not in the air; just nowhere as if he didn't existed.

While he was searching with the rest of the team, the kicker-a lean and built minotaur-suddenly felt something pushing against his body, but shrugged it off as the wind.

He was wrong.

Without any explanation, all of the air in his body was forced to his throat in a soundless shout. Everyone turned to the kicker, given a shock when the found Dusk's fist pushing against his chest, and remained rooted their. Suddenly, a strong, unnatural, wind blew the minotaur off of his feet, and straight towards two defensive ends.

Instead of being able to withhold the kicker's weight, the two defensive ends were caught in his flight, and was thrown nearly halfway across the rugby field. Everybull slowly turned their heads away from their fallen brothers, in complete disbelief that someone like Dusk-who back then didn't have half of the muscle tone as he does today-was able to knock back three of their teammates with ease.

Dusk's purple fur started to darkened in tone, taking a sickly black color, and his magic grow in furiousity as his mood darkened. "Come on, fight. That's all you meatheads are good for anyways." Those close to him were the only ones to perceive his bloodthirsty words, craving nothing but to senselessly beat the minotaurs' skulls against each other's, and cold enough to freeze the hottest pools of lava. "Come on and fight me!"

"Give him what he wants," One of the minotaurs shouted, charging at Dusk with his teammates following behind, and sure that he couldn't pull of the same trick twice. Dusk jumped away from on of the minotaur's horns and slammed his elbow into his back. Another one, trying the same tactic, met a worse faith as Dusk flipped over his head to grab onto his horns, and threw him into another charging minotaur.

Dusk didn't ended his offensive as he turned around to connect his fist to a minotaur's jaw, breaking it worse than the captain's. However, he wasn't able to see the minotaur sneaking up on him, and could not stop him from bring his fist down onto Dusk's collarbone.

The blow was enough to dislocate the dense bone and bring Dusk to his knees in a pain filled roar. Another minotaur tried to follow up his teammate's surprise attack by raising his foot over Dusk's head to bring it down on top of it. However, even with more than half of his magic drained, he was still much faster than the slow meatheads, and had the strength enough to kick himself backwards.

Dusk shakily got up to his feet, forcing his collarbone to go back into place, and breathing out a massive cloud of black smoke. The ground soon became covered from the mass cloud of hot smoke before lifting up into the sky. Dusk opened his eyes, cocked his head, and flatly stared at the remaining twenty rugby players. "Is that it?" The words was enough to send the rest of the minotaurs charging with blind fury at Dusk as he returned the charge with a savage roar.

They started with twenty, twenty of the strongest minotaurs on Nebula-possibly all of the Lunar Republics-but soon started to dwindle. Twenty, thirteen, nine, five...their numbers rapidly declined until only a small three were left able to stand on their feets while Dusk himself was bleeding from his head and left arm, which was rendered useless after a minotaur was able to pick him up from behind, and slam him onto his left shoulder.

Now only able to see out of one eye with the use of his right hand, Dusk still had to take on three behemoth minotaurs, and one of them so happened to be the captain of the ruby team. Dusk locked eyes with the bull, both bloodshot, but still burning with a rage that couldn't be measured by words. "Get him." Besides those as the other two minotaurs, freshmens, charged at the halfbreed, but was stopped by Dusk using his wings to fly towards them.

They were unable to stop the speedy halfbreed as he delivered a flying kick to one of the freshmen's faces, forcing his nose to cave in on itself, and a downward roundhouse to the other cracking his skull wide open with the heel of his steel-toe boot.

Both freshmen minotaurs fell to the ground at the same time Dusk landed on his feet. Dusk started to let out a small chuckle while the rugby captain stared at the halfbreed in pure disbelief. Of all the fight, battles, and other physical altercations he's been in, the captain never met anyone so willing to overlook pain to their own body just for the pleasure of hurting others.

Only one word could possibly hope to describe the halfbreed in the right light. "Y-you're a monster," The captain said as he was now the only one left standing amongst the field of severely injured players. More sparks of electricity arched from Dusk's body as he started to walk towards the lone minotaur. "S-s-s-stay back." He turned to run away from Dusk but was stopped when again teleported in front of him, knocking him down to the ground.

Dusk continued to step forward to the frightened minotaur, the dark display of electricity never ceasing, and started to reach a hand out towards the bull's head. However, luck was on the poor bull's side as large fiery explosion erupted around them, knocking the minotaur captain unconscious and away from Dusk, and distracted Dusk long enough for another dragon diamond dog halfbreed to knock him on his back.

"What do you think you're doing, idiot?" Dusk turned his head back to find the green eyes of his eldest alpha dragoness sister, Verdite Flare, sitting on top of him with a slight disapproving look on her face. "Dad is going to erupt when he hear about this." Dusk tried to struggle against his sister's powerful grip with little success. "You're lucky that I was able to beat him here or he'd-"

"Or I would 'erupt.'" Dusk's eyes widened at the deep sound of his father's voice, and cane his head to see the sky-blue and faded purple scales of his salamander father standing behind them with his older salamander brother, Siege Flare, standing next to him, and the familiar light-blue mane of Arctic hiding behind them. "Two weeks, you couldn't go two weeks without causing some kind of commotion." Dusk's father started to walk over to him, each heavy step more treating to Dusk than the last, and he pushed through the pain in his body to try and escape Verdite's grip.

As his father slowly closed the gap between Siege and him, Dusk started to spit out sickly purple flames in hopes of scaring Verdite off of him, but all desperate attempts were useless. "You gave me your word that you wouldn't do anything like this, you put your dragon's honor on the line, but yet here we are." Dusk looked up to his father, tears started to form from the pain of taking on the rugby team, from the guilt of breaking his word, and from the sense of failure-despite winning-devouring his soul. "Why do you do this Dusk, why can't you-"

"Wait!" Dusk's father turned his attention away from his child and to the teenage filly that alerted him of the situation. Arctic flew out from behind Siege and landed in front of Dusk's father, and flared out her arms and wings in hopes of stopping the elder salamander. "Please Mr. Flare, It's not Dusk's fault," Arctic begged, unable to see Dusk get into trouble because of her. "This is mine, I-I should have never told him, but I-I…"

The elder salamander dragon gazed into crying filly's eyes then back down to Dusk as he continued the desperate attempts to escape from Verdite, and sighed. "I'm sorry." Arctic snapped her eyes back to Dusk's father's dull-blue eyes while Verdite felt Dusk starting to tremble from fear. "But I simply can not overlook this."

Dusk's father started to reach his hand out towards Dusk as the young halfbreed closed his eyes knowing what was going to happen next. "Or you could reconsider." The salamander again was stopped at the sound of another filly's voice as a bright blue orb of magic began to form to the other side of the battle grounds.

Once the light had faded two teenagers-in the same grade as Dusk-stood, one looking towards the sight with a flat and knowing look while the other had her eyes closed. The filly with her eyes closed-a light-blue unicorn with a long two tone blue and green mane-slowly opened her eyes. "I did it? I did it," She cheered hopping around the other filly with extreme joy. "Sketchy, hey Sketchy, I did it. I finally got the teleportation right!"

Sketchy, a white unicorn mare with three tone black mane pulled back into ponytail, adjusted her glasses, and patted the other filly on the head. "That you did Jinx, that you did, and just in time it seems." Sketchy walked passed Jinx and towards Dusk's father to look him up into the eyes. "You must be Mr. Flare," She started with the same flat tone as she began.

"That I am filly, now if this is not important, I have a son to 'talk' to." Dusk's father moved back to reach out towards Dusk but again was stopped by Sketchy.

"You see," She started, stopping the elder salamander's moment with her flat voice, and producing a CD case from her back pocket of her black jeans. "That won't be too necessary. This whole team was suspected to be taking magic muscle enhancers, I took it upon myself to reach this truth, and I have it right here in my hand."

"And may I ask how is this important?"

Sketchy smirked, a dark smirk that only held malice behind it, and it was directed towards the minotaur captain. "Simple, Dusk here isn't the only one's that friends with Arctic." Everyone turned their attention towards Arctic, who had already buried her head in Jinx's shoulder. "I don't really care for many of these meatheads either." Sketchy touched her foot on one of the groaning minotaurs, getting him to roll over in pain in response.

Dusk's father stared at Sketchy for a moment before breaking out in a deep chuckling roar. "Dusk, looks like you got the grace from one of the four makers, but don't waste it." Verdite followed her father's silent command to get off of the injured halfbreed to allow him to stand up on his own.

"Dusk!" Arctic quickly removed herself from Jinx, pushed past Dusk's father, and wrapped her arms around him to cry into his bloody shoulder. "Dusk, why? Why did you-"

"You broke my promise," Dusk suddenly said, not registering Arctic's words in his head, and continued before anyone could say anything to him. "Thank you...I'm the world's greatest of idiots, and you should never listen to me when I'm angry." Arctic stared into Dusk's hazy bloodshot purple eyes, shocked, and glad that he wasn't angry with her. "Thank you Arctic, you stopped me from doing something really stupid."

Dusk soon collapsed in Arctic's arms after being drain from taking on the school's entire rugby team and coming out of the fight as a loser but still winning in the end with friends and family...

Present day

Dusk finished the story with a large puff of black smoke directed straight up in the air. During the story, Spike and the CMC's slowly made their ways over to the other campers to hear the story for themselves, and was shocked by the length Dusk went for a friend he only known for two weeks.

He brought his head back down to the roaring fire that was started during the story-telling. Dusk reached for a tuna-fish cooking on a stick near the fire and took a bite out of it while everyone gathered their thoughts on the events Dusk had told them.

Some of the thoughts were telling them that Dusk was crazy for doing something so foolish. Others said that he was being a loyal friend. One even said that he was just doing it for the kicks, but one thing was for sure: "That was AWESOME!" Everyone turned towards Quill as she let her excitement get the better of her. "Heh, sorry," She said after realizing what she did.

"Don't be," Dusk said, shaking his head, and taking another bite of the tuna. "It hurt like crazy, popping my shoulder back into place was the main thing, but yeah it was fun...for a little while." Quill blushed and sat back down to allow everyone to go back to their own thoughts. "Man, dad was pissed so bad afterwards, but mom beat him to the punch. Literally, she punched me in the gut."

Everyone started to laugh at Dusk's misfortune of being attacked by his diamond hound mother. Even looking back on the memory had him slightly flinching from the rage in her eyes, also the strength of her fist, but he still knew she did it out of love...mostly.

"So what's up with this dragon's honor thing," Quill asked, taking a fish for herself, and enjoying the different-yet welcomed-taste. "Is it like a dragon's code or something like that?"

"Mmm...yes it is." Dusk took a moment to think to himself of the best way to explain the dragon tradition that's been passed down since...well...forever. "You see a dragon's honor is like a code of truth. It tells what and how far a dragon is willing to go to get what's theirs." Spike realized that Dusk was talking about a dragon's greed and was reminded of the horrible feeling of destroying a good part of Ponyville. "See, dragons, we live on greed. Like it or not, greed is a major part of our culture."

Along with the twins, the CMC's all cocked their heads at Dusk, and Applebloom raised her head thinking she was in class. "But Ah thought that greed was a bad thing," She asked after Dusk acknowledge her question. "At least that's what sis tells me."

"Sometimes-okay a lot of times-it is." Sweetie was going to question Dusk further before he continued. "However, there are times where greed can be a good thing. Think about any good thing that you all know, helping friends, getting work done, learning, anything. Greed allows you-or a dragon really-to focus on what they find important."

Spike and Quill thought of all the things they've done in the past two months. Spike pushed his water-magic training to the point where ghost heart started to grow in his body, Quill nearly got herself killed several times performing a free-fall dive, and the both of them still fought over who protected whom.

It was greed.

It was their greed of wanting to become strong enough to protect not only each other, Wolf's pack, but also one day become strong enough to protect everypony in Ponyville. It was from this greed that their dragon codes were forged, never giving up on a task-no matter the size-until it was completely done, and never looking back on a choice they made no matter how bad it seemed.

Dusk himself had this same greed. He couldn't sit back and allow that minotaur captain to stump on Arctic's heart like that, it didn't matter if he had to take on the whole rugby team, Dusk was going to bring retribution to his friend even if it cost him his life.

"I wonder what Artie is doing right now," Jinx openly asked, pulling everyone out of their thoughts, and gaining their full attentions. "Didn't she say something about moving to Equestria too?"

Sketchy nodded her head, clearly remembering graduation, and everyone of their friends plans for the rest of their lives. "She did, but she also said that she was going to go to a two year art school first, but still I haven't heard anything from her."

"Hm…" Dusk placed his head on his chin in thought, remembering something important, but for some reason couldn't put his finger on it. "Did she even tell us where she was staying?" Both Sketchy and Jinx opened their mouths to speak, however, they themselves didn't know of Arctic's moving plans, and was just as much in a guess as Dusk. "For fuck's sake Arctic," Dusk mumbled underneath his breath but still loud enough for Sketchy to catch it.

"Watch it halfbreed," She whispered in a deadly tone that got Jinx giggling at from the usual power-struggle the two would put themselves through.

Dusk stood up from his seat with a stretch of his wings as they been firmly around his mares' bodies for the last few hours. "Well…" He looked towards the setting sun and figured now was the best time to head to bed for the night. "Looking back into my dark past got me some kinds of tired," He started with a big yawn. "I guess I'll be turning in for the night." Dusk throw the remains of his tuna-fish dinner into the fire and started for his tent, which was thankfully transported by Sketchy's magic in one piece.

"I guess we should be heading off to bed as well," Sketchy said, standing up from her seat, and preferring Dusk's warmth over the camp fire's. "Good night everyone, we got a long walk ahead of us tomorrow, and I think its best that all of you turn in as well." Sketchy started for the tent with Jinx saying goodnight to everyone before following.

"Guess that does it for me too," Quill started, standing up from her seat, and throwing her tuna-fish dinner into the fire as well. "Night guys, that fight with Dusk got me exhausted." Quill followed the lovers into the cave where she had her makeshift bed set up rather close to their tent.

Once the dragoness was out of earshot, Spike turned back to the CMC's to address everything they have told him about the elements, and how Quill treated the news. "Are you guys sure she was cold to them? I mean, I got her to at least think about going for a visit."

"We're sure Spike," Scootaloo started in a low growl. "She was completely uncaring to everything we had to say, and what makes you think that she'll actually go for a visit instead of thinking about it?"

A part of Spike actually believed that if she was given time, Quill would come around, but another said something completely different. However, Spike knew of the agreement the CMC's made with her, and he also knew Quill would flip her lid if she even thought that they were trying to get them back home. "I don't know Scoots, but the last thing I want to do is get her angry about it again. So this stays between us okay?" He couldn't risk Quill becoming angry and distrusting of the CMC's as they were the only ones she would talk to besides Dusk's and Wolf's pack. "Not a single word about this to Quill, I'll handle it, can you girls promise me that?"

"Okay Spike," Scootaloo started in a sigh, unable to think of a way around Spike's pleas. "But something really needs to be done, 'cus I don't know how longer they can hold up like this."

Spike nodded his head, knowing that something had to be done, but not sure if Quill should really be knowing about it. "I know Scoots, just give her time okay?"

"Fine Spike, but something has to be done, and soon." Spike again just nodded his head as he got up from his seat to walk over to his makeshift bed. The conditions of the elements greatly upsetting him, not as much as the realization that he just broke his own dragon's honor, but one way or another he will fix it.

With or without Quill.

/ Ch. 13: Paths/-/

High Moon Ch.13: Paths

The sounds of birds singing their love songs high above in the trees reigning true through Everfree as the young campers continued down the path towards the Rainbow Falls. As usual, Spike was up before the sun was to practice his magic, this time following Dusk's advice, and mixed his meditation with a slight workout.

Not the full workout that Dusk was talking about, still a welcomed start in the right direction, and it was enough for Spike. While he was working out, Dusk soon woke up as well, and suggested that Spike tired fishing with him. Turns out that Spike was a natural fisher-drake, able to cut through the water much better than Dusk, and caught enough fish for both him and Quill while Dusk managed to get a satisfying amount.

After breakfast, the eight young campers packed up their stuff-which was hard for Sweetie because of all the stuff Rarity made her carry-and started out for their final destination of the Rainbow Falls.

Spike was silent for most of the walk while Quill was busy using her fire-magic to entertain and impress Dusk. Spike thought of the best way to confront his sister about the elements without tipping her off about the CMC's telling him but nothing came to mind. He could simply just act as if this was just another attempt on his part, however, Quill was too smart to let this just be a coincidence.

Then again, the trip, and meeting Dusk could be used to persuade her opinion-as unlikely as it is. Maybe Quill will buy that he was just talking to her about it again now that she has a reason to want to visit, maybe if he could, Dusk could help with it. Again it was a long hard shot, but still one Spike is willing to make, he needed to fix the mess they left behind.

As Spike was silently musing over the weighting questions, he failed to realize that he was being watched by two of the CMC's, and didn't think about the affection that both of them had for him. Sweetie Bell, who had her eye on Spike for quite some time, was admiring the new body that he's grown into over the short two months, and was loving every inch she saw. While Scootaloo was also admiring his new looks, but more importantly, Spike's devotion to his sister, and willingness to put himself in harms way for them.

Both friends undoubtedly had it in for the drake while Applebloom didn't really pay it much attention, but still hoped that their love rivalry doesn't ruin the close friendship that they had for years now. From this, Applebloom got to wondering why they both were so into Spike all the sudden.

Sure, strong muscles, an I.Q higher than she would like to count, the heart made of pure gold, and the will to bare anyone's else's weight. So what? Her older brother had most of that, and so did most of the colts back in Ponyville, so what made Spike so special?

Applebloom had no idea, not that it matter as long as it doesn't tear her friends apart, but still she wander what about why the other two crusaders were so into the drake. What better way than to ask?

"Hey girls," She started nervously, not sure how they how they would react to her sudden question. Both Scootaloo and Sweetie turned their attentions away from Spike to look towards Applebloom, who was walking in between them. "What's so different about Spike? I mean, he's always been so nice before, and he already was really smart. But what's different?"

Scootaloo opened her mouth to answer, when she realized that Applebloom was mostly right, and the same thing happened to Sweetie. After a few more times of doing this, Scootaloo finally gave up on hiding her feelings, and sighed. "Well...sure he still kind of the same drake, but there is something different about him, just not sure." Yes I do.

"Well, I think it has something to do with his looks," Sweetie said, cutting another look towards Spike. Ever since yesterday, Spike-for some reason-hasn't been wearing his jacket, and was now bare-chested. The other two crusaders followed Sweetie's glance, it being straight on Spike, and taking note of the growing muscles on his body.

Before, Spike would never allow anyone to see his chest, and the CMC's wasn't the only ones to notice the slight pudginess of his belly. However, now it was gone, and all that was left was a growing muscular body.

Applebloom still didn't see it. "Ah still don't get it, we see meh brother all the time with his shirt off, and he's twice the size of Spike. Heck, more than half of the stallions back home have more muscles on their bodies."

"It's not all about the muscles Bloom," Sweetie Bell started, being caught into a daydream about the drake, and almost tripping because of it. "There's more to it than that."

"Like?"

Sweetie again was forced out of her daydream to focus on explaining it to Applebloom, who seems denser than she first thought. "Well, from the books Rarity has laying around, a guy has to be romantic, and always able to take care of a mare."

Applebloom flatly glanced towards the dreamy look in Sweetie's eyes, the same look Big Mac had when they used that love potion on him a few years ago. "Really?"

"Well yeah," Scootaloo started, thinking about all the traits she looks for in a guy. "Also funny, nice, good-looking, and an overall cool guy. Someone like...Rainbow Dash! If she was a dude."

"Ah don't know," Applebloom mused, still unsure of what to think of Spike, and her friends obvious crushes on him. "Ah mean, all that's good, but isn't that a little boring?" Both other crusaders cocked their heads at Applebloom while she looked a Spike with an unimpressed stare. "All that just some fairytales, princessy, things that single adults like our sisters dream about will fall in their lives. When really, there aren't that many guys like that, and if they are, already have someone else."

Scootaloo and Sweetie reed their heads back in shock from Applebloom's honesty. "Wow, Bloom, just wow," Scootaloo said, thrown off by Applebloom's words, and turned her attention back to Spike to get her mind off of them while Sweetie did the same.

"Ah'm just saying, if every guy was like that, then everypony should have a special somepony for them. Right?" Sweetie placed her finger on her chin in thought while Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "Sweets remember how sad Rarity was when she found out that prince Blueblood wasn't the shining prince she thought he was?"

"Well of course I do," Sweetie said, never being able to forget how angry Rarity acted after the Grand Galloping Gala, even if she tried to hide it, Sweetie could hear the venom in Rarity's voice about him. "But what's that got to do with anything?"

"Because, Rarity thought that he was nothing, but a shining knight in golden armor. Instead she found out that he was a class-A jerk." Sweetie started to see where Applebloom was going with this, it all made more sense than she wanted it too, but choose not to hear her underlining warning.

"Well that's because she ignored the drake in shining armor right in front of her the whole time." Over the years, Sweetie watched as Rarity lead both Spike and Quill along with her looks, and each time it ate at her. Knowing that her sister was getting the two of them to do her work for her, only because they thought she was 'pretty,' made Sweetie's blood boil, but could never stomach telling them. "That's her fault."

This time both Scootaloo and Applebloom were the ones to be thrown off by Sweetie's sudden cold tone. Sure they knew the sister rivalry that was between them, every younger sister goes through that, but they never heard Sweetie act so cold before.

"Whoa, where's this coming from?" Sweetie cut a glance towards Scootaloo, who was just in as much of a lost as Applebloom. After silently walking for a few more moments, Sweetie just sighed and shook her head, but still holding the look of pure annoyance.

"I don't know," She finally said as Dusk stopped walking when he made it up a hill. Everyone else, including Spike who finally was pulled out of his thoughts, stopped as while as he turned around.

"Guys, I think we made it." Quill ran up to Dusk's side to see the great wonder of the Rainbow Falls, pure white clouds, clear skies above, and great rainbow colored water pools gathering at the bottom. Dusk scratched his head, he nor Jinx or Sketchy has ever seen anything like it before, and was in awe at the natural wonder of fairytales. While Quill and the CMC's marveled at the memories of playing in the cool colorful waters.

Spike was in the same spot as Dusk and his mares, only have reading about the wonder before, and finding seeing it in person much better. Everyone took a moment to simply take in the sight in front of them until…

"Race you there!" Quill unfurled her wings and took flight in the air with Spike and the CMC's following close behind. Dusk chuckled from their silliness, though having the urge to follow along with them in their race, but thought against it.

Instead, he wrapped his wings around Jinx and Sketchy, and started to lead them to the waters. "Well never saw anything like this on Nebula," He started as they started to walk down the hill while the others were already setting up camp so they can change into their bathing suits-minus Quill and Spike, however they had a substitute.

Once Dusk and his mares made it down the hill and near one of the large rainbow water pools, they saw that the CMC's had already changed into their bathing suits; Scootaloo's a bright orange two piece bathing suits, but instead of the normal bottom piece, she had a pair of swimming trunks. Applebloom was also wearing a red tow piece, with a golden apple on her right breast. Sweetie was wearing a light purple and pink one piece that hugged her figure quite nicely.

Dusk let out a small whistle, impressed of how the teens looked in the swimming attire. "Careful girls, I may have two mares, but Spike is still on the hunt." Both Sweetie and Scootaloo blushed from Dusk's joke while Applebloom rolled her eyes. "Or it could be-"

"Could be nothing," Sketchy said, pulling on Dusk's ear, and dragging him to their tent which-thanks to her magic-was still in full assembly. "Now come on, Jinx dragged me shopping before the trip, and I want to hear compliments." The lovers all disappeared into the tent to get dress for in their bathing attires while Quill and Spike emerged from the bushes.

Not to their surprise, Quill wore her green tank-top in a pair of light-red shorts that used to belong to Blaze while Spike simply borrowed another pair of Wolf's black shorts. However, neither Sweetie nor Scootaloo minded so as long as they got to gaze upon his chest.

"Hey where's Dusk and the other two," Quill asked walking towards the CMC's with a blushing Spike close behind. "I thought I heard their voices." Applebloom simply pointed out to the lovers' tent as Jinx was the first one to emerge.

If Spike couldn't take seeing the CMC's new bodies in their bathing suits, then Jinx was enough to have his tongue rolling out of his mouth, and even Quill started to blush. Jinx was wearing something that they all only thought somepony would wear on the beach, a thin light-blue two piece bikini with her mane pulled up in pigtails again.

Soon after Sketchy came out, wearing a pure black bikini that somehow made her fur more alluring and bright with her mane pulled into a ponytail behind her head. The two mares started to walk over to the others, one with a sway in her hips, and the other a joyous skip in her step that made her full chest bounce with each step along with the other's.

As Spike was holding his nose, trying to get it to stop bleeding, Dusk came out of the tent wearing a blue swimming trunks, and-oddly-black gloves. Quill, paying no mind of her brother's inability to control himself, cocked her head at the halfbreed. "Dude, what's with the gloves?"

"Oh those," Dusk started, holding out his hands so everyone could see the weathered black-leather gloves with a purple engraving of a bolt of lighting on them. "Old fishing gloves, I never leave home without them, and I guessed there's no harm in me wearing them now." Quill nodded her head, seeing that Dusk was using the gloves as a means of remembering where he came from. "So let's get this started, shall we?"

Choosing not to answer, instead Quill opened her wings, and took flight in the air. Dusk looked over to Sketchy with a pleading stare. "Go on." Dusk kissed Sketchy on the cheek, catching her off-guard before opened his wings, and started after Quill. Spike with the CMC's soon followed after the two while Sketchy rolled her eyes but still giggled along with Jinx as they too made their way into the water.

Everyone soon found something to do, Sketchy relaxed at the edge of the pool while Jinx played a game of Marco Polo with the CMC's, and even Quill-who couldn't swim-found something to do as she, Dusk, and Spike quickly made up game for them to play.

Using his water-magic, Spike surfing on the rainbow water while Dusk and Quill took turns diving straight at him. However the daring duo was unable to land a single sweep on the nimble drake as he spin, flip, and leap over their heads.

It was then Dusk and Quill decided to work in tandem with each other, picking up where the other missed, and forcing Spike to change his tactics. Right as Quill was going to snack him by the top head-spine, Spike dove under the water's surface, but was followed by Dusk as he had years of swimming in the open ocean.

Everyone dropped everything awaiting for the two males to resurface, even Sketchy stopped her relaxing read of a rather…erotic novel to join the others in anticipation, but as time passed they all started to become worried. However, that worry was destroyed when the calm water's surface was broken by Dusk pulling Spike out of the lake, and throwing him up in the air.

Spike's panicking arms were stopped by Quill grabbing onto his hands at taking him higher in the air. "Hey Spike," She shouted above the rushing air around them. "I hope you're ready for a dive-bomb!"

"Wait, What?" Spike looked up to his sister to only see that she wasn't kidding with what she was saying. He looked back down to find that they had to been at least a couple of yards above the lake. "Quill I don't think that's a good idea," Spike said as Dusk rushed past them and stopped after a few more feet.

"Come on Spike, live a little, and besides, your scales will protect you." Spike wiped his head towards the halfbreed, who looked towards Quill with a nod, and got the same nod back. "See you in the deep." Both Dusk and Quill snapped their wings shut against their backs and entered a free-fall dive with a screaming Spike along for the ride.

After doing this same dive before, Quill felt something different about the dive, and something told her it was because of the halfbreed next to her. The storming winds pushing against her, adrenaline pumping throughout her entire body, and thrill of pushing herself to their bare limits.

Couldn't compare to the sense of challenge she was getting from racing Dusk down to the lake's water. Seeing the calm look on his face as they plummet straight for the water, at speeds that could shatter entire bodies, and with freedom to do anything he wanted dove Quill to do the same.

"Guys, what are you-"

"Spike," Dusk shouted over the rushing winds, not even hearing Spike's words. "You better use that water-magic of yours to save your scales." Seeing that the water was already too close for Quill to even hope to stop, Spike nodded his head, and got ready to use his water-magic at the right moment.

Once the water was close enough, Quill pushed off from Spike, and got ready to open her wings right before hitting the water along with Dusk. While the two got ready to pull up before the water's surface, Spike closed his eyes, and focused his magic on allowing the water to accept his body without causing it harm.

Stay calm, hold focus, and let it flow. Spike placed his plums flat together and slowed his breathing the world around him slowly fade into his lake world, free of the dead-wood tree, and proudly shining a crystal blue.

Everyone below watched in suspense as the three quickly approached the ground, the CMC's started to worry that they wouldn't make it while Jinx hid behind Sketchy only having the stomach to merely take small peaks, but Sketchy alone knew that they'll do it.

The split second before they reached the water, time froze for the twin dragons and half-blood dragon, and their bright smiles were missed in this very moment. Suddenly an explosion of liquid rainbows erupted, sending a blinding array of colors flying up in the air, and making it impossible to see what has became of the three.

However, all doubts and worries were-thankfully-put to rest as both Dusk and Quill were seen rocketing above the water, leaving a trail of rainbow water to shot up from their collective speed. Spike appeared shortly after, launching himself straight from the water's surface, and surfing right behind the two.

The others started to cheer the three performers on, thrilled that they were able to pull off such a daring stunt, and come out alive to tell about it. However, as day turns to night, the time for rest stalks up on the campers, and forces all of them to turn in for the night...most of them anyways.

Sneaking out of the CMC's tent, Sweetie looked about the empty campsite near the lake to find that everyone was indeed asleep, and gave her the best chance to tell Spike how she really feels. With stealth that only gain by sneaking out of Rarity's house in the middle of the night, Sweetie made it over to Spike's bed which dreadfully was close to Quill's, but that didn't stop her.

Sweetie placed her hands on Spike's shoulders to shake him out of whatever dream he was having. However, it seemed Spike was just as of a heavy sleeper as Quill when he use to much energy. "Spike, Spike wake up," She whispered to get the sleeping drake to wake up but only got a grumble in response. "Come on Spike, wake up already. I got something I want to talk to you about."

The louder whisper managed to pierce through Spike's dream as he opened one eye and glanced towards Sweetie. "Guh, what is it Sweetie?" Her mind missed Spike's question when she gazed into the glowing shine from his dragon night-vision. "Sweetie Bell?"

"Huh, oh right. Spike there's something I wanted to talk with you about." Spike raised an eyebrow towards Sweetie, wondering why she didn't wait until morning, really if it was something that important for her to wake him up, then he might as well see what it was.

Spike started to sit up on the hay-straw bed to look Sweetie Bell in the eyes. "Okay what is it?" Sweetie started to blush while her eyes refused to look Spike back. "Sweetie is everything alright?"

Sweetie Bell took in a deep breath to calm her nerves before focusing her eyes straight on Spike's. "There's something really important that I want to tell you." She reached out for the drake's hand and started to lead him into the nearby brush so they could speak in private.

However, Sweetie wasn't the only one who wanted to speak with the drake. Scootaloo poked her head out just in time to see Sweetie take Spike into the brush. She bit her lip and followed, knowing what Sweetie was going to tell Spike, but not sure her heart could take it.

Scootaloo, less stealthy than Sweetie, made her way into the brush, however woke Quill as a result. Really, the dragoness wasn't even asleep, too excited from the whole day of playing with everyone to fall asleep, and easily overheard Sweetie's whispers to Spike.

Without letting her know, Quill's eyes trailed Scootaloo into the brush, and soon stalked the three on all fours. Quill used the strong muscles in her legs to leap up to a tree branch and continued to do so until she knew she was high enough. She continued to stalk Scootaloo, who was following Sweetie Bell and Spike like she was in an action movie.

However soon Sweetie came to a sudden stop in a small clearance, catching Scootaloo off-guard, and forcing her to dive into a bush while Quill rolled her eyes sitting in a tree both eavesdropping on the two.

"Sweetie Bell," Spike started after being unable to get a single word out of her for the entire time. "What the matter with you?" Sweetie kept her back turned away from Spike, she felt as though she was going to break out into tears, but it felt if she didn't tell him then she'll explode.

After a few moments, Sweetie took in a deep breath, and turned to face Spike. "Spike," Sweetie Bell suddenly started, taking a step towards Spike, and locking him dead in the eyes. "I've always liked you." Spike started to blush along with Sweetie Bell as the distance between them started to close quickly. "You always been so nice to everyone you met, always been there when somepony need you, and you never quit until you're done."

While Sweetie was closing in on Spike, Scootaloo held a hand over her mouth to keep her from giving the pain in her heart voice, but still couldn't move from her spot. Quill herself became moderately interested in Sweetie's confession, she had planned to get them set up herself, but now only sat back and watched.

"No matter how big something got, how much work somepony would put on you, or how many tasks my sister dropped on your head. You never gave up, you just kept pushing through, and always went out of your way to see someone else smile." Spike was too busy staring into Sweetie's soft green eyes to notice that she was now standing right in front of him. "Spike there's been something I've been meaning to tell you, I have since I first met you, but I wasn't sure how you react since you always was trying to get Rarity."

Spike's eyes started to widened when Sweetie Bell's words started to take hold. All these years being blinded by Rarity, Spike failed to see the one pony that actually had feelings for him, and she was right under his nose the whole time. He realized the pain and feeling of rejection Sweetie Bell was put through while he fought over Rarity with Quill. All the times he tried some new gimmick to get her affection, some new way to get Rarity to notice him over Quill, only for Sweetie Bell be the one to have to bare the weight of rejection.

Sweetie Bell placed her hands on Spike's hard shoulders, the touch enough to drag the drake out of his thoughts, and forced him to look down into her eyes. "Sweetie, I-"

"Spike Dragul, I love you." Spike's breath was stolen by Sweetie placing her lips on his in a surprise kiss. The drake's eyes widened at his first real kiss being with one of his best friends but didn't resist it. Slowly, Spike started to wrap his arms around Sweetie Bell's back, and pulled her closer to his body.

Sweetie returned the gesture by gripping onto his head-spines to press herself against his body. Spike's inexperienced hands danced across Sweetie's back, skipping over the parts of her night-dress. Sweetie's hands started from his spines to the strong muscles on his back. She started to moan in the kiss, thinking of what the powerful muscles could do, and happy that he returned her affections.

However, she was the only one happy.

Scootaloo still remained in the blushes, watching her best-friend and her secret crush share their first kisses right in front of her. Tears started to swell up in her eyes as she knew that all chances to be with the drake were over but something forced her to stay. It's not fair. Her sister toyed with him for most of his life. So why, why does she get to keep him?

It's not fair you say? Scootaloo wiped her head around at the sound of the ghostly voice echoing in her head. Then do something about it. Scootaloo buried her head in her mane and stood up from the bushes. Without even a second thought on the voice sudden appearance and disappearance, she started to walk out of the bushes, and straight for the new couple.

Sweetie Bell, who was still enjoying the warmth come from Spike, opened her eyes at the sound of the bushes rustling and was given a scare when she saw Scootaloo standing behind Spike. She pulled herself away from the kiss, catching Spike off-guard from the sudden removal, and starting to blush when the moonlight above confirmed her worst fears. "S-Scootaloo what are you-"

"Great job Sweetie," Scootaloo cut in, her body shaking a little, and her face still covered by her mane. "Pretending to love Spike so he'll come back was a great idea." Spike turned around to Sweetie Bell with a look of shock and disbelief.

Quill, who remained high in the tree, continued to watch the three. A part of her knew that the crusaders would pull something to get Spike to go back to Ponyville, but she didn't think that they would go this far as to toy with his heart. "Scoots what are you talking about? There wasn't a plan for me to pretend to like Spike."

Scootaloo started to darkly chuckle at the confused voice from Sweetie. "Really? Because if I was Spike, I would find it a little coincidental that the little sister of the mare that toyed with him and his twin for years just confessed to me." Spike again looked towards Sweetie, Scootaloo's words did made sense, but he really didn't want to believe them. "But whatever, either way it goes he'll now want to see you, and that's good enough I guess."

"Sweetie what is Scootaloo talking about?" Spike didn't want to believe it, he didn't want to accept that they were that desperate, but the more he thought about it the more it...

"I thought I said, no trying to get us to come home." Everyone turned their heads towards the trees to see Quill standing with a displeased look on her face. Quill jump from the tree and landed in front of Scootaloo. "What part of we're not coming back, don't you get?"

"Well, maybe not you," Scootaloo started with the same hollow voice as before, forcing Quill to glance back to her. "But Spike now has a real reason to." Quill slowly turned her head back to Spike, who saw the dark look in his sister's eyes, and placed a protective hand in front of Sweetie Bell.

"Quill don-"

"Fine." Quill turned around and started to walk back to the camp. "If you want to live underneath ponies for the rest of your life, that's just fine by me Spike, but don't expect me to hold your hand any more." Quill soon disappeared from sight as Spike started after her to explain everything but Quill had already had her stuff packed up. "You want to go crawling back to them, fine, but leave me out of it."

Quill started to open her wings to take off but was stopped by Spike pulling on her tail. "Quill wait." Knowing that Spike wasn't going to let go until she heard him out, Quill landed back on the ground, but refused to turned to him. "You knew, you knew that the elements were tearing themselves apart because of us, but you didn't tell me. Why?" Moments passed as Quill continued to refuse to met Spike in the eyes. "Why, Quill!"

Quill's hands started to tremble at her sides, she had a real answer, but she didn't want to accept the truth. "I don't want to talk about it." Quill smacked Spike's hands off of her tail to take flight in the air but again was stop by Spike. "Let me go, Spike."

"No, tell me why Quill," Spike said, refusing to let Quill's tail go before he got an answer. "Why didn't you tell me that Twilight shut out the world, why did you let our friends fall into despair Quill?"

"I said let me go," Quill shouted at Spike loud enough for Dusk and the others to be awakened by their argument but went unnoticed by the two dragons. Once he was able to see what was going on, Dusk started to shout at the two to cease their argument while Sweetie and Scootaloo came out of the bushes. "I've already told you that I'm not going back. Not now, not ever. Now let me go!"

"No, not until I get a real answer." Quill silently hovered in the air, sick and tired of having to deal with the conflicting feelings of Ponyville and the elements, but still landed back on the ground. Quill's fist started to tremble again at her sides as a line of dark smoke seeped from her nose. Seeing that she wasn't trying to make a move to leave again, Spike let Quill's tail go, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Quill, they can't keep living like that. It'll kill them. Please Quill."

Quill continued to burn holes into the ground with her stares while everyone awaited in silence. "I don't want to deal with it," She started in a low voice that no one was able to hear before she suddenly turned around and slugged Spike in the jaw with her fist. Sweetie let out a sharp gasp when Spike hit the ground while the others-besides Dusk-flinched from the sudden attack.

Spike slowly looked back up to Quill, feeling blood from around the cut on his cheek, but wasn't paying that much attention as he was to Quill. The dragoness stood over her brother, dark clouds forming from each breath she took, and an even darker shine in her eyes. "I don't want to deal with it any more! I can't stand everyone blaming us for their choices. It's not our fault if they can't get off their lazy asses and move on with their lives."

"Quill that's-"

"Shut up Spike," Quill roared, shooting Spike a threatening glare of anger, and the smallest signs of tears. "How hard is it for anyone to see that I don't want to deal with it! It's not my problem if they can't get over it." Quill looked back down to the saddened expression on Spike's face and throw up her hands in disgust. "Don't even Spike," she said, knowing that Spike was going to somehow try and convince her otherwise, but didn't want to hear any of it. "You know what I don't get? Why haven't you tried to do it yourself? Why you need me there, why should I even care any more?"

Spike started to get up from the ground, which was surprisingly hard to do after the right-hook Quill gave him, but still managed to force himself up. "B-because, they care for the both of us, and I know you do too."

"As if," Quill snorted, turning away from Spike. "The most that would happen is everyone crying over it, Pinkie Pie throwing some huge party, and everything going back to normal. That's it. Normal."

"What are you talking about," Spike asked, confused to what Quill was saying.

Quill flatly stared at Spike's eyes before chuckling to herself. "If you haven't noticed coal for brains, we're dragons, and if you've been paying any attention to what Wolf been saying, we can't live with them like them!" Quill started to walk away from Spike with her stuff on her back. "Look, I'm not ready right now, and I don't know when I will be alright? Give me time, that's what you can tell them, oh and, good luck with your fillyfriend." Quill shot a glance towards Sweetie Bell, believing half of the things Scootaloo said about her. "Later." Quill opened her wings again and took to the air this time without anyone stopping her. Spike wordlessly watched as flew into the dark skies, which was rumbling with the flashes of a different type of storm than the one in her mind.

Dusk along with the others recognized the dark storm clouds that Quill was flying straight into. Sketchy turned to Dusk, who was the only one fast enough to catch up with the angered dragoness. "Dusk go after her."

"No." Everyone turned towards Spike, who continued to stare towards the growing columbus clouds. "She'll be fine." The tone of the drake's voice reminded Dusk of a time back when his sister ran from home; bitter and regretful towards himself. Sweetie Bell ran over to wrap her arms around Spike's chest as she blamed herself for what just happened.

However, Dusk paid no attention to the scene in front of him as he had already lived it once himself. "Come everyone, let's pack up and head back to the cave before that storm hits us." Both of his mares looked him dead in the eyes. "There's nothing we can do," He answered their questioning looks before heading toward their tent to grab everything they needed.

Slowly, the others started to follow his lead as they packed their stuff up, and started to head straight for the cave. During which, Sweetie and Scootaloo refused to speak to one another while Applebloom drifted over to Dusk and his pack, and Spike kept much to himself. Scootaloo felt awful for what she did, still unable to figure out why she did it in the first place, but still upset with Sweetie to talk about it.

Sweetie herself didn't know what the make of the situation either, sure she just got the drake of her dreams, but at the cost of her friends? Was it worth it? Will she'll ever be able to trust Scootaloo again? What does Spike think about the whole thing, it did seem that Scootaloo was right, but that wasn't Sweetie's intentions...was it? As much as all of these questions needed to be answered, Sweetie didn't have the will to seek them just yet, and won't for awhile.

Applebloom simply didn't know what was going on, her friends were angry with each other, that much was for sure, Quill was greatly upset by something, and she thinks it has to deal with why she called Sweetie Spike's fillyfriend.

All that any of them could really tell, was that their friendship was now on a very thin line, and one wrong move could end it all.

Everfree forest

Already miles away from the Rainbow falls, an enraged dragoness flew low to the ground, and ignored the rain that instantly soaked through her clothes. The bone-chilling rain served as a constant and heavy reminder of the cold knife that was still sitting in her chest. Flashes of lighting and the angry roars in the skies above couldn't match the anger burning in her soul.

It seemed to her that every part of her old life somehow turned against her in some kind of way. She no longer could stand the bearing weight of everyone placing all the fault on her for trying to live her life. How can everyone simply just say that it was her fault that the elements were falling apart because she was following her heart; doing what she thought was right.

Hatchling, where are you going? Quill ignored her ancestor's question and continued the low sweep through Everfree. Quill answer me, she demanded only to have Quill increase her speed as she avoided tree after tree. So this is what you do when faced with a challenge. You run.

Quill gripped the sides of her head, she had hoped that the roaring storm would be enough to drown out the ancestor's voice, but it still sound clear over the storm's furiosity. "Leave me alone!" As she had her eyes shut tight, Quill failed to see the tree branch in front of her, and was thrown off her course. Tree after tree, Quill's body repeatedly slammed into another hard wooden limb, and soon founded her way to the ground.

Hatchling, hatchling are you alright? Quill slowly opened her eyes to see her hand laying out in front of her in the muddy ground. A throbbing pain ripped through her body, her head felt as though it was being spilt opened by a hammer, and there was too much pain in her wings for her to even began to take to the skies for awhile. Thankfully, nothing felt broken besides her trust, and the only liquid she felt was the one from the pouring rain.

Young one, speak. Quill fought through the dull pain in her head and body to stand up from the runny mud ground. She wasn't going to let Mother Nature beat her, nor was she going to give in a accept the blame that was clearly on the elements and Celestia. Young one, please speak!

Quill placed a hand on top of her head from the throbbing headache she received from smashing into the canopy of trees. "Ahh...I'm fine, just stop shouting at me." She forced her body to start walking out of the forest and to find somewhere to rest while the storm pass over. "I can't believe them, why is it my fault the elements can't get over themselves?"

It is just like your brother said, they care about you, and I know that you do too. She wanted to yell at her ancestor, tell her that as much as she could care, the elements could continue down the path they placed themselves on. That it wasn't her doing if none of the could live without them. In fact, all but Twilight has, but some reason couldn't move on. That they would all just continue to use her and Spike as they see fit and even place a closer eye on them to make sure they couldn't run away again.

But she couldn't.

"Stop, p-please...just stop. I don't what to talk about them right now." Quill could hear her ancestor sigh inside her head while she continued down the muddy path. The rain easily assaulted her slightly damaged scales through her torn clothes if they could be called that.

Her tank-top was all but useful as it failed it's job to cover her body while her shorts were falling apart from the already loose threads. Quill's tail left a visible trail in the mud as some of the spines on it was chipped along with some on her head.

However, she didn't care as she pushed her way through the storm to find shelter until it passes. Quill thought about heading back to High Moon but she knew there was too much of a chance of being confronted by Spike again. So she was going to try and kick it on her own until she was ready to face him again.

Soon, Quill found herself just pushing in one direction, and knew that was her best bet of not getting lost. As she marched through the forest, Quill continued to keep her head down to the ground, and only just pay any mind to what was in front of her.

"Stupid Spike, stupid CMC's, stupid elements, stupid rain," Quill grumbled to herself, the world around seemed to have some kind of grudge, or didn't trouble itself to think for a moment how she felt. "Why do we have to be the ones cleaning up their mess. What those mares need is a stallion in their lives."

And what of you, Quill's ancestor asked, she knew of the dragoness's view of the matter, but she needed to keep Quill talking so she doesn't pass out from the pain. Surely there's-

"Nope," Quill interrupted, already knowing where the ancestor was going with it, really not wanting to talk about it, but still did just to get the feelings out somehow. "As far as I can see, not a single one." Quill closed her eyes again and started to wave her hands around in a exaggerated manner. "Not Rarity, any of the CMC's, or any of the maids back in Canterlot. Nope nopony for this dragoness. Not even-"

"P-please…" Quill opened her eyes again at the sound of a female's voice and trailed her eyes up the path to see a pony with pitch black fur trapped underneath a fallen tree. She quickly took note of the pony's features, icy blue mane with two tone purple strips down the middle, through the twisted branches a pair of bat-wings laid outwards from her back, and a horn on her head.

Quill recognized the pony's features-though dragon-like in nature-to belong no other than to the very race that invaded Canterlot a few years ago: "A changeling?" Lighting in the background only furthered to make the sight of the injured changeling mare that more ominous.

"Please, h-hlep me," The injured mare pleaded again, trying to summon her strength to lift the tree again, but was met with failure. Quill remembered the ferocity of which the changeling army stormed down upon Canterlot like the rain from the storm she stood in now. During that battle, the elements could have-and would've-die if it wasn't for a diamond dog engineer and his brother, who was an elite Nightmare guard, saving them in the nick of time.

Now right before her was another changeling, obvious of a different breed, still a changeling no the less, and-

"Wait why am I thinking about this? She hurt." Quill rushed over the changeling, still fighting through her own pain. Once Quill was close enough, she could see a sickly-blue blood ooze from the changeling's back where the tree had landed on her. Quill ran over to the mare's right side to muscled through the pain as she started to lift the tree.

"P-please...I-I, help," The trapped changeling once again beg, from the sounds of her cackling voice, she didn't have much time, and Quill gritted her teeth to force her legs to move the tree off of her.

As the tree started to lift off of the changeling's body, Quill heard her starting to take bigger breaths of air a sign that her lungs wasn't crushed from the tree, and incentive for her to work even harder to lift the tree. Quill wished that the rain would let up for just two seconds so she could put more focus in lifting the tree but pushed passed it. Slowly, the dead tree started to raise off of the changeling, and gave her the chance to crawl away from the body-crushing wood.

Once Quill was sure the mare was completely out from under the tree, she it fall back to the muddy ground, and used it to lean upon. If it wasn't for the rain, sweat would have been running down Quill's face, but thankfully the bone-chilling water did help to keep her cool off.

Quill took a moment to catch her breath, taking her eyes off of the changeling, and wondering what's one doing out in this part of Everfree. "H-hey, are you alright," She asked, not seeing the mare light her horn, and standing up as though she wasn't injured.

"I'm sorry." Through her exhaustion, Quill still was able to catch the soft quiet words from the changeling, and barely turned around in time to see the changelings wounds heal from her magic. Quill was going to question the mare's sudden good health when she without warning turned around and sink her fangs into the soft scales in Quill's neck.

The changeling moaned around Quill's neck when she felt just how much power the young dragoness carried and enacted a small dose of neurotoxin so she could better 'enjoy' her later. She released Quill from her vice grip as Quill fell back against the tree to use it to stand.

Quill shook her head as she tried to keep her vision from going blurry and looked up to the changeling, who was licking her lips of the last drops of neurotoxin. Yet again, the one time she tried to go out of her way to help someone else in need, it comes back to literally bite her.

But this time, there was no running away.

Quill trailed her eyes up over the barely dressed changeling mare, only able to call a grass skirt and leaves to cover her large breasts clothes. As Quill glared into the changeling's blue eyes, she could feel the anger and betrayal flowing from her eyes. "I am truly sorry, I can tell that you're scared and angry with me right now, but…" She took a step towards Quill, dragging her finger up her body, and using to lift her head. "I couldn't help myself."

The changeling's words only just managed to reach Quill's ears before the neurotoxin finally kicked in. Quill's vision started to turn black, the last thing she saw was the remorseful frown on the changeling's face, and it left a greater storm than the one they were trapped in loose in her mind. /-/  
/ Ch. 14: Trust/-/

High Moon Ch. 14: Trust

The storm outside had picked up in fever and the rain was now on full tile. Anyone caught outside surely would be drown in the icy rain. However, lucky for the changeling, lighting seemed to have abandoned the storm, and left only for her to deal with the rain. Which she didn't mind, she rather enjoyed the rain anyways, it was the lighting strikes that frightened her, but her efforts would soon pay off with the young powerful dragoness.

Now inside, the mare allowed her breed of changeling instincts to take over and was thoroughly enjoying every drop of power that laid dormant inside of Quill. "S-she so p-powerful," The changeling moaned as two of her fingers were buried deep inside her marehood.

She had 'borrowed' some of Quill's dragon strength to take her to a cave and carefully sat her against a wall. However, by this point, she couldn't fight off her species' lust for power and emotions from others any longer.

"S-so young t-too" She started, licking over Quill's bite marks on her neck, and taking a deep breath of Quill's scent. "I-I shouldn't be e-enjoying this." The mare trailed her other hand over Quill's tone body, every inch screaming with strength and power that she never seen before, and it was simply irresistible.

Groaning from the dragoness told the changeling that she was waking up and quickly placed another bite on her neck to inject more small doses of neurotoxins. Quill winced from the sharp bite, her senses already dull from repeated bites, and her body felt completely numb.

"I-I so sorry," The changeling whispered into Quill's ear, truly feeling remorseful for taking advantage of her trust, but she didn't know how much longer she could go without feeding. Since she never been around someone as powerful as her, nor has she ever directly feed on anyone before. "T-this is wrong I-I know, but I-I…" The changeling went in for another bite, finding the dragoness too temping, but was surprisingly stopped by Quill placing her hand over her mouth.

The mare slowly glanced her eyes over to the dragoness, she didn't account for a dragon's ability of a quick immune system reducing the effectiveness of her neurotoxins, and was now faced with an enraged dragon. Or so she thought. "I-if you're...so sorry, then stop f-fucking biting me already," Quill said, forcing a threatening stare towards the changeling, but only managed to look like an enraged drunk. "C-can you at least...do that much?"

A slow nod from the changeling was enough for Quill to allow her arm to fall back to the ground while her mind tried breaking through the cloud in her head. "Frost." Quill forced her eyes to move over to the completely naked changeling with a curious gaze. "My name, its Frost." Quill could barely focus clearly enough to understand the changeling's words, everything felt faded and fuzzy, and it sounded as though she was speaking in another language altogether. "Listen, I can understand that you're really mad at me right now but-"

Frost was interrupted by a massive bolt of lightning striking down a tree near the cave and the sudden flash and ear busting sound was far more than enough to send her into Quill's body. At first, Quill didn't register Frost's weight as she was still processing the massive bolt of lightning that only existed for mere seconds, however soon her eyes started to trail back over the tumbling changeling's body.

Another flash of violent lightning, dancing freely in the darkened skies above, forced Frost to tighten her grip around Quill. "Y-you're afraid of storms," Quill asked after finally understanding why the changeling was shaking so much. Frost looked up from her icy blue mane towards Quill's hazy emerald-purple eyes to answer her question but was stopped by another bolt of destructive lightning.

"Y-yes...I-I have been since I was a little filly," Frost answered after the roaring shouts of the storm had passed. Quill slowly started to laugh at the changeling, getting her to remove herself from her body, and staring straight in her eyes. "It's not funny! My sister always picked on me because it."

Quill shook her head, still smiling a drunken smile, before explaining herself to the mare. "No, no, see I had known a...pony that does the same thing," She answered, no longer comfortable calling the elements her friends.

"O-oh, I see, but still that not-" Another flash, this time right outside of the cave, sent Frost straight into Quill's body again, and tightly wrapped her arms around her. "Nice," She finished after the thunder ended it's roaring. "But I really am sorry for this."

Quill rolled her eyes, now really seeing how Frost was like Fluttershy, and it was starting to get on her nerves. "Stop apologizing already. You was only doing it because you had to right?" Frost started to blush, which was shone clear on her black fur, but still nodded her head. "Then really, I don't have a right to be that mad at you."

Frost pushed herself away from Quill to stare into her eye again, she maybe of a mixed breed of changeling, but she still could feel the emotions of others around her. "You're serious." Quill nodded her head, not having the energy to either escape, or fight the changeling. So small talk was the best she could think of. "W-why? I mean, this is kind of my first time feeding on someone else emotions like this, but I heard rumors of a group of ponies out to kill every changeling alive."

"Yeah," Quill started in a low tone, knowing which group Frost was talking about from overhearing whispers from the guards in Canterlot. "I heard that they call themselves the 'Golden Crescents.' Besides…" Quill paused for a moment before continuing. "Besides, my adoptive father told me that if you're sorry about something, then you're not a monster." Hatchling, what are you- "So I have no reason to be mad if you were doing it to survive."

"Your adoptive father huh," Frost asked, moving to sit in Quill's lap, and placed her legs on either side of her. "Sounds like he had to do something like what I did." Frost placed her hands on Quill's shoulders and started to trail them up and down her arms. Intistally, Quill didn't think much of the touch, but a look into Frost's glowing blue eyes told her that something was up with her. "And it looks like he raised a powerful daughter…" Frost started for Quill's neck again when another bolt of started her and snapped her out of her lust for Quill's power. "Sorry," She whispered, looking away from Quill.

Quill breath out a sigh of relief, she still didn't have the strength to keep the older female at bay just yet. "I said stop apologizing," Quill said while Frost continued to keep her gaze away from her. "So, why do you do that? You know, going on about how 'powerful' I am." Frost's face started to blush again, each time she glanced towards Quill, the blush would grow brighter, and she would mumble something to herself.

"I'm sorry," Frost sighed, continuing before Quill could say anything about her apologizing again. "It's more of my mother's 'gift' towards her daughters." Frost's expression went from remorseful to resentful toward the thought of her mother. "It's something me and my sister are forced to deal with." Frost slid a little off of Quill so she could lay her head over her heart and wrap her arms around Quill.

After referring back to Wolf's 'talk,' Quill understood what Frost was talking about, and brightly blushed now realizing what kind of situation she was in. "O-oh I see."

"You shouldn't be scared," Frost said after hearing Quill's heartbeat pick up in pace. "If you couldn't tell, I am not that kind of changeling, and you should worry about me taking advantage of you."

"Well that good," Quill breath out, not in the mood to be rape by a changeling after the confrontation at the Rainbow Falls. "So what kind of changeling are you? You look nothing like one I've ever seen."

Frost sighed while her grip tightened around Quill. "So that means you were at Canterlot during the 'invasion?'" Quill looked down to the soft glow in Frost blue eyes and nodded her head. "I'm sorry, that was my sister's doing."

"Your sister is queen Chrysalis, the same Chrysalis that invaded my home, and nearly killed a bunch of ponies I know?" Frost again refused to met Quill in the eyes but still nodded her head. Quill simply laid her head back against the wall and started to giggle. "Perfect, I almost got rape by the sister to the pony that almost destroyed my home. Just fan-fucking-tastic."

Frost moved her hands to the base of Quill's wings to massage the wing-muscles through her torn tank-top. "Hupm, queen you say?" Quill, who was enjoying the massage as her wings felt like they were going to fall off, looked down toward Frost with a questioning gaze, but allowed her to continue anyways. "Maybe in her 'hive'-at least what's left of it-but she more like a princess, like me."

"Then if she'd not the queen then that means…"

"Yes," Frost broke in, already knowing the grim thoughts in Quill's head. "Our mother is the real queen of the Everfree hive." Quill's again widened from the information, the thought of a much more larger hive than the one that nearly took down Canterlot in a few hours, slightly frightened her. Which Frost was able to catch. "Do not fear, my mother hates invasions like that, and Chessy was thoroughly punished. However, my mother enjoys more of the...'stealth' type of war, and enjoys long drawn out battles."

"Well that's just perfect," Quill said with mild annoyance. This information Frost was telling her, could prove to one day save all of Equestria, but she could tell that Frost was trusting her not to relive it to anyone. "So why are you telling me this?"

Frost started to giggle, tracing a finger over the exposed part of Quill's abdomen, and enjoying the tone muscles. "I don't know~" She danced her tongue over Quill's neck and took in another deep breath of her scent. "Maybe it's because I want a mighty and powerful dragoness to know about it."

Frost again sat up in Quill's lap, letting her get a full view of her large breasts, and giggling when she saw Quill drooling at the sight. She placed her hands on Quill's shoulders and gazed into her eyes. "It could be because I want you to know or maybe…" Frost started to move closer towards Quill's neck, fangs already dripping the icy-blue neurotoxin, and eyes full of hunger.

"You trust me." Frost stop right at Quill's neck, her eyes wide open from the dragoness's words, and her mind failing to understand why she feels this way. "You know you can't keep using that neurotoxin on me forever." Frost pulled back from Quill's neck, unable to believe how much raw emotions were coming from her, and forgetting the hunger that was burning in her untouched marehood. "So eventually, I would have been able to get away, and tell someone everything you told me."

Silence overtook the cave as the two quietly stared into each other eyes, the only sound was the rain outside, and the distant sounds of thunder. Frost lit her horn for a brief second before softly smiling. "Perfect." Quill cocked her head at the changeling mare before she continued. "There's something I must ask of you. See, while my sister, and mother both believe that we changelings must take a pony's-or dragon in your case-love by force. Well I firmly believe that they're wrong, they firmly disagreed, and I was forced to give up my hive to my mother." Frost again trailed her fingers across Quill's abdomen again, stopping to play with Quill smaller breasts.

Quill blushed at the changeling's soft hands as she tried to force a moan from escaping her lips. "But, I still believe that there's another way, and I think I've just found it." Frost removed Quill's tank-top off of her shoulders and took a moment to gaze Quill's small breasts. After a moment of staring, Frost lean in to take one of Quill's nipples in her teeth, and the other one in her hand while her other hand moved back to the base of Quill's wings.

Quill was unable to hold back a soft quiet moan as her body started to move on its own and grabbed onto Frost's long icy-blue mane. Frost removed herself from Quill's nipple and trailed her tongue up her body. "Don't be so embarrassed, this is my first time as well, and it's would be better if you enjoyed yourself."

Frost pressed her finger down on the tight on the wing-muscles in Quill's back, forcing her to scream as her body started to tumble. "W-what do you mean this is your first time?" Frost giggled at the blush shining on Quill's purple scales, for some reason, it made her look cuter with the tough dragoness look she has. "Y-you older than me, s-shouldn't you have already-"

"Normally yes, I should have already had found a mate to call my own, but…" Frost moved in, pressing her breasts against Quill's, to toy with the side of Quill's neck while her hands took hold of her breasts again. "I've never met anyone I trust enough to do it with them, until now." Quill took in a sharp breath when she felt Frost's hand moved down her body and slip inside of her shorts.

Quill tried to fight off Frost's wandering fingers from entering her dragonesshood, however, a part of her wanted to allow her entry. "Come now, I know we started on the wrong foot, but I can tell the you trust me as well." Frost decided since it was both of their first time that a little 'encouragement' was need. She started to rub the outside of Quill's walls, feeling them quickly moisten, and also feeling her slowly give into the pleasure.

The dragoness couldn't-and didn't-fight off any of her moans, her mind becoming clouded with a storm of buried lust, and soon gave up on fighting off the changeling to bask in a new found pleasure. Quill started to buck her hips upwards into Frost's hand as her two middle fingers massaged her outer walls. Her hands soon found their way to the changeling's round flanks and gave them a experimental squeeze, getting a moan out of Frost.

While the dragoness continued with the groping, Frost moved back to the side of Quill's neck, trailing over to her lips, and brushing her tongue over them asking for entry. Quill answered Frost's pleas by opening her mouth to allow her entry. The two moaned into the kiss, either one have ever done it before, and they could easily see what they were missing out on.

The two's tongues swirled around each other mouth, Frost quickly making a move for control, but was met by Quill's more aggressive side. That's when Quill started to push back in the kiss, pushing Frost's tongue out of her mouth to take the battle in the changeling's mouth.

Frost moaned, caught off-guard by Quill's aggressive nature, but allowed her to take full control. As her fork-like tongue danced wildly in Frost's mouth, Quill's claws started to dig into Frost's black fur, which forced more moans out of the changeling.

Quill wrapped her tongue around Frost's tongue and pulled back from the kiss, taking her tongue with hers. The two of them took a moment to breath before Quill pulled Frost back into a much more focused kiss.

Another sharp gasp came from Quill when she felt Frost push in two of her fingers inside of her walls and slowly started to move them in and out. Quill returned the favor by moving her own hands towards the changeling's dipping marehood. Frost started to again moan into the kiss when she felt two of Quill's sharp claws pushed their way into her marehood and started to pump at a fast pace.

Frost fought through the pleasure from Quill's sharp fingers moving in her marehood to continue with her own pumping. However, after a few...'self-experiments,' Frost learned that she had little control over herself, and she still only barely recovered from feeding on Quill's power.

She pulled back from the kiss so she could speak, "W-wait, there's-" however she wasn't able to finish her words before Quill again was upon her soft black lips. Luckily, a sly bite of neurotoxin on Quill's tongue was enough to get Frost the breath she needed to speak. "Wait, there's something I need to ask you first." Quill's mind slowly was pulled back into reality by Frost's words-and of course the bite-and stop all menstruations. "You don't have to do this."

"Huh?" Quill raised an eyebrow towards the changeling. "What are you talking about?"

Frost pulled her fingers out of Quill's dragonesshood, which caused her close her eyes, and let out a disapproving moan. "This." Quill opened her eyes to see her juices dripping down Frost's fingers and was all that was needed to snap her focus back into clear. Quill started to blush when she started to realize that she wasn't only just enjoying Frost's fingers inside of her, but also that she was starting to take control of it. "Are you sure you want this? I know you trust me and all but-"

"I do." Frost slowly closed her mouth and kept quiet to allow Quill to speak. "M-my adoptive father told me a few days ago that relationships are built on trust, so…" Frost didn't need to hear the rest as she placed her lips around Quill's for a quick kiss.

Quill moved her hands from Frost's flanks and to her long spiky mane to press further into the kiss. However, Frost moved away from the kiss much sooner than Quill would have liked, and started to circle her finger on her abdomens. "Then you don't mind if I test out a spell," She asked with a sheepish grin. "I had learned it a few months ago, I had tried it, but I think I'll be better with someone else."

"Um...okay, what's the spell?" Frost hid behind her mane the same way Fluttershy would when she was living up to her name. "Come on Frost, you can tell me."

Frost look towards Quill through her mane only to see-and feel-the honesty coming from her. "Fine...but could I show you instead? I think it'll be easier to explain that way." Quill nodded her head but kept an eyebrow raised. Frost took in a deep breath before moving her fingers back towards Quill's dragonesshood.

Quill groan when she felt Frost's fingers moving back inside of her, this time with a warm tingling sensation, and bucked her hips into the hand to get more of the warm inside. Her hands slowly slid down the length of Frost's back, stopping for a moment to returned the wing-base massage before moving back to her flanks, and back up again.

Frost allowed Quill to do as she pleased, enjoying her movements anyways, and knowing that the real fun will start when the spell is finished. Quill pulled Frost back into a kiss to push her tongue back into her's. She started to moan louder when she felt the tingling sensation and Frost's fingers pick up speed while pressure started to build.

Quill moved her hands away from Frost's wings to move them around and grab onto her large breasts. Frost was pleasantly surprised to find that Quill seemed to know what she was doing, not knowing that she had secretly watched Wolf and Blaze take part in the same thing they are. Quill took Frost's icy blue nipples in her hands and gave them a soft pinch to see how she would react.

The pinch was rewarded with sharp gasping moans from Frost, prompting her to grow bolder. Quill moved from the kiss and started down Frost's neck, leaving bites of her own as she made it down to the large mounds, and didn't think twice before she clamp onto them with her teeth.

Frost had to fight to keep the spell going, already feeling it take effect within Quill, but still needing a few more moments. While the changeling struggled to keep her focus, Quill lick and nibbled on Frost's nipples, using her hands to keep them up, and to also grope them.

However, the pressure in her dragonesshood was starting to build to an unbearable point, and it started to become increasingly hard to stay in control of herself. Quill released Frost's nipples from her mouth and lean back against the stone wall to grope her own smaller breasts.

"F-Frost...I-I, something is b-building…" Frost giggle at Quill, glad that she was enjoying herself, and knowing the spell was at completion.

Frost leaned into Quill's ear, licking her way up from her neck to it, and taking her time to whisper: "Then let it flow, you trust me right?" Quill started to whimper out a moan, not knowing what was happening to her, but still nodding her head. "Then let it all flow, don't hold back."

Quill wrapped her arms around Frost's head and let out a ground-shaking roar that revered in the cave, overcoming the roaring sounds of the storm outside as she experienced her first ever climax at the hands of another. Her body violently shook as the spell took hold and pushed Frost's hands off of her dragonesshood.

Quill fell back to the stone wall, her mind struggled to stay clear from the mind-numbing climax, and a happy smile stretched across both female's faces. While Quill was experiencing the wonders of the afterglow, Frost licked her lips at the sight in front of her as the spell not only succeed, but far passed her expectations.

"T-that was...awesome," Quill breath out, feeling like the world around her along with the troubles that came with them were no longer an existence, and too far gone in her high to give remember why she was like that.

Frost started to giggle as she moved on top of Quill, careful not to ruin the surprise that stood in between Quill's legs, and placed a quick kiss on her lips. "Then this should blow your world apart." Quill raised an eyebrow towards her before Frost sat up with her legs fully spread apart. For a moment, Quill simply took a moment to overlook the changeling's body; tone, powerful pair of dragon/bat wings herself, a large chest with round flanks, and a gleaning marehood that...that had a thick purple shaft pointing right on top of it?

"F-Frost, that spell it didn't…" Quill stared at the meaty monster in between her legs, large and fairly round with small barbed spines on the sides, and coated in her juices. How she managed to not notice Frost sliding her pants down, or how she missed the extra tail, was far beyond Quill.

Frost sensed her young lover's worries and simply traced her fingers up Quill's body to her shoulders. She placed a reassuring kiss on Quill's lips, easing the worry filling Quill's heart, and pulled back to speak. "Yes it did, don't worry though, it'll only last for as long as we need it." Quill nodded her head as a sign of understanding, and consent to continue. However Frost started to flatter. "Now, since this is-well-both of our first time, I think you should know that this is going to hurt. Like a lot."

Frost took Quill's hands and guide them to her hips while her marehood sat right on top of the tip of Quill's 'shaft.' Frost started to push herself down onto the shaft, causing both her and Quill to wince slightly at the head forced it's way in.

Quill's grip around Frost's hips started to tighten and soon started to aid Frost in pulling her down. The shaft started to push past Frost's lower lip, further in until Quill felt something lining inside of her marehood. It was Frost's virginity, the one thing stopping the mare from becoming a real mare, and it was right in Quill's grasp.

"It...h-hurts," Frost moaned from the pleasure of almost being stuffed with the shaft while tears started to from around her eyes. "I-I c-can't…"

Careful, not to cause Frost any more pain, Quill sat up to pull Frost into a kiss which she greatly accepted. She pulled back to lick away the small line of tears away from Frost's cheeks. "Yes you can," Quill whispered into Frost's ear, her voice was nothing compared to what it used to be. Low and seductive, that of the greatest of sex-goddesses. "You trust me enough to do this much, so I promise I'll make it easy for you. As much as I can." Quill moved her hands down to Frost's flanks to give them a gentle massage to ease the pain she was feeling.

Nodding, Frost bit her lip as she braced herself for the unavoidable. Quill tried to break the seal several times, each attempt causing Frost a large amount of pain, but couldn't managed to break through. However, when she finally did, Frost's body was overwhelm with pain flowing through her body.

Her hands shot out to Quill's shoulders and her fangs buried themselves into Quill's neck, making her wince from the sharp pain. More of the shaft was pushed into Frost's slowly expanding marehood. Frost's was left screaming around Quill's neck as her body violently trembled from the pain.

Soon, much of the seven inch shaft was buried into Frost, and Quill took a moment to breath. Frost released her fangs away from Quill's neck but no before releasing an enzyme to allow the wound to heal much faster.

The two sat there, unable to make a move, and both heavily breathing. However, Quill managed to move her hands away from Frost's flanks, and intertwined her fingers with the mare's. "S-see? I told you that you'll be able to do it," she said, taking a nibble on Frost's ear.

"T-that you did." Frost forced her body to sit up on the shaft more, forcing more of it to go in, and making her body tremble again. "I-I think...I'm ready." Quill nodded her head, she unlocked her hands from Frost's, and moved them back to her flanks to have a good grip.

She started to lift Frost off of her shaft, her marehood tightly gripping around the barbed sides, and making it painful for the both of them. However, as Quill build a slow rhythm, the pain started to subside, and both of them were experiencing something they could only had dream about.

Frost's hands trailed back to Quill's small breasts, grabbing and groping the soft and smooth scales, and prompt Quill to up the pace with her thrusts. Soon, Quill found Frost's breasts freely bouncing from her increasing thrusts, and became too tempting for her not to latch her teeth around them.

"Ahh, b-be careful…" The mare's pleas went unheard by the dragoness as her claws drugged into her round flanks and started to slam into her. Frost was forced to abandon the hardened nipples and wrapped her hands around Quill's back to place them on the base of her wings. Quill's wings flared out at the slightest touch from Frost and forced her to push Frost to the hard stone floor.

Quill didn't waste any time before she again started to thrusts into the mare, this time with more force behind each one. Her thrusting was strong enough to keep Frost's legs high in the air, freeing up her hands to aid her teeth with toying with the large mounds.

Frost's eyes started to roll back into her head, not just from being repeatedly slammed into by the dragoness, but from the sheer power she was displaying. Undoubtedly, Quill had proven that she owns her, and Frost couldn't care less.

Frost enjoyed-no-lust over Quill's raw power and honest, the thought of being able to spend time with the dragoness sent her to a higher pleasure than the incredible one she was being brought to now. "I-I don't know if…" The mare's words again fell on ears trained to hear for miles, only getting a low growl around her nipples as a response.

Quill started to pull the shaft all the way out, dragging the barbed sides along with, and slamming back in with more force than the last. Frost wrapped her legs around Quill's waist while her hands pressed down on Quill's wing-base. Quill's mind started to become clouded from the unbelievable amount of pleasure she was feeling. A strong pressure started to a raise in her shaft, causing it to swell slightly.

The need for release forced Quill to put more strength behind her thrusts and grab on to Frost's flanks again for a better angle. Frost's screams reached a new height as Quill forced the entire shaft to thrust deeply inside of her while Quill's claws digging deep into her fur. Light-gray smoke lines started to seep from Quill's nose as another climax quickly approached but refused to give her the release she so greatly carved.

Frost soon found her legs being lifted over her head as Quill added more weight into her thrusts. The two's moans and cries of passion and lust overtook the sounds of the storm still raining strong outside of the cave.

Quill moved her mouth from Frost's nipples to force her into a heated kiss, which she greatly accepted. There tongues again mixed together, Quill quickly establishing dominance, but Frost didn't fight back. She didn't need to. Quill gave Frost her trust, even when she took advantage of her, and Frost returned the trust. It was too soon to call it love, that was something both of them weren't sure to say, but...there is something between them.

And that something came in the form of a climax from Frost, who wrapped her legs around Quill, and forced her to bury the shaft inside of her marehood. The mare's sudden climax also pushed Quill over the edge as well. Thick streams of cum fired into Frost while Quill let out a loud roar that over seeded the storms thunderous cries. Frost's cries joined Quill's savage ones, causing an echo to travel through the cave.

Once the streams of cum ended, Quill collapsed on top of Frost too tried to move or stand on her own. Both took heavy ragged breaths of air, never feeling as tired as they do now, but still smiling like two drunks. Frost moved her hands from Quill's wing-base to the actual wing themselves, marveling the long and slender appendages.

"T-that was just," Quill started, taking a deep breath of air and Frost's wintery scent before continuing. "awesome." Frost giggled from Quill choice of words but she couldn't agree any more. Quill forced her body to move from the side of Frost's head, placing her hands right under the secondary membrane of her bat-like wings, and looking straight into her slightly glowing icy-blue eyes. "B-by the way...I've never told you my name. It's Quill, Quill Ferox Dragul."

"Hm...well Ms. Dragul, do you always rock somepony's world before telling them your name," Frost joked, sticking her tongue out at Quill, and giggling when she rolled her eyes. "But seriously, thank you for making me into a real mare." Quill moved her head down to kiss a blushing Frost on the lips while the storm raged on outside, going ignored by the bond the two were forming.

Everfree Forest, Rainbow path

"I can't believe this." Taking shelter in the cave they had camp in the other night, Dusk and the other were now waiting out the storm as it finally had managed to hit them in full force. During the whole track back to the cave, Sweetie, Applebloom, nor Scootaloo had spoken to each other and Spike blamed himself for what happened.

Dusk didn't pay much attention to the love-triangle that was breaking apart the CMC's, his first priority was getting all of them out of the rain as he knew they could easily get sick from the bone-chilling water. However, luck seemed to be merciful to the group as they made it to the cave before the storm reached it peak.

While Dusk was able to collect enough firewood to last them a significant amount of time, he nor his mare sat around its warmth. All they need was the burning furnish in Dusk's chest as they laid their heads on his chest while his wings were tightly wrapped around them. The three of them had all face temperatures much colder than the one from the rain. In fact, any from their region of the Lunar Republics enjoys colder seasons versus the hotter ones.

Hot weather, mixed with cool summer breeze on an island meant a storm of potential devastating power, but luckily neither one lived through one in their lifetimes. In comparison to the storm outside, one back home would make it look like a small drizzle.

However, no storm made by Mother Nature could compare to the one brewing behind them in the cave. "What do you think happened," Jinx asked in a hushed voice, not knowing of the twins' choice to run away from Ponyville. "Like, why did it sound that-"

"Because they're runaways." Both Sketchy and Jinx looked up to Dusk, who had his eyes directed towards the skies. "It's the best thing I could come up with. Twin breeds can only be born by magic. Unicorn magic." Sketchy nodded her head, she-along with Jinx-remembered the twin breed dragons Dusk was friends with back in the republics, and knew only powerful unicorn magic could hatch an egg.

"You're right Dusk and I think I know which pony is it." Dusk nodded his head in silent agreement, knowing of the tell's of how Twilight became an alicorn. Even if the republicans didn't know much about it's sister countries' affairs, word of a new alicorn spreads far and wide; to the ends of the earth. "So somehow princess Twilight is associated with them, they ran away, and have been living in Everfree."

"By my guess, Spike been trying to visit Ponyville, but Quill doesn't want to." Sketchy nodded her head at Dusk's guess while Jinx let her lovers talk everything out. "And from last night, sounds like Quill has been going through some conflicting feelings, and doesn't want to talk about them."

Again, Sketchy nodded her head, and continued to follow up on Dusk logic. "Those feelings of her's must have been putting some kind of strain on her." Dusk nodded his head, after years of dealing with older and younger sisters, Dusk knew that dragoness-or at least female dragon halfbreeds-sometime repress their feelings if they find them too difficult to deal with. That would explain Quill willingness to jump into a fight with Dusk, not only to compare herself with him, but also to find something to distract her mind off of Ponyville. "But what of the Cutie Mark Crusaders?"

Jinx and Sketchy looked over Dusk's shoulders to see that the CMC's and Spike all sat around the fire, none of which was speaking, and all of them seemed to be weighing some pressing questions. "I don't know," Dusk sighed, breathing out a small cloud of gray smoke to the ground, and looking back up to the gray clouds above. "The lines of love, friendship, and trust are so close together that sometimes; we can't see them. Other times there isn't much of a difference. Or that they're so far apart that we lose sight of what's important." Dusk's mares turned back to him, only have they rarely see this side of their halfbreed lover, and when they do it's always something right. "Where those lines stop and start can't be told the same way for everyone. How bonds are formed, love is discovered, and trust is established. That's what makes the difference."

"Okay," Jinx started, understanding much of what Dusk had said, but still having to think deeply about most of it. "But what does that mean for them?"

Dusk didn't answer Jinx's question as he only watched the storm rage out in front of him. Rushing winds slamming into each other, mixing together, combining their energies with one another, and forming something much greater than themselves alone: Lightning. Oh the irony that lays behind a storm's power. Only through the mixing winds, once going against each other, now forming one of the unstoppable forces of nature.

If only for a brief moment, a short flash of power and brilliance, the opposing winds great might become something that is incapable alone. Only through this harmonic and chaotic dance is the short life of lightning, a driving force of power, formed and given voice: Thunder.

Thunder can't happen without lightning; sound without energy. For with one, there must be another. Through out history, the two have been named twins, and for dragon culture given names: Fulgura et Tonitrus, Lightning and Thunder; the storm twins. These two, as short their lives are, are known to be the defining sparks of curiosity, and took roles as the twins of bonds as well.

However, these two aren't all that there is to the force of the mixing winds. No, a third element is at with the storm's strength, however it is rarely spoken of. It doesn't not breath, yet it allows others to live. It does not have a true form, but we all know of it. It's name is known all over, though none think much of it. It the starting force behind the twins, but is envious of their power. It lives far greater than the twins, in fact, it lives all around; virtually having no end.

Wind.

It's from the winds that the twins are able to draw their incredible power from. It is from the wind that life is given to other. It is from the wind that the world continue to move forwards. It may not be given the recognition it deserves but it is always cherished whether one knows it or not.

These three, wind, lightning, and thunder. Can't not live without the other two. The same is spoken for for bonds. For the seeds of both love and friendship to take root in one's heart, trust must emerge from the darkest shadows. For without trust, love is hollow and fake, and friendship holds no real meaning.

Dusk has heard these every same words from his father and had always held them close at heart. Without knowing it, his own dragon honor was forged from these believes, and he had times where he would question them. Where he would find something missing, something incomplete, something wanting to be known. "I don't know Jinx, I don't know. The only ones that can answer that is them." His time of questioning his beliefs are over, there's however seemed to only just have started. "However, if they want any chance of mending their hearts, then they must started at the beginning again. Where trust is found and bonds are formed; in the Winds of Time."

Jinx and Sketchy wordlessly stared at Dusk as lightning from the storm highlighted his strong features. They both laid their heads back on his chest and gazed into one another's eyes. Jinx and Sketchy, even if they had their own problems along the way, had been close friends since their fillyhood, and where glad to be apart of the same herd together.

The two of them been through it all, trust issues, fights, and broken hearts. Yet here they are, encased in their shared halfbreed lover's wings, and mere inches away from each other. If they could pull through rough patch after rough patch, then the CMC's and Spike could do the same.

It'll take time, as trust is not given but earned, and that can only happen during the storm not after. Their relationship with each other won't be the same but instead it'll be much stronger from it. A storm is meant to test their wills and bonds, only by pushing through will they ever see the light of friendship again.

But if they can't, it could spell the ends of their bonds...forever.

/ Ch. 15: Bonds/-/

High Moon Ch. 15: Bonds

Deep in Everfree the storm still raged on outside of Quill's and Frost's temporary cave, though it has died down a little to the point where lightning was few and far in between-much to Frost's relief-but rain still poured down in a never ending fall. However, neither one could care much about the dying storm as they were wrapped closely together in Quill's blanket, and sat on the much more comfortable hay-stuffed bed.

Frost, again sitting in Quills lap, laid her head on Quill's shoulder while her wings were wrapped around her for warmth that the blanket dreamed of. If blankets could dream, that is. Shortly after waking up, the two took time to 'get to know' each other better, but now they were taking a break from the enjoyable lovemaking to have an equally enjoyable talk about anything they could think of.

"So you're like a changeling/dragon halfbreed?" Frost shrugged her shoulders slightly after telling Quill about the breed of changeling she was, which was a special mix of queen blood and the right kind of dragon. Named Scorpio for her scorpion shaped tail and ability to produce different types of toxins than other changelings.

Frost looked up to her younger lover's eyes and nodded. "Basically, but I'm a second generation. My father is a bit more dragon than I am." Frost had to suppress a shiver at the thought of her father's fury and savage might. While he was a halfbreed like her, Frost was a second generation which meant that she only had a faction of dragon blood in her, but that's all that she would prove to need. "So what about you? You said that your adoptive father was a diamond dog?"

"Yeah, he's really cool too. Wolf and Blaze both have been showing me things that I never thought I could do." Quill smiled, learning so much under Wolf's care, and knowing it could only get better from there. "Everyday, I wake ready to do something new, or try out some new spell Blaze is teaching me." Frost looked into Quill's shining purple eyes as both her horn and eyes lit up with an icy-blue aura.

Her words were true, Quill did in fact loved to learn something new from the two. It shown not only in her heart but all over. Her body-language, eyes, and bright smile was all signs that Quill wasn't lying to Frost when she spoke. "So they actually teach you things and care for you?"

Quill stopped her daydreaming to look down towards Frost's eyes. "Well of course, sure Wolf can be mean sometimes, but in the end, he really does care. Blaze is well...Blaze is nice no matter what," She chuckled, not once seeing the mare truly upset about anything.

Frost's eyes and horn lit up to only find the compassion behind Quill's words. "Y-you think they'll let me stay?" Quill cocked her head at Frost's question and Frost took this as a silent inquire of what she meant. "I mean, I am a changeling, a halfbreed one at that, and-" Frost wasn't allowed to finish her words before Quill started to break out into a short laugh. "What was it something I said?"

"Oh Frost," Quill started, wrapping her arms and wings tighter around her body. Frost was pulled closer to Quill, to the point she could feel Quill's hot breath running down her neck. "Wolf and Blaze doesn't care what you are. Neither do I." Frost started to blush from the love in Quill's words but kept quiet. "Freakily, the only thing Wolf would cares about is whether or not you follow his rules."

Frost raised an eyebrow towards this, the whole time Quill was talking about High Moon to her, not once has she spoken about rules. "By rules you mean…"

"Well he has like two big ones," Quill started, thinking of the shortest, and best way to explain Wolf's simple rules. "You see, I've told you about how Wolf owns this territory in Everfree called High Moon right?" Frost nodded her head but still keeping the eyebrow raised. "Well, he has to take care of that territory, and as well any that call it home." This Frost can relate as a changeling princess, she too tried to insure the safety and wellbeing of every changeling in her hive, but her mother soon changed all that. "For him to do this, he needs a little help from everyone of us. I help out with keeping the predator population down also hunt food with him, my twin brother helps out with the reconstruction of the ruins in High Moon, Blaze makes potions and other stuff, and Lily just do anything she can to help."

"You didn't tell me you had a twin brother and who is this Lily," Frost questioned, wanting to know more about the place she was thinking of calling home. Suddenly a sharp drop in Quill's mood had her worried. "Quill is everything alright?"

A few moments passed before the words seemed to finally reach Quill. "Huh, y-yeah. I just kind of had an...'argument' with him before I found you. In fact, if it wasn't for that argument, I would have never found you in the first place." Great, guess do I owe him one now. "But everything is cool, I just need a little time."

Frost didn't know if it was a good or bad thing that Quill wasn't lying to her, but she'll just have to take her word for it. "Okay, as for this Lily? From the way you speak of her, she sounds rather important."

"Well yeah," Quill started, nodding her head. "See while Wolf and Blaze are helping with my training, Lily and a zebra mare named Zecora is helping with his water-magic and potion making skills."

Frost closed her eyes for a moment, thinking upon all that Quill had told her. If there isn't a problem with her being a changeling then she had no other reason to doubt the thought. None besides… "Okay, so what's his other rule?"

"Oh right, well the other one is simple really," Quill started, rocking from side to side in a whimsical motion. "Anytime Wolf or Blaze need something, we just have to try, but really he's not going to be mad if you say no." Frost, who was enjoying the comforting rocking, thought about this. It was too good to pass up. The chance to stay by Quill's side, a roof of some kind over her head, and all she had to do was contributed in anyway she could-reasonably-do.

With nowhere to go and with this bond she and Quill forged together, Frost didn't have much of a choice, and anything else that came to mind was either straight suicidal or dumb. "You sure I could stay there?" Quill didn't stop the rocking but did look up to her icy-blue eyes. "With you?"

"Of course...well, we might as well get everything noted down first." It seemed that Frost eyebrow was going to stay up for the good part of the day. "Well, first off, you're a changeling, and that means you can shape-shift right?"

"Wrong," Frost quickly answered with a slight blush. "See, I may be a second generation, but my dragon heritage seemed to suppress most of my changeling heritage." Quill let out a small snort of irritation, she wasn't good with stuff like this, and usually let Spike deal with it. "However, I am able to shape-shift into the creatures I had feed upon. At least that's what happened with my father."

"Well let's see." Frost rolled her eyes at Quill's straightforwardness, but still did as she was told, and lit her horn to change into a dragoness from. Frost's horn started to glow a bright blue, so bright Quill had to cover her eyes. After the blue flame faded from Frost's body, Quill opened her eyes again to find a blue dragoness sitting in her lap, and for a moment she had forgotten it was Frost.

Her icy-blue mane turned into long smooth head-spines with a sharp tip like hers. From her chin down, was a vibrant purple scales while the rest of her body was another dark-yet bright-blue. Two purple horns protruding out on the sides of her head, which bent backwards to follow her head-spines down a good portion.

Along with the change to her appearance, Frost's body started to grow to what a dragoness her age would, and was now looking down to the dumbfounded look in Quill's eyes. "Well? What you think," Frost asked, never using her shape-shifting abilities before, and wasn't sure what Quill thought. "This is my first time doing this and well...it doesn't feel the way I expected it to."

"W-wow you look incredible," Quill started, struggling to support the added weight on her lover's new body. "H-hey, c-can we switch places? You're kind of heavy-" Frost reed her head back with a flat expression on her face. "No wait I didn't mean-" Quill's quick apology was stopped by Frost caning her neck down to seal her lover's lips in a kiss.

During said kiss, Frost moved from Quill's wings, and picked her up with her heightened strength. Before Quill knew what happened, she was sitting comfortably in Frost's lap, and wrapped in two larger pair of blue wings. "Better," Frost asked after getting the blanket to wrap around them and mimic Quill's rocking.

"H-heh, yeah," Quill answered with a bright blush on her purple cheeks. "Okay so you can shape-shift into a dragoness, you look so damn hot too, but what else?" Frost placed a finger to her chin while Quill got comfortable in her lap.

Come on Frost, your time with Quill depends on this. Let's see, shape-shifting, neurotoxins, and...magic. "Well," Frost started with a giggle, knowing she going to enjoy the look on Quill's face. "Since you think I look so 'damn hot,' why don't I cool us off." Before Quill could question what Frost meant, she took in a deep breath and blue out a small stream of blue flame towards the cave wall in front of them.

Instead of setting fire to the wall, it started to freeze, and ice started to form on it. Frost ended the stream of ice-breath with a smug look on her face at the again dumbfounded look on Quill. However, she soon got the obvious joke, and smacked herself on the head for not realizing it. "Right...Frost, ice, dragon blood, and magic equals ice-magic." Frost placed a kiss on Quill's head, only making her want to smack herself again for her denseness. "Then it's okay to assume that you can use water and wind magic too?"

"Yup." Frost and Quill shared a quick laugh before she continued. "So I take it that you have fire-element?" Quill nodded her and raised her finger to light a small orb of fire on it. "Fire and ice, what a relationship? I hope fire don't die out."

Quill caught the seductive tone in Frost's voice and knew what was to come. "Well, I hope ice can handle the heat." The two moved in for a kiss while Frost started to push Quill down ready for more time of 'getting to know each other.'

Everfree forest; Rainbow path

While the storm near Quill's cave was coming to an end, the one in front of Dusk's cave couldn't compare to the silent storm inside of it. Dusk and his mares still didn't move from their spot at the entrance, and from the silence behind them, neither did the others. Jinx had fallen asleep in Dusk's wing some time ago while Dusk and sketchy thought of anything to somehow fix the situation before lines are crossed.

However, as Dusk had stated, it's up to them to mend the broken trust between them, but they couldn't do that until that started speaking with one another. Between Spike's and Sweetie's silence, Scootaloo's stares towards the new couple, and Applebloom's blank expression things wasn't looking too good.

"Dusk we got to do something," Sketchy whispered in Dusk's ear after two hours of nonstop silence from the four. "They can't keep doing this to themselves." Dusk simply blew out a large puff of gray smoke to the furious storm that's had him trapped in the unwanted spot. "I'm serious Dusk, you wouldn't let this happen to anyone back in the republics, and I know you won't let it happen now."

Dusk looked down towards his left side where Sketchy held her eyes deadlocked on him. The shimmering fire in the pure black orbs told him that she wasn't going to let him off the hook. So there wasn't a point in fighting back, as much as he wanted to. "Fine," Dusk sighed, unwrapping his mares from his wings, and waking Jinx up. "I'll talk with Spike while you two get the crusaders speaking again."

Sketchy nodded her head while Jinx was still trying to figure out why she was woken up. "Sure, just talk to him. Okay Dusk?" All Sketchy was given as a response was Dusk lifting up a thumb while he walked over to the crusaders and drake.

As Dusk slowly approached the four, it was easy to tell the difference in the mood of the cave, and where that line was drawn. However, if he wants Sketchy off his back, them to stop acting depressed over something like this, then Dusk would have to cross that line. Whether he wants to or not.

Once Dusk was standing in near the four, only Applebloom paid his presents any mind, but still didn't speak. "Spike." Words didn't reach Spike's ears as his mind was drifting off far away from the cave. "Alright, couldn't say I didn't try." Dusk moved past Applebloom and walked in front of Spike and Sweetie Bell. Sweetie looked up to the halfbreed but Spike still failed to acknowledge his presents. "Last warning drake." After a short moment of waiting for Spike to speak, Dusk sighed, and moved a bent back middle finger to his top head-spine. "Your fault." Dusk let his finger, which he charged with lightning-magic, hit Spike's head-spine, and caused a jolt of electricity to flow down his body.

"Huh, what I-"

Now having his full attention, Dusk reached out to Spike's shoulder, and pulled him away from Sweetie Bell. Spike tried to fight against Dusk's strong grip but everything proved to be useless against him. Dusk started to drag Spike deeper into the cave but stopped to say, "I'll bring him back, just need to talk with him." Soon the two were gone from sight, leaving Sweetie Bell confused along with Applebloom, and Scootaloo who was laughing to herself.

Dusk switched elemental magic and created a small purple and blue fireball to light the way while Spike wordlessly followed. They ventured deeper into the cave, so deep that Dusk was sure he was out of earshot of the ponies, and where the only source of light was from the purple flame floating above Dusk's hand.

Once they reached a large area of the cave, where other tunnels seemed to have been drugged out, Dusk stopped walking, and turned to face Spike. "You're happy right?" The question seemed to have some kind of reaction on Spike as he looked up to the shimmer in Dusk purple eyes. "Being with Sweetie Bell. She a very nice mare and any male your age would be thrilled to have a cutie like her."

"It's...it's not what I thought it would be." Dusk didn't think much from the hollowness in Spike's voice. "I mean," Spike paused, looking for the right words to say as he raised his hands to make some kind of emphasis. "It great to have somepony that actually likes me back, but…" Spike's hands clenched on themselves, he didn't want to say it, but there was one thing that upset him.

Dusk, who had seen one of his brothers in the same situation, knew what was Spike going to say. "But, it shouldn't be at the cost of their friendship, is that it Spike?" The drake dropped his head in defeat, knowing that Dusk was right, but wished that he wasn't. "Look Spike," Dusk started kneeling down to Spike. "Sometimes these things happen, sometimes we think that we can make it work, but we're wrong." Spike looked up from the ground into Dusk eyes, which were only spoke the honest truth. "There are time where our hearts are right and our brains are not. Then there are times where it's the other way around. I think you know what you have to do."

Spike didn't respond but still nodded his head, not once have he ever thought he'll have to do something like this, but he didn't want the CMC's to break apart over something so little. Dusk patted-rather hardly-on Spike's right shoulder and stood back up. "Great then, let's head back." Spike followed Dusk out of the large area in the cave and back to the impromptu campsite. When they made it back into the dull gray light from the sun being covered by the storm, Dusk sighed when the sight in front of him looked worse than it was before.

Sketchy had placed a barrier over both Sweetie and Scootaloo while Jinx patted a crying Applebloom on the back. Spike was left dumbfounded at the sight, never seeing the CMC's in such a state like this before. Dusk immediately looked over to Sketchy for answers but only got a sigh from her.

Spike was suddenly pushed forwards by Dusk, when he looked back for question, Dusk waved him over to the CMC's, and started to walk back to the cave's entrances to watch the storm again. After taking a shaky breath Spike walked over to the CMC's, his mind dead set on what's important. "Sketchy, you can let them go." Sketchy was hesitant at first, after looking towards Dusk who was only puffing out gray clouds to the storm, she did as he asked.

As soon as the barrier dropped around both of them, the two friends charged at each other ready to tear out each other's hair, but thankfully Spike was able to stop the both of them. "Spike, let me go," Sweetie shouted with her horn glowing a bright green.

"Yeah," Scootaloo shouted with her hands around Spike's wrist to pry them off. "I got a filly's butt to kick!" Sweetie stuck her tongue out at her, only serving to further enrage her. "Okay that it! You're-"

"Would the both of you just stop!" Everyone, besides Dusk, flinched from Spike's roaring voice mimicking the roaring sounds of the storm's cries. Both Sweetie and Scootaloo stop trying to go for each other's throats while Applebloom whip away the last of her tears. Spike took in a deep breath and blew out a small dark cloud of smoke, knowing this was going to be even harder than saying goodbye to Twilight and the others a two months ago.

Spike looked into the eyes of the former friends before speaking. "Would you two just stop," he asked in a defeated voice as his hands dropped from their shoulders and to his sides. "Just stop it already. You two are supposed to be friends, best-friends that stick together no matter what, and never let something as petty as 'liking' me getting in the way." Sweetie and Scootaloo caught each other's eyes for a second, only to look away from in a huff.

Spike caught their childish behavior and sighed. "I said stop it! You two don't need to be acting like this, you both are better than that." Spike paused, waiting to hear one of them say something, anything. "Come on, Scoots, are you're not really mad at Sweetie are you?" Scootaloo, slowly, shook her head still refusing to look at Spike. "Sweets, you definitely can't be mad right?" Again slowly, Sweetie shook her head not once being truly angry with a pony she could call sister. "Then what's the problem with you two?"

Sweetie took the opportunity to shout at Scootaloo and get a lot off her chest. "She lie on me!" Scootaloo's fists clenched at her sides while her teeth clamped down on each other. "Spike I really do like you, I would never try and use you like that."

"I know Sweetie," Spike started, knowing that Sweetie wasn't like Rarity, but still felt better to hear the words coming from her. "But don't you think that this is a little sudden? So what if I'm nice, smart, or I never give up. Besides most, okay, all of that isn't true. I'm sarcastically mean sometimes, I only smart because of Twilight, and-really-I do give up on a lot of things." Sweetie turned her head away from Spike, realizing what he was trying to do. "Sweets, I know you think I'm a great guy, but I'm not. Don't you think that we could just stay friends?"

Sweetie Bell refused to look Spike in the eyes, not wanting him to see her crying, but still manage to nod her head. "O-okay Spike," she struggled to say as her shoulders slumped.

Spike, more like, everyone caught the sorrow in Sweetie's normally angelic voice, but Spike pressed on still having to deal with Scootaloo. "Scoots, what you did was just...just mean really. Why on earth would you do something like that?"

"Because," Scootaloo started in a voice so cold that it could freeze the rain outside. "Because Sweets wasn't the only pony to like you!" Spike blushed, not once have he thought that Scootaloo had liked him. Really, he thought that Scootaloo was into fillies, and would had a crush on Quill if anyone. "And it's not fair that she get's a chance and I don't. Remember that it was her sister to toy with both yours and Quill's hearts for four years Spike?"

"That doesn't change anything Scootaloo," Spike started, disappointed that Scootaloo would act out in jealousy, but more upset with himself for not realizing the secret crush she had on him. "That was Rarity not Sweetie Bell, it wouldn't be fair if I judge Sweetie's action based on what Rarity did, but you don't have to worry about that anymore." Spike turned to walk away from the CMC's and to his stuff sitting on the wall. He pulled out a large cloak that Lily gave him just in case it did rain and put it on. "You girls have something that more perish than love and that's friendship." All three CMC's looked at each other, the adventures they had, the troubles that they found themselves in, and the laughs that they shared all will follow them for the rest of their lives. "Don't let it go to waste."

Spike started to back his way out of the cave but was stopped by Dusk grabbing onto his tail. Spike looked down to see Dusk hadn't moved his eyes away from the light-grayness of the clouds or the bright flashes of lighting. "Sui sacrificium, Self-sacrifice, was it worth it?"

Spike looked back to the confused looks on the crusaders faces, they all were good friends, and they belonged that way. If it wasn't meant to be with any of them, then that's just the way it going to be. "No." Spike was fine calling the CMC's friends and nothing more, after years of fighting with Quill over Rarity, he learned if anyone get hurt over it, then it wasn't worth it.

"Then find your own path to walk, never look back, and never forget where you came from." Spike again was going to leave the cave but again was stopped by Dusk. "After, the storm past. I don't like the looks of it." Everyone cast a look to Dusk as he stood up from his spot and walked past Spike and into the heavy rain. "Tonitrus, she roars, yet she is quite. Fulgura, he is here, but wishes not to be." The wary sound in Dusk's voice started to get the others nervous of what he was talking about. "Something is wrong, there's something out here in Everfree that the storm twins don't like, but what."

Spike followed Dusk's gaze out to the forest he calls home, something had felt…different, but he could never put his finger on it. The feeling, it was hollow as hollow as an empty tree, however there was something there just stalking around the corner. An invisible eye forever watching him no matter here he goes.

He along with the others were pulled out of their thoughts by Dusk raising his hand to the gray clouds. Fulgura, Tonitrus, please tell me. Tell me what's wrong. Electricity started to arch from Dusk's hand and a bolt was fired into the clouds, which was returned much quicker. Fulgura's lightning bolt traveled through Dusks arm in a dolce manner that had the other in awe while Dusk studied the arches of pure white lightning. "I see, then go, allow us safe passage home."

Dusk again raised an open hand towards the gray skies and allowed the trapped build up lightning to leave his arm. He waited for Tonitrus's call, each second after was counted until finally a roaring thunderous sound came from the clouds. Something is definitely wrong here, the twins, they never acted like this before. Dusk turned to the others and started to grab his stuff. "Come one everyone, it's time to go. The storm twins will guide us out of Everfree." Jinx and Sketchy pushed their questions aside for later, knowing Dusk had some connection to lightning, and knowing it was best not to question him if it meant they'll be able to leave the storm.

Everyone started to follow out of the cave as the skies started to clear, allowing them to make their ways back to Ponyville.

Deep Everfree

As the storm clouds started to fade away, giving way to the setting sun, Quill and Frost happily slept in each other's arms, their efforts with their lovemaking shown with cum staining their thighs, and peacefully floated in Luna's sweet dream world while Nightmare kept all their worries at bay.

While Frost, who had reverted back into her changeling form, dreamt about the dragoness held in her arms, Quill's dream was...odd to say the least. Pitch dark blackness floating all around, stretching all the way to the horizons on either side. A plan so flat one would dare to believe that it was being pressed down by some unforeseen weight. Ghostly white smoke flowing throughout the plan, blanketing everything in it's misty shroud.

The only color in this blank realm was that of a small dragoness, floating about aimlessly, and her vibrant purple wings flapping in struggle against whatever force push her at it's whim. Helpless the small and young dragoness was, unable to find her own way, and forced to simply drift with the wind.

She cried for help, no voice answered. She struggled for control, nothing changed. She pleaded for release, it did not come. Fear clawed through her spine like a massive centipede on a tree. Doubt swirled in her head greater than any wind of any storm. Rage boiled in her stomach brighter than any active volcano. Jealousy and greed filled her heart more than the waters of the great oceans connecting the lands.

Conformity found it's way into her soul.

She couldn't fight, help refused to come, and her body was tired. The young dragoness simply gave up, allowing the winds to drift her wherever it so pleased to do so. Abandon, lost, and alone; this was the dragoness. She had no one to count on and no will to fight any more.

Really? A voice echoed through the empty plan, sounding displeased with the dragoness's weakness. Come on get up already. The small dragoness looked around for the source of the voice, quickly becoming discouraged when she couldn't find it, and giving up her seamlessly pointless search. Quitting again? You know that'll never change anything.

The small dragoness covered her ears and shut her eyes, trying anything to get the voice to go away, and leave her be with just floating. Seriously? Fine, guess you need a push. Suddenly the air around the dragoness started to grow colder, so cold that it forced her ball up for warmth.

Even her wings didn't provide any protection from the numbing cold, the moisture from her breath started to form clouds in the air, and her body started to shake uncontrollably. "P-please...s-stop it," The dragoness begged, only to be ignored as the temperature continue it's descent. Why should I? Not like you'll do anything about it.

"Please, y-you can't do this." Oh and just why not? You seem to be letting everything else be done for you. "B-but I-I…" You what? Too weak to do anything on your own? "Please...m-make it stop." Don't know how to stand on your own two feet? "S-stop it. Got no voice? "I-I said s-stop." Nothing to call your own? "Stop...y-you can't-" What can't I do, tell me? "I said stop!"

The cold started to be pushed back by a burning aurora growing from the dragoness's chest. It was small, no bigger than an apple, but rapidly started to grow into a spiraling inferno around the frightened dragon. "H-how do I m-make it stop?" Why do you want it to stop? It's your flame, embrace it. Still fearing the growing purple flame, the dragoness closed her eyes, and started to focus on controlling the flame.

Slowing the massive orb of swirling fire started to condense down around the dragoness, becoming more focused, and hotter as it enclosed around her. Soon the once towering inferno was now again the size of an apple, but this time, it burn with a newfound sense of freedom, and will that mocked the bleakness of the world around.

See? The dragoness took in a slow breath, now able to breath real life into her own lungs. So much better to call you own shoots huh? Now, let's do something to get you one the ground. Slowly, the dragoness started to float down to the pale gray surface. Once the dragoness was on her feet, the white smoke tried to consume the dragoness, but when it came close to the bright flame in her chest, it moved away as if it feared the flame in her chest. Okay, so are you going to do something about this place? It's pretty dull.

After short thought, the dragoness closed her eyes to change the landscape of the plan around her. Gray bleakness gave way to a vibrant green forestation, trees of all kind shot up from the ground along with varieties of plants, bright green healthy grass, and nutrient rich dirt. Soon, animals started to walk out of the shrubs, birds flew from the tree tops, and fish swam in flowing streams. Once was dry gray ground was now rich with minerals of which life can spared a grow. Pale white smoke recced into the ground to give way to growing life on the forestry plan.

It was near paradise.

Not bad, not bad at all, but maybe you still need a little help. Again, the dragoness felt the temperature drop, but this time it didn't harm her. Go on already, she waiting for you. Having no direction, no idea what or, who she should be looking for, the dragoness started to walk in down a path filled with an array of plants.

After pushing passed a large green leaf, the dragoness spotted a pure white snow cloud hanging above a lone filly with black fur and icy-blue eyes. Well, what are you waiting for? The dragoness started to walk towards the filly, the snowy ground giving way to her weight slightly, but soon coming to accept it as it's own.

Shortly, the two were standing right in front of each other with cautious gazes to one another, but ended with the dragoness reaching out a hand towards the filly. Hesitantly, the filly took the dragoness's hand, and found only warmth coming from her. The two soon walk off the snowy hill and into the dragoness's forest, forging a bond that couldn't be brokered.

Off to the distance, Quill sat in the air with her legs crossed and her hands on her ankles as she watched the dragoness and filly played about the forest, learning more about each other, and living freely together.

"Now was that so hard?" Suddenly, the dragoness stop her playing to look straight towards Quill, and gave her a cheery wave before running to catch up with the filly. Quill chuckled at the younger dragoness as the new forest plane started to fade, giving way to only a pitch black. Quill ended her laughter with a sigh before cutting her eyes to the side. "So what's the big idea messing with my dreams?"

The same pale white smoke from the once empty plane started to seep from the darkness and took from of a large elder dragoness, the only true color on her was her bright sliver eyes. Think of it as a test, I wanted to see if you really were believing in the path that you are walking young one. Quill started to laugh at her ancestor's honest words as she kicked off from her invisible seat and started to back plead around the smoky form. So what do you plan to do now? I highly doubt that you'll be content with just this half-blood.

"You know me so well," Quill joked, still aimlessly floating around without a single care in the world. The elder dragoness started to laugh along with Quill while she mindlessly flipped and whirl about. "Seriously, I don't know. I still have so much to learn, so much to do around High Moon, but I guess I do need to make amends with Spike. Don't I?"

Now you're learning. Quill rolled her eyes but still listened to the elder's words. If I was you, I'll start with the only one I can call blood-family, then I'll move on to correct my past mistakes.

"I was afraid you'd say that," Quill sighed. Spike would be easy, if anything he had already forgiven her for punching him, and is most likely blaming himself anyways. It was the elements that Quill was worried about, however this time, it was going to happen on her terms. "Fine, knowing Spike, he already back in Ponyville trying to explain everything. I might as well make sure he doesn't say anything too stupid."

The elder dragoness started to laugh at Quill's mean humor but still nodding her head in blessing. Then go, remind yourself where you once came from, and continue to look towards the future. Quill looked at the elder with a curious stare, before she could question, the elder blow out a strong wind at her, and drove her out of her dreams.

Quill's eyes snapped open with her taking in a deep breath of the moist air in the cave. Her senses slowly returned as she found herself still encased in Frost's wings. Quill turned her head towards her lover to find that she was still in peaceful sleep. Careful not to wake Frost, Quill slipped out of the caring wings, and quickly put on her clothes.

She looked outside to find that the storm had long since passed and her chance to end something she started two months ago came up. Quill turned around to find that Frost was starting to get up after feeling her younger lover wasn't in her arms any more. "Sorry for waking you Frost," Quill started with a kiss on the mare's horn, getting her to giggle, and the affection returned with a heated kiss on the lips. "Come on get dressed, the storm is over."

Frost looked passed Quill shoulder to find that the storm was indeed gone. "Yeah…the thing is," She started with a blush on her face. "All of my 'clothes' were ruined because of that storm and well…" Quill sighed, catching onto what Frost was saying, and pulled off her book-bag.

Quill pulled out Wolf's black cloak, that she should have put on when it was raining, but didn't think about it until now. "Here," She called out to Frost, tossing the large piece of clothing to Frost. "See if it fits." Frost slip on the cloak over her body, and just as Quill guessed, it was just as large on her. Quill took a moment to think to herself while Frost found away to fit her wings through the holes that were cut out in the back. Judging by Frost's body, none of Blaze's old clothes would fit her, and Lily didn't have any clothes that would fit anyone but her. "We're going to have to get some clothes made for you." Frost, who found the hood on the cloak and had it over her head, look towards Quill with a wary look. "Think you can shape-shift into a dragoness my age?"

Frost put a finger to her chin in thought, the ability would make it far easier to walk freely in any town that Wolf would ask her to go in, but only just trying out the spell she wasn't sure. "I could try, no promises." Frost closed her eyes and focused on changing forms again, but this time roughly the same age as Quill. The task would just as well as the two had hoped, however, as a result, Frost's icy-blue head-spines priced through the hood.

Frost blushed from her forgetting about the change in her dragon form and looked towards Quill with a sheepish grin. "Okay, now we need to get that fixed too." Frost casted her head down, muttering words of apology. "Come on, we need to head to Ponyville, and stop Spike from doing anything dumb." Quill and Frost walked out of the cave before spreading their wings to take flight towards a place Quill didn't think she would visit for quite some time. However, in order to secure one's future, one must amend their past mistakes. /-/  
/ Ch. 16: Past Lives & Sins/-/

High Moon Ch. 16: Past Life & Sins

Dusk and the others had finally made their ways out of Everfree and was now walking in the streets of Ponyville, all eyes were on them. More exact, on Spike as everypony where in awe by his new look, and the fact that he was walking back with the CMC's and Dusk's pack. However, it was late in the afternoon, and Applebloom needed to get home before it get's too dark.

Scootaloo had to do the same thing after once again apologizing to Sweetie for letting her jealousy take control of her. Now Spike was left with Dusk, Jinx, Sketchy, and Sweetie Bell as they made their ways to their respective destinations.

Being back in Ponyville was a nerve-racking for Spike, old memories flooded his mind, but he pushed them aside. Ponyville was his old life, his old mistakes and achievements, but now he had what he accomplished in High Moon to be proud of.

He wasn't here to come back to the standard safety of the library. He wasn't here to apologize for any of his choices or to be remorseful of what happened to the elements as it was their own fault. No, he was here to put an end to what should haven't even started.

Once the group made it to the four crossroads separating Ponyville, Spike stopped in his tracks. Right down the street was the Golden Oaks library, his old home, and the first place he knew he had to start with.

Dusk followed his blank gaze towards the library, and after having to report there a couple of times for the mayor, Dusk knew that it was the home of Ponyville's own alicorn princess. He smirked and slapped Spike on the back, almost making him fall. "Remember drake, sui sacrificium." Spike nodded to Dusk which was returned as he started down the left street, heading towards the house he and the other brought.

Jinx placed a kiss on Spike's cheek while Sketchy placed a hand on his shoulder for support. The two soon started after Dusk, leaving Spike with Sweetie Bell. "Well...good luck Spike. See you tomorrow?" Spike gave a slight shrug, knowing that it was too late in the day for him to make it back to High Moon before it got too dark, and that he'll have to stay at Zecora's for the night. Sweetie gave Spike a hug, that felt like it lasted longer than it should have. "Night Spike." Sweetie started to walk down the street towards the boutique, periodically taking a look back to him, but soon was gone.

Taking one last deep breath, Spike started down the street towards the Golden Oaks library, and reached the doorstep much quicker than he would have liked. Spike reached for the doorknob, only to find that it was locked, and smacked himself when he realized that his key was still inside along with his other stuff.

However, he knew of the spare key that Twilight leaves outside for when he-more like Quill-forgets their key, but unfortunately Twilight seemed to have removed it. "Come on where is that-"

"Hey Spike!" Spike's body froze at the unforgettable sound of his twin sister and turned to see her and a cloaked dragoness flying straight towards them. Thinking that she was still mad at him, Spike redoubled his efforts in trying to find the small golden key, but failed as both dragonesses landed on the ground behind him. "I figured that you'll be here Spike."

"Yeah," Spike sighed, not daring to face his sister, but still able to see the enraged look on her face in his mind. "I guess you're here to drag me back to High Moon?"

"No."

Spike turned towards Quill, still not acknowledging the other dragoness, and was even more shocked that she didn't have an angry look on her face. "No? But I thought-"

"Well you thought wrong," Quill said, walking past Spike and kneeling down to the keyhole. "So you don't have your key either?" Spike sighed, dropping his shoulders with his head as a response. "Good thing I know how to pick locks." Spike again turned his head towards Quill as she gently blew a purple flame on the clawed tip her pointer finger and stuck it in the lock. "A twist here, a turn there, and…" Click "done."

Quill stood up from the ground and opened the now unlocked door. "Ladies first," she directed at Frost, who giggled as she walked in the rather dusty and dark library with Quill and Spike right after. Once Spike had closed the door, they saw the library was in worse condition than they have ever seen it before.

Stacks of books, scrolls, and paper towering over their heads creating a labyrinth within the library. Rows upon rows of empty dusty shelves, where the books would normally be, lay in equal neglect as the rest of the room. Papers, if not stack on top of each other, where scattered across the floor, and had their own coat of dust on them. Any sight of the couch was blocked by several stacks of papers, what could be seen was being used to aid in stacking the seamlessly endless amount of papers.

Frost, who's never seen the library in the first place, didn't want to make any assumptions, but a quick peak in both Quill's and Spike's emotions told her that it wasn't supposed to be like this. While Spike was in speechless horror as he was living out one of his younger nightmares, Quill was two steps away from pure rage, and a large snort of black smoke prove this.

"I can't believe this," she shouted making her way through the maze of books and papers with the other two following shortly behind. "Two months, two months, and she let's this happen? Well I'm going to fix that."

Quill and the others managed to make it to the stairs without knocking anything down, however, once there they found the trail of papers leading up to the living space. Something Twilight never allows. Quill darkly growled at the tail of papers and started to storm up the wooden stairs, threatening to break through the dusty wood.

Frost wasn't the only one that caught onto the dragoness's boiling rage as Spike stopped Quill by the shoulder and forced her to look in his eyes. "Wait Quill, what are you going to do?"

Quill snorted black smoke in Spike's eyes and used that to swat his hand away. "What do you think I'm going to do Spike? Someone needs to set this mare straight and we're the one's that's going to do it." After they made it up the stairs, again without knocking any stacks over, Quill marched straight for the bedroom, and used the stacks of books and papers upstairs as fuel for her burning rage. By that, every stack of paper they passed started to curl from the burning heat coming from her as she was slowly losing control of her magic. "Twilight needs to learn that no one is going to help her, if she doesn't try on her own." Feeling the rage coming from her lover, Frost moved past Spike, and reached out to Quill's tail. "Frost, not now I've got-"

Quill wasn't able to finish her words before Frost sealed her lips with a kiss, neither one paying the drake any attention. Quill's eyes widened in surprise but soon gave in to her lover's caring kiss. Soon, Quill's hands reached out to her sides, pulling her closer as her magic started to calm down along with her. Frost broke out of the kiss right before Quill could take control. "Quill, calm down. Whatever you two got to do, you can't do it all railed up like this. Okay?"

Quill locked her eyes with Frost's icy-blues and sighed when she realized that yelling wouldn't help the situation. "Fine, I'm good. Thanks Frost." Frost planted another kiss on the top of Quill forehead, making her blush slightly.

"W-wait what I thought…" Both lovers turned to the drake standing behind them as they had forgotten that he was even there. "So you and her are-"

"Later Spike," Quill started, moving out of Frost's embrace making sure Spike didn't see anything they didn't want him to see, and walking towards the door. "Right now, we got an alicorn to deal with." Quill pushed the door opened, not surprised that Twilight left it unlocked, and stepped inside. Just as Spike had feared, Twilight's room was just as bad-if not worse-than the rest of the library.

Piles of papers laid sprawled across the floor, clothes surrounded the dresser-and from the smell-none were clean. However, the twins didn't take a single moment to further examine the room. Their eyes were deadlocked on the sitting mass on the unkempt bed.

Words failed Spike for a moment when he saw the state that Twilight was in. Her mane-if you can call it that-was in such a mess that birds could use it to lay eggs in. Her usually large and vibrant wings were in such a mess that it was every pegasus's, especially Rainbow's, worst nightmare as feathers jetted out in several misshapen areas. The normally clean white blouse she would wear had stains all over and it seemed that she gave up on wearing pants.

Even with Twilight staring their direction, it was easy to tell that she still was unresponsive to everything. Frost didn't dare try and sense whatever blank emotion was swirling around Twilight head, however from what she naturally picked up in the room, it was easy to tell that she had a hard time dealing with lost.

"Seriously Twi? How in the world you let this happen?" Although she was awake, words seemed to be deaf to Twilight's ears. Spike held his head down in shame, remained that this was their fault while Quill simply chuckled. "Alright, I knew this would happen." Quill started to walk over to Twilight's side and lean into her ear. "Sparkle you have until the count of three before a MAJOR report paper is due." This seemed to get Twilight to react with an ear twitch, however that was it.

"Okay...one," Another ear twitch, this time more noticeable, and followed by her face contorting slightly. Frost, again who knew nothing about the alicorn, stood by and watched Quill work whatever plan she had while Spike was starting to see where she was going with it. "two…" Another twitch, again with her face contorting, and fingers becoming jittery. "Last chance Sparkle." More bodily movements, as if she was waking from a deep sleep, but still not the response Quill was looking for. "Thre-"

Twilight shot up from the bed and flailed her hands around as if she looking for a report she didn't write. "No wait! I-It's here somewhere. I just got to-" Quill busted out in laughter at the alicorn's predictable behavior as she could always rely on the professional student that will always forever be Twilight. While Quill was laughing on the bed, Spike breath out a sigh of relief, and Frost cover her mouth with her hand-still not allowing anyone to see her naked body underneath the cloak.

Twilight stood with a confused expression, her mind still not fully back from it's two month long vacation. Slowly, she did start to recognize the two twins, and her eyes started to widened with tears. "S-Spike, Q-Quill I-I thought you-"

"Twilight stop right there." Twilight flinched from the cold tone in Quill's voice as she pointed an accusing finger towards her. "Don't think that we're here to stay, in fact I'm thinking of leaving right now, but it's obvious that you can't go two days without me or Spike." Twilight buried her head in her mess of a mane with shame in her heart at the truth in Quill's words.

Quill shook her head at Twilight as she hopped of the bed and patted her on the back. "Quit your crying already." Twilight whipped the tears threatening to spill from her eyes while Quill walk back towards Spike. "We're came to check up on all of you, when...a little birdy told us that you all were being spoiled fillies."

"Quill, stop it. You know that's not fair," Spike said, unable to let the same thing that happened two months ago happen again now. "But she right Twilight. We've been fine this entire time, but look at yourself," he finished, waving his hand over Twilight's bedraggled look, and getting her to blush when she realized that she didn't wear any pants with Spike in front of her.

"Twilight," Quill started, not able to stand seeing the room in such a mess any more, or even the mare. "Go take a bath, you stink, really bad. Spike, go fix her something to eat. Frost help fix this mess?"

That's when Twilight realized that there was another dragoness in the room with them. She looked over to the dragon to find that she looked roughly around the same age as Quill and Spike. "Sure sweetie, should we start down stairs?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Before Twilight could get another word out, both Quill and Frost were already making their ways down stairs to start sorting out the mess in the room. Spike waited until he knew that Quill was far enough away before rushing over to Twilight and pick her up in a big hug.

Twilight returned the gesture, paying no mind to how much taller Spike had gotten, or how stronger he was. All that matter was that neither of them were angry with her and they were both still together. "Missed you Twilight and so did Quill, she just has her own way of showing it." During the longed embrace, Spike caught a whiff of Twilight's foul scent. He forced himself from the hug and straight to the door while he held his nose. "And um...you really should take a bath, like now." Twilight cocked her head and lifted up arms, only to be knocked back herself from the offending odor that she allowed to build up for a few weeks.

"Yeah, I'll get right on that." Spike chuckled at seeing the sly smile on Twilight's face. He started to leave the room when he was stopped by Twilight. "Spike," She started, getting the drake's attention. "I-It's good to see you." Spike smiled and nodded towards Twilight before heading downstairs to fix the mare something to eat.

Once the door was closed, Twilight collapsed backwards onto the bed, and started to kick her feet in the air. She was overwhelmed with a feeling of relief, joy, and a whole list of emotions that she couldn't described by mere words. The twins were safe, not back home in the library, but still safe none the less. Neither one were angry with her either, their bodies had ever looked as healthy as they ever have, and both were still able to smile. That's all that Twilight could have asked for.

And here she was lazing about, allowing her and the other elements to fall apart over something like this. Well now's was the time to change all that. Now was the time to...take a much needed shower.

Twilight hopped off the bed, grabbed what she thought was clean clothes, and started for the bathroom. She couldn't believe how much the two had grown in the last two months while she locked herself away from the world. Hopefully, everything will now start changing.

For better or worse.

Canterlot castle

Days after confessing her love for Obsidian, and removing the part of her that held such love, Celestia sat at her private work desk in her room. Her long day had already ended, meetings with nobles, overseeing a few secret operations throughout Equestria, and already planning for the next Grand Galloping Gala. Yes, her busy mundane life was now back in full swing without the distracting thoughts of Obsidian floating around in her head, however she did miss some of the talks she would have with the dog.

Though, time would prove to not allow this as a dark secret would soon started to reemerge. Whether everyone is ready or not solely depends on the twins, even if she wish it not to. Why it had to be them, she couldn't, and wouldn't dare tell another living soul.

Luck, if you can call it such, would prove to give them quite considerable time. If nothing upset the balance of things, then by her guess, the twins have another ten long years before their true densities ever reveal themselves.

Such guess would be easier to tell if she could monitor their growth. However, due to their choice, that proved to be too difficult of a task. She hadn't felt any shifts, Discord-still hiding wherever he went-hasn't made any moves, and everything seems normal.

"So why does it feel like I'm something is missing?" The feeling had been bugging Celestia for some time now, much longer before the twins' choices, and far too different to be the one she dreaded.

Celestia shook her head and returned back reading the ancient tome in front of her. She may had time, everyone still had time, but it was better to be prepared for the unavoidable. Suddenly, her sight however, was covered by off-white hands, and not much thought was put into who the hands belong to. "Maybe you're overthinking things," Mia teased, periodically paying visits to her 'sister' while she stayed with Sky Bloom in Baltimare. "You always do that when things get pressing Celly."

Celestia, too tried to argue with the mare, sighed as she used her magic to close the book she'd been using to create and modify spells from the past. Spells, she wished she'd never have to use. "Maybe you're right Mia. They're still young, there's still time, and nothing is out of the ordinary." Mia removed her hands from Celestia's face and took a seat on her desk. "However, I can't shake the feeling that I'm overlooking something. Something from the past, that I've failed to finish."

"Well, it's like Sid say sometimes." Mia paused to make her voice sound deep and slightly stretchy like Obsidian's before continuing, "'Only time can reveal your past. Sins, will reemerge in a new form, and only then can one deal with them,'" Mia cited a saying that was forged from the life Obsidian lived back in the republics. "If you can't think of whatever it is, then I sure enough don't know."

Celestia paused for a moment to recall her long life of living, all the enemies she faced, the bridges she was forced to burn, and the sins she didn't dare speak of. However, the dark memories didn't reveal a single clue as to what was causing the feeling.

Nothing except...

"No," she said much louder than was necessary. "No, I don't seem to be able to think of anything. Maybe I am overthinking this." One thought, one unspeakable thought reed itself back into her head after burying it away for a long time, but she knew that there could be a chance.

However, Mia knew Celestia better than anyone could ever hope to, and she caught the mare's forced answer. "Celly, it isn't nice to lie to yourself," she joked again, which didn't register in Celestia's mind. "If there's something that you are not telling me, I'll be forced to start looking myself."

Celestia sighed, she knew by this point it wasn't smart to lie to Mia, and maybe telling her other half would help her figure out things. "The fallen star." The air in the room suddenly dropped at the sounds of those words and how they were spoken. "Cecidit lucifer, I fear someone is so foolishly trying to control it's power again, but I'm not sure." Memories regarding the event and ancient occult group that followed flooded Celestia.

In his last years of sanity, Starswirl the Bearded had created the fallen star, an ancient silver star shape relic, filled with ancient arcane knowledge and power. The relic itself was not dangerous, in fact, it was designed to bring joy to all Equestrians. Foal's wildest dreams could come true, earth-ponies could fly, unicorns could use magic far past their years, and pegasi easily break the sound-barrier.

The relic wasn't just used to bring the longed dreams of ponies alive. It held the power to stop floods, summon rain without the need of clouds, and defeat any threatened that would come to the three tribal kingdoms. However as the two alicorn sisters came into power, the fallen star had already corrupted the hearts and minds of the young united kingdom.

The corruption speared everywhere, reached even the purest of hearts, and ruined the greatest of minds. As an act of pure insanity, Starswirl gave his life to bring about a creature he thought suited the way the world was, and named his creation; Discord. It was only after defeating him were Celestia and Luna were able to locate the relic.

But before either Celestia, or Luna could locate the ancient relic, an occultist group under the name of 'Sectatores et Stellas,' or Followers of the Star, had already foolishly tried to recreate the relic. As it had required such great magic of Starswirl, all attempts of recreation ended in one horrifying creation after another.

One attempt turned into Celestia's greatest shame; the Alicorn Amulet. When the jewel fell into Celestia's hands after the another attempt of taking down the Followers of the Stars, she was initially bewitched by it's awesome might, and truly believed that she was able to control it.

Luna had made her disagreements known to her, she did not listen, and instead acted on her own to prove her worth. Celestia set out on a solo journey to a settlement that was know for the occult to be at, a small-almost non-existent-mountain city located close to what is now called the Swayback mountain named Far Cry. All that the town was known for was for mining and rock farming; perfect for hiding.

While still wearing the amulet, Celestia barged down on the town in a ball of pure fire from the sun, and was able to quickly locate the occultist's hideout. Celestia attacked without mercy, without remorse for the souls she was reaping. That day she became something she had vowed to fight against; a monster.

To this day she still doesn't know how many ponies she savagely murdered, be thirty, ten, or even five it didn't matter. She ended their lives without the slightest remorse for any of their lost souls. It was only after the dust had settled, when she finally realized that her battle with the occult members had slipped into the small mining town's streets, and several incident ponies were severally injured by her uncontrolled anger and fury.

How blinded she was because of the amulet's influence over her mind. That's when she had the amulet locked away for none to be tempted by it's power however several counterfeit ones were rumored to be in creation, but no real facts came from it.

Several years later, Celestia and Luna had finally found the occultist's headquarters, and launched one last assault on the Followers of the Star. During the final attack, the real relic was destroyed, and spit up into eleven separate fragments. Six of these fragments held the powers of harmony and friendship, the same power that was used to bring ponies of all three races together, and had the power to quell any darkness; the Elements of Harmony.

However, five pieces held powers that would not work with the other elements, but instead had their own strength. Resolve, honor, pride, life, and sacrifice. These five carried a power that proved to be not what Equestria need after the centuries of strife. So against Luna's best wishes they were locked away deep within the old castle, which was moved after the Lunar Rebellion, and Celestia's second greatest sin; banishing her sister.

For centuries, Celestia bared the weight of all of her past sins, but it seemed that she could no longer keep them from coming back up. If her supposition about a copy of the fallen star being in use are correct then it would only be a matter of time before she would have to pay for each of her sins.

"So," Mia started after following the link she has with Celestia and piercing in her thoughts. "If this 'fallen star' thing does come back, what do you plan to do," she asked, not have been created in Celestia's mind until after Luna's and Nightmare's banishment, and not given actual life until a few days ago. "Surely whoever even knows of something this ancient will have plans for the crown."

Celestia kept quite, weighting how this could affect not only the future of Equestria, but how it could affect the densities of the twins. "You are right, whoever is attempting this foolish gain surely must have higher goals than mere power, but all I can hope that the seals stay strong until they are ready."

"Speaking of which," Mia again started, breaking Celestia out of her thoughts. "Just how long do we have until the seal does give out?"

Celestia stood from her seat and walked towards the opened window to gaze at her sisters shining moon. "If I am wrong, and there is no threat of another fallen star being made, ten years." She took a moment to embrace the cooling winds of the incoming fall. Any chance she could get being reminded of the peace before the strife, Celestia happily took until it faded away. "However, if I am right, and someone is in fact trying to reconstruct the fallen star. It is uncertain how much time is taken away or given to the seals."

Mia hopped off the desk and wrapped her arms around Celestia's torso, scaring her a little. "Then don't you think we should consult our sisters with this matter?" Sighing, Celestia nodded her head, not wanting to make the same mistakes as she did in the past. "Well, until we have unreasonable doubt, I say we wait, and see what happens."

Celestia started to softly giggle at how Mia sounded just like Obsidian. Well that was to be expected as she used some of his inquiry mind to add to Mia's personality. "Fine, fine. We will just have to wait and see." Giggling, Mia started to move her hands around Celestia's nightgown, and tried to find a way to 'accidentally' slip it off. However, Celestia caught to this. "Now don't you think that you should be heading back to Baltimare? I'm sure Ms. Bloom is worried sick about you."

"Okay...killjoy," Mia sighed, before teleporting back to Sky's house in Baltimare. After taking another moment to simply enjoy the cool winds, Celestia herself started to turn in for the night since she had another long day of work ahead of her tomorrow morning. However, the dreading feeling of her being right prevented any peaceful dreams to come.

XXX

Deep within the heart of an abandoned forest, laying in a dormant pace of Equestria, and unknown to any that live within it's borders. Nine black hooded figures gather, they gather from all stretches of the kingdom, and they all gather for one goal.

In a large room filled with ancient markings running from the center of the stone floor to the ceiling above their heads, scrolls long before any of their times, and a coffin with silver and golden regal trim at the far back wall. The hooded figures gather to set their plan into motion after centuries of working in the shadows.

"Brothers, sister," One hooded figured started, his black robes designed to give him an almost god-like appearances. At the smallest of calls from his voice, the room-once filled with chatter-ceased into silence to allow the one they call master speak.

"Let us rejoice!" The silence was all but a distant memory at the cheers from the small group of figures before falling back into ghostly silence. "The time our ancestors have strived for is at a hand. Now we are moments away from living out their dreams." The leader started to walk from behind the golden and silver trimmed black coffin. "Dreams of putting the rightful rulers back into power."

The other members followed their master's lead and circled around a small pedestal in the exact center of the room, markings leading up the stand all the way to a silver jewel pulsing like a beating heart, but instead of blood an unnatural purple glow flow through the cracks and veins within.

All bowed their heads, awaiting for their master to give final blessing before the ritual could start. "Oh great Star, please bless us with your almighty power. Lead us onto the path of freedom and paradise. Banish all wicked evil from these lands and grant us the power to end all that dare oppose you benevolent light." All members raised their heads, all foolhardy believing in their master's words.

"It is time!" As all the members got in place the jewel in the center of the room started to bleed out it's ghostly purple glow, flooding the floor around the pedestal with a faded purple smoke. "No longer will we be under the command of that...naïve alicorn. No longer will we have to listen to those that are 'chosen' by faith. We will control our own densities." All nine members, all unicorns, started to light their horns, feeding their magic into the jewel one last time before beginning the ritual. "Now, we're the masters of our own lives and we will see to that."

Every member ended their individual glowing horns, all expect the leader's golden. "Brother Blueblood," he started, gesturing for the unicorn noble to remove his hood. "Our time of redemption is at hand, being forth the child." Blueblood bowed his head, something he seldom do, and walked over to a lever on the wall behind him.

The ear-splitting sounds of rusted chains and gears grinding against one another, to any normal pony would have been painful to stand, but to this few nine were music from the heavens. And their musical pleas were being answered as a cage that was set up earlier started to descend with a shivering unicorn filly inside.

Bourses on the filly's wrists and ankles were 'gifts' from her tormentors as they had her chained for untold numbers of years. The rest of her body didn't fare as good either, unable to stop her shivering, and on the brink of malnutrition and dehydration.

However, the nine below didn't care for the filly's health just yet, but soon she would play a major part in redeeming their ancestors failures. Once Blueblood was back into place, all nine joined hands, and relit their horns. This time though, all nine horns shine in the same bright silver light as the jewel in front of them.

"This is it," the leader started again, collecting the other's magic within his own, and sending it the crying filly above. The trapped filly's screams brought blissful smiles to the ponies below while she was left holding her head in tears. Her horn, still far too underdeveloped to withstand all the magic being forced in it, started to pulse with in a violet-purple; the same as the jewels glow. "Nothing can hope to ever stop us, we will control this land, and take it as our own."

Too lost in lust for their ancestors' dreams, the nine ponies failed to notice the room staring to crumbling, but they did not care. And why should they? What their entire lives have been living up to was now within their reach. Why stop over a few falling rubble?

Pain, pain is why they should stop, but they refused. "Keep going my siblings," The leader shouted above the filly's high pitched screams. "Yes, yes it is-" Suddenly, one of piece of metal from the filly's cage fell onto the jewel, and was enough to through the delicate ritual off balance. Once small rubble falling from the ceiling, was now large chunks of rocks threatening to cave in any of the ponies' skulls if one would be so lucky to land a direct hit. Large gaping cracks started to rip open on the floor, far large enough for one to fall right through.

The unicorns started to have troubles standing, not from the ground shaking, but from being pulled in by some invisible force. All tried to stop the ritual, fearing for their lives, but only found that they could not do as such. "No, no this isn't right." Even the leader, undoubtedly the strongest of all of them, was incapable to stop the jewel from pulling on his magic. "Star, why? Why are you doing this? Why are you betraying us!"

As response to his demands, the jewel shot out several pluses of magic at the room in an erratic manner, but somehow-or for some reason-missed all nine unicorns. However, the ceiling above suffered too much damaged from the sympathy of magical discharge, and a massive crack was making it's way towards the spot where the filly's cage.

Soon, the filly started to fall along with the cage, and down to the jewel. The rusty metal cage shattered from an unforeseen barrier from the jewel while the filly's fall was stopped by the barrier.

Both the filly's horn and jewel started to pulse in tandem with each other, growing brighter with each pulse, and much more concentrated with magic. The filly tried to struggled against the hold the jewel had on her body, her eyes forced shut from the pain flowing in her small body, and choked screams coming from her mouth. P-papa...I-I, p-please save m-me.

A sudden strong pull from the jewel yanked all the unicorns forwards before a subsequent pulse knocked them all to the crumbling walls around them. The leader was the first to recover from the sudden blast, he cared not of the crumbling around him, but of the child being fused to the jewel. "Get the child away from the jewel, she draining it of its magic!" Blueblood and another hooded member tried to move back to the center of the room again.

However a sudden bright silver and purple light from the jewel blinded them. The filly snapped her eyes wide open, shining a pure silver white, and tears streaming down her face. "Papa!" Again the jewel seemed to respond from the filly's plea and started to glow brighter until both suddenly teleported in a violent flash.

The force from the teleportation threw back both Blueblood and the other hooded member while the others went to their aids. However, the leader's golden eyes were only locked where the jewel and filly once was, and the bitter rage of being denied the glory of ushering in a new age boiled over into his voice.

"Find her," he started in a voice so dead and hollow that demons from the tardis would fear it. "Find her and bring her back here! We mustn't allow the sun-bringer to find her. Tear apart Equestria if you have to but just FIND HER!"

Ponyville; Golden Oaks library

After thoroughly washing off weeks worth of filth from her fur, Twilight was down stars enjoying Spike's missed cooking skills while Quill was upstairs grabbing as much of their stuff as she could cram into a few bags.

Spike had already started to wash the dishes while Frost sat on the countertop, already done with cleaning much of the mess, and waiting for Quill to come back down. "So Spike, was it," Frost asked, needing something to distract her from Twilight's gluttonous devouring, and wanting to know more about her new lover. "Tell me, is Quill always so...direct with everything, or is it just for special occasions?"

Spike, using his water-magic to do most of the cleaning, looked over to Frost who was still fully cloaked. "Direct? That's putting it lightly," he chuckled while the dishes were being swirled around in a small whirlpool. "Yeah, Quill has her 'way' to do things sometimes, and most of the time she too thick-headed to listen to reason."

"I see," Frost started, musing over it for a moment before asking another question. "So what about yourself? Quill didn't speak much about you and from what she has told me, well, sounds like you two don't get along very well." Spike sighed as he started to put the dishes away, knowing that Frost was talking about the argument they had at the Rainbow Falls.

"Y-yeah, we sometimes argue...okay we argue like a lot, but that's what got me so confused." Spike closed the cabinet doors with his hand and tail before facing Frost. "The last thing she wanted to do was come here. So what made her come?"

Frost shrugged her shoulders, still not fully informed of the twins' past lives in Ponyville, or them running away two months ago. "I don't know you'll have to ask her that yourself." Upon universal command, Quill started down the stairs with several bags filled with their clothes and other personal stuff she could think to grab.

"Spike, Frost let's go." Twilight looked up from the half plate of nachos and towards Quill, who was standing at the door, then to Spike and Frost who too was heading towards the door. "It's too late to head to High Moon so we're going to stay at Zecora's for the night."

Spike and Frost nodded their heads as they were heading out the door but was stopped by Twilight calling out to them. "Wait, you guys are coming back tomorrow...right?" Quill and Spike recognized the desperate look in Twilight's eyes while Frost could feel it oozing from her body. "T-that's right, you guys are-"

"Not coming back," Quill interrupted, far too tired from flying for nearly hundred miles, and didn't want to again deal with the stress of Twilight's pleading voice. "We got stuff to do back in High Moon and we are going to do them." Not wanting to hear anything from the alicorn, Quill immediately left out the library, but stop. "Look Twilight, we'll be around, but only after we finish some things first. Okay?"

"O-okay Quill, you all stay safe, and you're always welcomed back." Spike nodded to Twilight while Frost followed Quill out of the library. By this time, the moon was high over their heads, and their small chance of making it to High Moon closed with it being raised in the air.

The three didn't waste any time before heading out of Ponyville and back into Everfree. Quill told Spike to take the lead since she was being weighed down by all of their stuff, which allowed her and Frost to whisper amongst themselves. "Quill, I don't think I can hold this form for much longer." After the long flight straight to Ponyville, much of Frost's energy was drained, and she still didn't have a good enough grasp on the shape-shifting technique just yet.

Quill quickly looked over her shoulders only to find that Ponyville was already far into the distance by this point. "That's okay, Spike needs to know anyways." Frost nodded her head and dropped the shape-shifting spell.

The bright icey-blue flames caught the corner of Spike's eyes prompting him to turn around. "Hey, what was-" Spike stopped in his tracks when he saw that there was a changeling mare standing where Forest was moment's ago and wearing the same clock as her as well. It didn't take him much before he figured out that the dragoness was in fact the changeling in disguise. "Q-Q-Quill…"

"Spike," Quill quickly started before Spike could start freaking out about the changeling mare standing next to her. "I would like for you to met my marefriend, Frost." Spike looked away from his sister and towards the mare next to her, quickly remembering what the changeling race did in Canterlot, and how they almost killed the elements and Celestia. Now his sister was dating one...perfect. "Now before you say anything-"

Quill was forced to stop when Spike held up his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose with the other one. "Nope, I'm done." Quill and Frost reed their heads back from Spike's quick response, caught completely off-guard by his uncaring tone of voice. After the whole 'love-triangle' with Sweetie and Scootaloo, the last thing Spike wanted to do was get involved in what ever crazy relationship Quill had with the mare, and he knew that she was smart enough to be able to tell if something was up. So he had no real reason to disapprove, however he knew of six mares that would. "If you want to date a changeling Quill, then fine by me, but one day you know that Twilight and the others will find out. You do know that right?"

Quill didn't know whether to sigh or laugh in Spike's face, either way she looked at it, he was short of right, but for now she didn't care. That was for future Quill to deal with. "Yeah, yeah come on let's head to Zecora's so we could get back to Wolf and the others." Spike nodded his head, still wary of the fact that his twin was now in some kind of 'relationship' with a changeling, especially after the failed invasion years back. After what Dusk told him in the cave, he knew it was none of his business, but he still be keeping a close eye on her. /-/  
/ Ch. 17: Trails of Ghost Heart/-/

High Moon Ch. 17: Trails of Ghost Heart

"Thanks for letting us stay here Zecora," Quill started after they had made it to Zecora's hut and explain their sudden appearance to her. At first, Quill was worried that the zebra would have a problem with Frost being a changeling, however she hasn't said anything about it or even thought to question it. "Sorry for waking you up again."

"Do not fret child," Zecora started standing at the door wearing two pieces of cloth to cover her rather curvy body. "My annoyance is only mild. Now go to sleep, as a long day is ahead of you three." Both the twins and Frost nodded their heads in understanding as a long day of getting back to High Moon and explaining everything to Wolf.

Spike blew out the lit candle next to his makeshift bed while Frost, who found a pair of Quill's purple gym-shorts and green tank-top to wear for the night, wrapped Quill in her wings and the blanket she 'borrowed' from Twilight. "Night Spike," Quill called out to her brother as she started to drift off to sleep with her marefriend.

Soon, the ever so familiar snoring from Quill told Spike that she was already fast asleep. Spike soon did the same thing as mending the broken hearts of the crusaders and Twilight was stressing on his body.

Since most of what Spike did back in Ponyville was sleep, he somehow learned to 'control,' or at least be fully conscious of his dreams for a good part of the night. However, instead of the normal relaxing world of green hills, blue skies, and flowing streams, an expansive sickly black lake with the same dead-wood trees like the one during the camping trip stretched across his mind.

Though Spike wasn't given the luxury of taking any note of the change in scenery as he was falling from the pale-red sky and into the lake. He tried to wake up, like he always would when he had a nightmare, but something...something was keeping him there and he had no control over this dream.

He failed his arms out, trying to find anyway to stop his fall, and wishing he wasn't a salamander dragon. Spike's body was whirled about in the space above the infinite lake, catching one last glance of it before slamming into the water's surface.

Somehow he didn't feel any pain, mainly because it was a dream and not real life, but this felt...too real for it to be something then a mere dream. Spike didn't waste anytime before he started to make for the water's surface, something was wrong with this lake, and he didn't want to find out what it was.

However, he desperate escape was halted by a black tendril wrapping around his ankle, and pulling him in deeper. Spike fought back against the slimy appendage by using his water-magic to form a small dagger. But instead, Spike got the same frozen scythe as during the camping trip. His eyes widened at the sight of the ghastly weapon as it was know to be the weapon of choice for the ferry-pony of the turdis; the bringer of death.

Another tentacle wrapping around his other foot broke him out of his thoughts about the omnibus weapon and back to his situation at hand. Spike raised the scythe above his head and took a quick slice through the black tentacles, freeing himself, and giving him an opportunity to escape.

Spike started to kick his feet and flapped his tail to swim up to the water's surface. Several tencals shot up after him only to be fought back by Spike taking quick swings against them. One tentacle tried to pierce his chest, which Spike was able to met with the zigzag curved staff of the scythe, and whirled around to bring the blade through the top left side.

Another tentacle followed after that by wrapping itself around his wrist, catching him off-guard as it threw him deeper to the lake's pitch black bottom, however Spike was able to recover from the sudden throw just as two tentacles moved to strike his back. Spike swung the scythe in an upwards slash, taking down the two tentacles.

He didn't waste any more time musing over anything around him, he needed to find a way out of the dream, he need to get out of this lake. This time using his water-magic to jet his way past three tentacles. Spike's body pushed through the thick murkiness from the black lake followed by several tentacles.

Spike continued to fight of each of the gaining tentacle, upping his speed each time so to stay ahead of the threatening appendages. Right as he reached the threshold of the deep, three tentacles circled around him, and ensnare his body in their black mass. Spike was forced to use the scythe to keep the tentacles from crushing down on him and used that time to think of a plan of escape.

As the large ball of black started to slowly drag Spike down to the deep, insuring his defeat, Spike was able to blow it apart by building the pressure of water up. Using the shockwave of the small explosion, Spike rocketed towards the surface with the tentacles in far pursuit.

Finally, Spike burst through the water, and landed back on it's surface with black water raining down on him. Unfortunately, Spike wasn't given the pleasure of breathing before several of the tentacles shot out around him, and arched downwards towards him.

Spike lifted the scythe to slash at one of the tentacles then rolling away from another one. Once he recovered, Spike swung the scythe around in a series of cyclones as a defensive move before kicking off the water to dash at another of the slimy limbs.

However, he was severely outnumbered, and had little hope of winning in a direct fight like this. So Spike, again using his water-magic, started to surf away from the tentacles. He ducked and dived under each swing from the tentacles, making it past them, and readying himself for when they would follow.

Through they did not follow, only staying stationary at that one spot, and leaving Spike baffled. Though his answer in the form of a massive black mass shooting straight up in front of him.

Spike stopped his forward momentum and jumped back with the scythe's blade held low to the water behind and the staff's end held high up. The swirling black mass started to tower over Spike, dripping giant gobs of pitch into the lake, and looming over him like an ominous cloud.

"I don't know where you came from, or why you're trying to kill me." Spike tried to remain unfazed when the black mass started take the form of a large dragon with glowing purple eyes. "Frankly I don't care any more. 'Cus I know you won't beat me, ghost heart." Suddenly the shadowy dragon opened its gaping maw to let out a furious screech before Spike charged straight at it, fully determined not to let the thing beat him, and not going to let it take his life.

No matter the cost.

Everfree forest; the next morning

Quill, Frost, and Spike had already set out bright and early to get back to High Moon as soon as they possibly could. While Quill and Frost had gotten the full eight hours of sleep that any living-sane-soul should get, Spike...did less so, and it showed on his sluggish walking.

"Is Spike always like this in the morning," Frost asked Quill in a whisper so he could not hear them. Even Quill didn't need a changeling's ability to sense the emotions of others to tell that something was deeply up with her brother.

"No, in fact he normally is up long before me." The two females studied the drake's tried movements, trying to understand what happened during the night that caused him to act in such a way. "I've got nothing, he usually happy to be up so early, but this…" Spike blew out a sickly black cloud in a sigh as he mindlessly followed the path back to High Moon. "This can't be good."

"Well shouldn't we do something about it?" Quill nodded her head however didn't know what to do. But she did know one mare knew. Frost took the smirk on Quill's face as a sign that she had a plan already set. Soon, the three made it to the wooden scaffolding that is used to hold the front part of the temple up.

Frost was impressed when Quill told her about the arcane doors and the ones who crafted them while Spike open them with his fire-stone in the center of his gloves. Once they reached Quill's room, Frost and Quill went to drop off her stuff, and told Spike to keep heading down to let the others know that they are back.

The drake did as he was told with a slight sigh, he walked down the steps to the last temple doors, and used his fire-stone gloves to open them. Once through, he saw Blaze and Lily talking about something, but stopped when the saw the bags underneath his eyes.

"Spike, what happen to you," Blaze questioned as she and Lily walked over to his side, neither one had not once seeing the drake like this before. "You look like you haven't slept in days."

Spike opened his mouth to answer but Quill and Frost walking through the arcane door stopped him. Blaze and Lily both raised an eyebrow towards the new face. Blaze had heard stories about changelings from Zecora after the invasion, and after becoming curious, started to do some research on them in the ruins. While Lily, being a flutterpony, was like a cousin to the changeling race.

"That's what I was going to ask you Blaze," Quill started, getting both adults to look her way while Frost remained quiet until spoken to; least she say something out of line. "Ever since we woke up this morning after staying the night at Zecora's, Spike been...well this," Quill explained, waving her hands over the ill-responsive drake.

Blaze knelt down and grabbed Spike's cheeks to better examine his blank stare. "Uh-oh, I've seen this before," she started in a grim tone only serving to make the others that more concern for Spike's well-being. "Not good, not good at all. Lily, could you go in that chest over there, and being me the veil with a golden-red glow to it?" Lily nodded her head and went to do what Blaze had asked of her, walking over to the wooden chest on the side of the large room, and soon returning with the veil.

Blaze took it in her magic, also taking the top off, and placing it under Spike's nose. "Okay Spikey, this is supposed to taste really bad, but I did the best I could." Blaze pressed it against Spike's lips and tip his head back, forcing him to drink much of the potion.

Blaze instructed everyone to back away from the drake while the potion was taking effect. Suddenly, Spike's face lit up in a bright red, and forced him to spit out green flames. Quill was quickly reminded of when this happened to him during the camping trip and remembered what Dusk told them was the cause. She prayed that it wasn't what she thought it was, Quill couldn't lose her brother to something like it.

When the green inferno ended, Spike started to hold his throat, barely able to beg for water. Which was given by Frost as she used her ice-magic to create a small snowball and threw it at Spike's opened mouth. "So, all better cola-head," Quill asked, somehow managing to laugh at the comic sight of Spike panicking. It may have been grim to learn that her brother could fall to something as dark as ghost heart, but the worst they could do was let it further down his mood.

So Quill was going to do anything she could to make him smile and laugh. "Yes," Spike answered with a relaxed sigh, now fully awake, and with enough energy to last him the rest of the day. "So what was that stuff?"

Blaze picked up the veil, which was knocked out of her magical grip during Spike's failing, and noted how much was left. "Just a mix of honey due, tree sap, and chilly peppers. But that's besides the point, Spike," Blaze paused to walk in front of Spike and knelt down. "You shouldn't doubt yourself."

Lily and Frost cocked their heads at what Blaze was saying but Spike quickly understood what she was talking about. "Heh, you know huh? About ghost heart?" Blaze nodded her head while the other's eyes widened at the first sound of that name. Lily and Blaze had read about the effects of ghost heart on dragon-and in rare cases-other magical creatures, while Frost had seen it first hand. "Why is it coming after me? I've done nothing train and-"

"That's just it," Blaze interrupted, standing up, and nodding towards Lily. Sighing, the flutterpony walked back over to the chest. "Spike we're going to put supressances on your magic for a little while and see if that would help allow your body to grow. Okay," she asked with a concerned tone in her voice, having a feeling that this would one day happen, but wished it wouldn't.

Lily walked back with two braces in her hands. Spike eyed the sliver and black wrist braces and the pure white gems engraved in them. "Hold out your hands Spike." Spike did as Lily instructed, and after she found the right notch for them to lock in, Spike soon found the braces secured around his wrists.

Blaze lit her horn to active the magic inside of the gems. Once the short white flash from them had ended, Spike's arms fell low to the ground, but he managed to stay standing. "What the heck, these things feel like they weigh a ton...each!"

"Then they're still working," Blaze said with a nod of her head only getting a wide-eyed expression from Spike that begged for answers. "See Spike, I had to use that myself when I was being instructed in my fire-magic, and Wolf used it a few years ago to train himself." She was surprised that the gems still worked and that the magic seemed to not have been affected by Spike's dragon-magic.

"Those gems on your wrists are called terminus amet or magic limit." Spike forced his body to stand up straight as Blaze continued to explain what the braces where for. "Not only your magic is being suppressed, at the most you'll only be able to use that healing water Lily taught you, but also your body is now being weigh down by them. You're going to have to learn to live with them for a while, at least until they turn a blood red."

"What happens then," Spike asked as he started to get used to the added weight on his body and already starting to feel his magic being limited by them.

Blaze smiled, remembering how strong she gotten when she had finally finished the trying training. "You'll become much stronger." Suddenly, the stone-slab to the city ruins started to open up to Wolf and the phoenixes walking-or flying-through, and Blaze skipped over to Wolf in joy. "Welcome back Wolf." The two shared a quick kiss in front of the others before Wolf noticed the new face. "Quill and Spike just got back from their camping trip, they also brought a 'friend' back with them."

"I see that," Wolf started setting aside some tools that he would use to fix what he could of the city ruins and walked over to Frost. She may not look the exact same as any other changeling that he seen before but she still had that distinct scent that for some reason only diamond dogs were known to pick up on. "Well, well, well a changeling. Never thought I would see one again."

Quill wrapped a wing around Frost and pulled her close to her body. "Yeah and she want to say here." Wolf raised an eyebrow towards this, never hearing of a changeling choosing to leave home, and extradite themselves from their hive. "So can she?"

"Depends...what you got?" Frost smirked as she had already readied herself for this and was fully prepared to do anything Wolf would ask her.

"Well that depends," she started, breaking free of Quill's protective grasp, and walking right in front of Wolf. "What you need?"

Wolf stared down the changeling mare, it was already obvious that Quill had some kind of relationship with her, and that it was in fact on Quill's terms. However, that's not what he paid much attention to as he started to chuckle. "Quill, you sure do know how to pick'em," Wolf chuckled, see a small bit of Quill's headstrong personality in Frost's icy-blue eyes. "Alright, can you shape-shift?" Frost raised a hand and snapped her fingers together, assuming the form of a dragoness of Quill's age, and changing back. "What about magic?"

"Please, that's too easy," she said in a cocky manner, again raising a hand, this time creating a frozen short halberd, and swinging it around with ease. Spike stared at Frost as she wielded the weapon as if it wasn't anything at all. That's when he got to thinking that maybe there's something much more to his magic that he isn't seeing. "Well, what you think? I also can get you through any tunnel in Everfree, which by the way, leads throughout all of Equestria."

Blaze blinked a few times, to have such a drastic change come to High Moon from one changeling was almost too good to pass up while Wolf, who was thrilled about it, remained slightly stone-faced. "Um…all that's good and all," he started walking around Frost and eye every inch on her. "The magic, shape-shifting, wings, and a free ticket to any place in Equestria." Frost continued to smirk to keep up the assertive theatricals. "So, got a name?"

"Frost, just Frost will do." Wolf blankly nodded his head as he walked back towards Blaze.

Slowly, Wolf turned around to face Frost in the eyes again. "Well, Frost, here in High Moon I have few rules. One, you help out in anyway that you best see yourself doing so. Two, anytime either I or Blaze here," Wolf paused, waving at his marefriend, and returning back to his rules. "needs you to do something, just try. No sense of killing yourself doing something you can't right?"

"Sounds reasonable enough," Frost started with another smirk. "So anything that you need me to do?"

Wolf scratched his chin in thought, changelings were known to have a higher knowledge of constriction than any other race, but he done most of what he had plan today. "Well, not really. At least not today, so you three are free to do whatever you want to," Wolf finally answered with a shrug of his shoulders and started to take a seat when Blaze stopped him by the tail.

"Actually Wolf," She started, pulling on Wolf's tail. "Lily and I were thinking that you should hang out with Spike some more." Both Spike and Wolf raised an eyebrow towards the mare, sure they were the best of buds, but they didn't think they were that distant from each other. Right? "Come on it could be fun, a little male bonding, and stuff. It'll give us girls some time to ourselves as well."

Wolf and Spike looked towards each other then back to Blaze, who wore a bright smile. "Okay...come on Spike, there is something that I need to ask you anyways." Wolf started out of the temple with the confused drake in tow. But right before they left out, both males stopped at the opened doors to look back to Blaze.

"Go on," she said, shooing them out of the temple. Wolf shrugged his shoulders, not knowing about the weight gems on Spike's wrists, or about the ghost heart he had to fight last night in his dreams.

The two walked up the steps to the outside door, neither one speaking a word towards each other, but the silence soon ended after they made it to the outside. "So...um, Spike," Wolf started, still unable to tell why Blaze was acting so weird as she would usually try keeping him around before he had to head back out. "Quill told me that you knew of a nearby diamond quarry."

"Yeah, she and I would help out Rarity digging up gems," Spike answered as that would be one of the main times their hard work was paid off by getting a gem or two from Rarity. "Why? Do we need some for the temple or the ruins?"

Wolf shook his head and motioned for Spike to take the lead. Spike started walking down the path, clearly remembering it from the many trips he would take with Rarity, and knowing that it was fairly close to Ponyville as well. "Not for High Moon, but for Blaze and my cub." Spike looked back towards Wolf with a curious look as he had smaller knowledge about diamond dog culture than Quill. "See Spike, an alpha dog only gives birth to an alpha cub. Be male or female it doesn't matter." The two started to ascend a hill leading upwards as Wolf continued to tell Spike about his culture. "A dog's collar; a sign of leadership, ingenuity, and honor. It's a pretty big job of being an alpha, you have to look after not only the land you claim, but also the ones in your pack."

Once the two finally made it over the large hill, they slid down its side, and continued to walk. "An alpha must insure the safety of all in his pack. For whatever species they claim, they're still family." Spike continued to remain silent as they started to reach the quarry. "The collar for Blaze is a sign of my absolute devotion to her and everything she believes in." Wolf and Spike hopped down the rocky cliff-side separating the quarry and the rest of Everfree. "The collar for the cub, is a sign of my belief of it being able to handle the trials of being an alpha."

Wolf stop once he saw the large rock and diamond quarry ahead of him, it would be any's guess where a gem he thinks in worthy enough for Blaze and his cub, but he wasn't going to let some pebbles get in the way of his goal. "No matter how trying the trial may be."

Spike looked over towards Wolf, for a moment, a flash of the kind of dragon he always wanted to be flashed before him. Strong, kind, devoted to others, and unwilling to ever give up. All these traits Spike had strived for all his life, only to met Wolf. "Come on, you know any good spots?"

"Yeah, they're right over here." Spike again started to lead Wolf into the quarry. He knew that Wolf wouldn't stop at nothing to make sure that everything safe, even going as far as fighting timberwolves, and now Spike was going to do the same to get over this ghost heart.

First he needed to get out of the braces.

Everfree forest; High Moon temple

While the two males were out 'bounding,' Quill was busy catching up on some reading she missed during the camping trip, but had trouble focusing on the worlds in the ancient text. Blaze and Lily had went back to whatever they were doing before Quill's, Spike's, and Frost's arrival to the temple.

The two older mares sat at Blaze's work table, most likely discussing something to do with Spike's condition and new training to combat the ghost heart. Frost and Quill sat at the dinner table, which was greatly improved to have more a rectangle shape.

As Quill stared at the same line, reading it over again and again, but still unable to force the thoughts about ghost heart out of her head, she started to question her own growth versus Spike's.

Sure, both had active lives. With their individual training, roles within the pack, and studying any information the archives held. So why was it Spike being targeted by the ghost heart and not her? Quill trained as much as Spike, if not, more than. However, she not once had suffered the costly effects of the black mass growing inside of her. Did it really had to do with him using his elemental-magic more than his actual strength? If so, why would Blaze only want to suppress it instead of sealing it off for a period of time? The mare is more than capable of doing so, having more knowledge about dragons than any.

So why suppress when sealing was a better option? Maybe this way was better. If what Spike said, and the braces around his wrists did feel like they weigh a ton each, then he could push his body more while he was to learn to adapt to not having the same amount of magic as normal.

If Blaze had done it when she was younger than them, and from the way she is now, it could prove to be of added benefit towards Spike's control of his water-magic. Then if that was the case, why wasn't the braces apart of both of their normal training? Do they have something else to them than just suppressing magic and weighing the wearer down?

They easily could prove to further Quill's strength, improve her flying, and increase whatever control-if barely could call it such-she has over her magic. However, she soon started to rethink that. Focus wasn't her thing, she already was a fast flyer and the braces would only irritate her, and also-not bragging-she believed that she was already quite strong enough.

Still no match for Wolf alpha diamond dog strength or power, and nowhere near a match for Dusk's added dragon heritage along with being an alpha dog. So, she had no rightful reason to be jealous of Spike's new training, instead she should be thinking of ways to help him.

However, to do that, she need more knowledge about the ghost heart eating away at Spike. From what Dusk had told them during the trip, Spike will only get worse from here, and soon will start lasing out to everything around him. But the question still remained, why was Spike being constantly attacked by the ghost heart, and why did it feel it didn't just have something to do with him using too much magic?

Frost, who quietly sat close to her lover, carefully listened to every pressing emotion flaring up in Quill's head, and wrapped a wing around her to pull her out of the thoughts. "Quill," she started in a low whisper as not to disrupt the elder two females' conversation, rubbing the side of her cheek against the top of Quill's head. "You know that you can talk to me about anything right?" Sighing, Quill nodded her head. "Then why am I sensing worry from you?"

Quill started to chuckle, she should have guessed that Frost was sensing in on her emotions, but she knew that the mare didn't need the changeling adaption to tell that she was worried for her brother. "It's Spike and this ghost heart thing. I just can't figure out why it's coming after him. Everyone keep saying that it is because of him using too much magic. So why does it feel like that's not the case?"

"I figured that was the problem," Frost started, sitting up in her wooden seat, and pulling Quill closer. "Well you're right, ghost heart don't just attack those who overuse their magic, it also attack those that doubt and fear their own power." Frost felt Quill twitch slightly as well as a wave of confusion coming from her, which she promptly answered. "Think of it like a virus," she again started, having seen it happen to several other scorpios suffer under something similar. "It starts from a seed, doubt and fear in this case, and finds a catalyst to grow upon."

Quill's eyes flashed for a moment when she figured out what the catalyst was. "His magic," she whispered as though she was afraid of saying it. That's when everything started to fall into place, his consent fears back in Ponyville, his unwillingness to do anything new, and his self-conscious thoughts when it came to Rarity. Which were only furthered fueled by her fighting with him about it.

For much-no-all of their lives, Spike had one thing or another he would worry about, and that list only grow when they moved to Ponyville. Now, after years of self-doubt, and his sudden climb in magic, severed as the perfect breeding ground for ghost heart. It was a wondrous miracle that Spike hadn't already fallen victim to ghost heart.

"Yes, his magic." Quill faintly listened to Frost's words, only confirming her guess and fears. "Spike not only needs to allow his body to grow some more but also get over everything that's bothering him."

Quill took in a deep breath, this was her fault. The ghost heart could have been prevented if she would had followed Spike back to Ponyville after the camping trip. But if she did, she would have never met Frost in the first place, and there was no way she was going to regret any time she had spent with the changeling mare. However, she needs to think of something to help Spike out, lest he met an end as a wyvern.

"Frost, we've got to do something." Frost pulled Quill closer to help stop her shaking as rage, fear, and worry started to come from every trembling part of her. She was angry at herself for not realizing what was slowly eating away at her brother. Fear for not knowing what will become of him if nothing changes. Worry for it being far too late for anything to change.

"Don't worry love, we will."

Everfree edge; Diamond quarry

"Gah, no luck," Wolf groaned after searching throughout the large quarry for a diamond for Blaze but Cerberus seemed to have other plans for him as they turned up next to nothing. His eyes strained over the quarry one last time before looking down to Spike who was sitting on the ground resting.

During their search, Wolf had finally came to ask Spike about the braces on his wrists as he recognized the glowing white gems. Spike told Wolf about the 'dream' he had fighting off the ghost heart and what Blaze told him it'll do for his body and magic. Wolf showed his sympathy for Spike but couldn't offer any more than just helping out with his physical condition.

However, that's all the drake could ask for, and the search around the quarry seemed to be a good start as the gems started to change from a pure white into a pale yellow. "Come on, Spike we can try again tomorrow."

Spike started to get up from the ground, upset that they couldn't even find a single gem for Blaze, and mad at himself for failing Wolf. However, he was going to use that as a source of drive for the next time.

"Okay, maybe there's a-" Spike was cut off by a massive explosion coming from Ponyville, followed by a massive discharge of purple electricity. The two stared up towards the arching threads of lighting ripping across the skies in a violent display and Spike quickly recognized the direction they were coming from.

"That came from Ponyville. NO!" Without explanations, Spike started for Ponyville, and was passed by Wolf as he was running on all fours. Spike soon copied Wolf's running and quickly caught up with him as they dashed over to the town, hoping that he wasn't too late to save his old home.

/ Ch. 18: Resolve/-/

High Moon Ch. 18:  
Resolve

The streets of Ponyville were in full swing as business open, foals played in the streets, and friends and loved-ones gather to happily enjoy a rather normal day. Perhaps, too normal. For within the darkest of shadows in the busy streets, a hooded unicorn stallion was awaiting orders for his master.

From within the shadows, the unicorn watched in disgust as the citizens went about their business without much care in the world, and blissfully unaware of what is about to come. None of them knew what true strife meant, of the pain of what real lost holds, or even knowing what true fear was.

Oh how naïve they all was, of fear, and of power…real power. And all blame could fall on the one holding the crown in her hands, what a joke. Couldn't even stop her own sister from being overtaken by her own darkness, allows a being that could split apart reality at the mere snap of his fingers to walk free, or even tell that her own niece have been taken by the changelings.

Well no more, no more will all be naïve of what fear and power is, and no longer will they have somepony 'protecting' them from the real world. Once the child is back in his master's hands, all will be let known to Equestria, and all will turned against the crown.

Saint. The unicorn, Saint, darkly smiled at his master's call as he knew what it entailed. You may 'ask' if anypony have seen our perish child, do be careful, the elements may come after you. Once the connection ended, Saint walked out of the shadow clawing in the alleyways of Ponyville, and lit his horn.

Some of the ponies around town-hall stopped their business, to look over the masked face and his dark robes, but before anyone could question his sudden appearance Stain shot out a blot of pure silver light. The blot of magic impacted the roof of town-hall and completely obliterated the dome piece.

Ponies then started to run for cover, far too ill-prepared to handle the threatening unicorn. "Well," Saint started, scratching his hands out, and walking further into the street. "Now that I have all of your attentions, maybe you can help me?" Through the holes in his mask, Saint eyed each face in the crowd, and each new cowering face was of pure annoyance to him. "See, I'm looking for a very important filly, and I really need to know if any of you have seen her."

"Then maybe you should ask a little nicer." Saint turned around to see a purple teenaged diamond dog wearing blue shorts and white short-sleeved jacket with a design he wasn't familiar with. "Now let's start with this," Dusk started walking closer to the unicorn with small bursts of electricity arcing off his body. "Just who the fuck are you and why do you need this filly?"

Saint started to chuckle a little, marveling the halfbreed's fearlessness, and his foolishness as well. "Does that really matter mutt, just tell me if you've seen an odd looking filly or not." Dusk flatly stared at Saint, he didn't need to see the expression on his face to tell that he didn't have good intention for this lost filly he continues to speak of.

"And if I have seen a filly, what are you going to do then," Dusk questioned, allowing sparks to violently arch off of his body as he could feel woeful intentions from the unicorn.

Saint remained unimpressed with the small display of Dusk's dragon heritage. "Then I'll be tempted to use force." Saint snapped his fingers, activating a dark spell of his. Soon, multiple copies of the pony started to walk from behind him, each equipped with a short-sword. Dusk soon recognized the spell as the same very few dragons that were, in light words, cursed with shadow-magic. "So I'll ask again," Saint started once all of the clones were in place, six in total. "Have you, or have you not seen a filly with an odd magic?"

Dusk sighed, knowing the only way for a pony to dragon magic is either it was given as a gift to them, or they took it by force, and that for this pony to have shadow-magic it must have been by force. "Maybe I have, maybe I haven't." Dusk reached for the zipper of his jacket and ripped it off. "Or...you could go look somewhere else."

The two locked eyes, since that was the only thing on Saint's face that could be seen, and knew that the other wasn't going to back down. Dusk had a bad feeling about the pony, the way he was using his magic, it wasn't natural, and his intentions were not of the good of heart. "Well, this is not part of the job, but it could be fun. Go." Saint waved his hand towards Dusk, willing two clones to charge at him.

Dusk quickly got ready for the two clones, once they were close enough, he launched an attack through his teleportation. Suddenly, the first clone's mask caved in while his head violently whipped backward. The second clone didn't have time to react before Dusk's fist was embedded deeply in his gut. Dusk again locked eyes with Saint, who still stood in the center of the remaining four clones before releasing a massive discharge into the clone's body.

Not wasting time to celebrate, Dusk rushed around the desegregating clone, and charged another buildup in lightning in his hands. Saint waved his hand towards the halfbreed, willing the remaining four clones to attack.

Dusk flipped over the lead clone's blade, delivering the heel of his work boots to the back of its head, and striking down two other clones with the charged volts of lightning in his hands. Right as the third one came to attack him, he again teleported out sight, but soon reappeared behind the clone.

Grabbing the hand that held the blade, Dusk rammed the clone's body with it's own weapon, and pushed it to the ground where it desegregated in to black smoke like the others. He turned around to be faced with ten more clones standing at Saint's side.

"Now, now it does not have to be this way," Saint started with a fake pleading voice. "Tell me where the child is and this can all end." Instead of answering, Dusk arched more lightning to his hands, this time forming two swords of pure purple and black electricity were created in his opened palms. Saint let out an exaggerated sigh while his head dropped.

"Kill him."

All ten clones charged at Dusk, swords at the ready, and full intent of carrying out their kill order. Dusk closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, relaying on his other senses to aid him, and time started to slow.

Each thunderous step from the squad of clones, the horrified gasp from the fearful crowd, and even the crackling of wind from his lightning-blades. Everything slowed to a near still, this was a warrior's final moment of peace before battle, their last moment of being able to breath with serenity, and he enjoyed it.

Once the lead clone was bring down his blade in a downwards strike, Dusk's eyes snapped opened; blazing with an unrelenting resolve. He sidestepped the black blade to bring his own through the side of the clone's neck, blasting it with electricity from within, and bringing his other lightning-blade through the another clone's chest.

Dusk wrenched his hand out of the falling clone, whirling around the blade of a third, and slicing right through it's body. Then two clones jumped up in the air to being their swords down on Dusk, however didn't account for him back-flipping, and using his wings to launch himself at them.

With his palms wide opened, Dusk launched a counterattack at the two clones, and pierced their chests. The force of Dusk's counterattack, knocked the two clones off of the ground as he lightning blades pierced right through their chests, and cooked from the inside by the arcing electricity. Once the clones hit the ground, the remaining five charged at Dusk, but he didn't move.

Dusk again closed his eyes to take another breath of air, slowing down time once again. All five's blades were aimed for his neck, inch by inch the black steel started to come closer to the bright purple gem encrusted collar his mother made him.

In a single blink, no more than a half second, each clone's blade met the ground, and only that. Before any could question, Dusk's body appeared in front of the circle of clones, and started to walk over to Saint. The group started to try again to attack the halfbreed, but at the first movement from one of them, all five started to seep smoke from various parts of their bodies before completely fading.

With each step the halfbreed took towards Saint, his lightning blades at his sides started to grow in ferocity, and the soft crackling turned into a high-pitched screech; that of a thousand birds. Saint hissed at Dusk and created more clones to attack him, only to met the same faith as the other as Dusk's movements started to increase in speed.

Forget this, the child isn't even here. Saint launched several more clones at Dusk to distract him long enough for him to make his escape. However, he didn't account for the many years Dusk had to focus on one target and one target only, and the wave of seven clones went completely ignored as Dusk shot a bolt of low charged lightning at Saint.

The blot wasn't meant to kill or even severely injure, it was meant as short of waypoint for Dusk to home in on with his teleportation. After changing the magical-frequency, Dusk bolted straight for Saint, and tore through every clone in his path.

Saint's escape was cut off by Dusk running both lightning-blades through his back and out the other side. Blood started to seep from the edges of Saint's mask as arcing electricity flowed freely throughout his body. "Looks like I had more resolve than you," Dusk said, ripping the blades of pure lightning out of Saint's body, and ending the massive surge of lightning-magic. He started to walk away but stopped at the sound of Saint's maniacal laughter. "I don't see what's so funny, dragon-hunter."

"You think you've won," Saint asked in a smug attitude that conflicted the state of which he should be in. "Oh...your strife has only yet to begin." Dusk looked towards the pony, who should have been dead, or at least unable to move. Saint's eyes flashed upwards, prompting Dusk to look up as well, but wasn't quick enough to stop the heavy-metal suit of armor from crashing down in front of him. Dusk was knocked back to the impact of the large suit of armor, landing hard on his shoulder, and barely having time to move away before a sliver fist came down to him.

"You should have back off mutt, if you didn't know anything about the child, then you shouldn't have gotten involved." Once he was able to recover from the roll, Dusk looked up to see that his new opponent was nothing but a moving suite of silver and black armor. "But hey, you want to die, then fine by me. Armamollia, get rid of this mutt."

Saint's body faded into a shadowy smoke while the suit's eyes started shine in a sliver light. The towering monstrosity looked to be some foal's twisted design, blunt crack spikes coming out of the edge large shoulder plates, small yet noticeable dents in its chest armor were Dusk's only hope of inflicting any kind of damage on it. Dusk tried to stand up right, however, the efforts and large amounts of magic he used suddenly caught up with him.

Shit, I hope I don't have to- The halfbreed was pulled out of his thoughts as Armamollia started to charge at him with a speed that didn't rightfully belong to it. Luckily, Dusk didn't need magic to outrun the monster's blunt ironed-clad fists, and jumped over its head when it tried to bring both of them down.

Dusk landed on top of the towering suit's shoulders and tried to gather whatever magic he had left to added an electrifying shock to each of his fist as he repeatedly slammed them down on Armamollia's head. To any normal living being, the attack would have killed, but Armamollia was the true definition of a walking suit of armor.

Seeing that his attacks weren't doing anything, Dusk hopped off of Armamollia's shoulders, and took to the skies to find some other way of attacking. However, his flight was cut short by Armamollia grabbing onto his tail, and throwing him to the ground.

Dusk started to stand, not willing to allow a walking tin-can beat him, but only met a blunt fist to the face. The force of the sudden impact was enough to send flying towards a building. However again, his flight was cut short, but this time it was by somepony saving him in their magical grip.

He slowly opened only to met the faces of the elements of harmony, well most of them anyways. Twilight, who apparently was the one to save him, dropped the field around Dusk letting fall back to the ground. While she tended to Dusk injuries, the remaining elements; Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy turned their elements into their respective weapons.

Dusk looked up with one eye to see that Pinkie Pie had a bright pink and blue hammer connected by a long yellow handle. Rarity's weapon was a long saber sword, decorated with an 'elegant' design. Applejack's weapon was simply a massive bright orange and red broadsword that looked sharp enough to cut through just about anything. Lastly Fluttershy, a forest-green long bow and arrow. Dusk, along with a large number of citizens of the republics, have heard stories of the element's powers, but to see it in person was something of a wander itself.

Twilight didn't waste any time analyzing the situation before she knew what was needed to do. "Pinkie, Applejack keep that thing busy." The two earth-ponies nodded their heads as they charged at the walking suit. "Fluttershy, give us support. Rarity, find its weak points."

"T-the dents." Twilight turned towards Dusk as he again tried to stand on his feet, even against her wishes. "The d-dents in its c-chest armor...cave them in," he struggled to say, having seen many ships sink because of ill-treatment from their careless owners. "D-do that and...it'll fall."

Twilight nodded since it was the best plan she could think of. "Pinkie, Applejack you two heard that?" Twilight turned to see that her friends had already heard the halfbreed's words and started to attack the small dents in its chest plate.

Pinkie swung her hammer at the dead center of Armamollia's chest, knocking him off his feet, but only just. Applejack followed up by bring her sword down onto the side of the walking puppet's shoulder. However, it seemed that their combined attacks had little to no effect no on it, and both where knocked back by it swinging its arm at the both of them to the ground.

Rarity couldn't stand back any longer as she started to charge at the behemoth of a monster. Unfortunately, the light saber attacks had next to no noticeable damage on the heavy-metal steel comprising Armamollia's armor. Fluttershy was able to distract it long enough for Rarity to move back from it.

That's when Pinkie and Applejack were able to get up from the ground to begin a counterattack. Pinkie whirled around on her heel to swing the hammer repeatedly at Armamollia's chest while Applejack rushed its sides and slashed through the side-armor plates. However, their attacks seemed to only further enrage the titan.

Armamollia grabbed the handle of Pinkie's hammer, stopping her swinging, and throwing her at Applejack and Rarity. The three mare's were knocked to the ground while Fluttershy did her best to give support to the others as she was hovering around in the sky, shooting arrows charged with magic from her element.

While her friends did their best against the juggernaut, Twilight was busy healing Dusk, but had difficulties with his draconic-canine anatomy. What made it harder that Dusk refused to sit still to allow Twilight to get a grip on his arcane core. This isn't going to work. Yet again, Armamollia merely shrugged off the element's attacks, and managing to throw Pinkie into Fluttershy. They can't keep going like this. Applejack moved to strike at the armored behemoth but only added to the small starches to its armor.

I've got to do something. Again, Dusk forced his body to stand, not hearing any of Twilight's commands of staying down as Armamollia started to bring a fist down towards Applejack and Rarity. I won't lose, I can't lose. Not now, not ever.

Suddenly Dusk snapped open his wings, propelling him straight for the titan's fist, and catching it in his hand. Mere inches from his face. For the third uncounted time today, time slowed to a stop. Dusk's violent purple eyes locked onto Armamollia's glowing slivers, anger towards it and himself re-sparked Dusk's magic as lightning started to spark from his body.

"You won't beat me." Rarity and Applejack opened one eye at the dark whisper in his voice. Once they fully opened their eyes, the two mares were given a display of Dusk's dragon heritage as purple, black, and white bolts of electricity arched off of his body and onto their weapons.

Arches from his magic seemed to have a reaction from their elements, Applejack's more than Rarity's, but still somehow reacting to the magic within. Applejack's broadsword was ripped from her hands as it started to glow in a heated purple aurora, which started to move to Dusk's arms. Rarity's saber overcame the same faith as the broadsword, but instead of a purple light, a pure white flowed from the blade and followed along the edges of Dusk's arms.

The two separate lights fused together to form purple arm gauntlets on Dusk's arms, leading all the way to his shoulders where they expanded outwards to form large shoulder plates, and pure white engravings along the edges resulting blots of lightning. However Dusk seemed to be the only one to not be paying any attention to the light show going on. "I will not allow you to beat me. There is no way I am going to lose to the likes of you!"

Dusk shoved Armamollia's fist away from his face and quickly brought down his other fist to the metal puppet's side armor plates. The force from Dusk's quick attack caused, not only Armamollia's side armor to deeply cave in on itself, but also pushed the juggernaut off his feet.

The initial attack was followed by another fist slamming straight into its chest, caving it in as another blow landed on the top right corner of its armored chest plate. Each attack came at a quicker pace than the last, pushing the metal-clad nightmare back with every armored fist from Dusk, and started to crack in various places where the dents started to grow.

Everypony, the elements, and Dusk's two marefriends watched in slight horror as Dusk's dragon heritage started to show itself more than just in his magic or wings. His black hair became denser and more close together, as well as becoming sharper to where they started to look liked deadly black spikes.

"Come on, come on, come on!" Even his voice, which was normally smooth and calm, was now loud and roaring like thunder. Each fist he landed on Armamollia caused another dent as well as pushed it back. The suit tried to fight back, grabbing onto Dusk's right arm with its massive hands, but the move only added more rage to the rolling storm in attacking it. "COME ON!"

A downward strike sent Armamollia into the ground, shattering the hard ground into pieces of flying boulder. However, it didn't stop there as Dusk reed his right hand back, and dragged it into the ground to impact Armamollia.

The metal puppet was sent flying by the shear force of Dusk's upward attack, but before it could even get two feet off the ground, Dusk's hand encased its helm and slammed it back into the ground. Dusk's hand started to clenched down on the helmet as it acted as Armamollia's skull. However, the puppet didn't suffer whatever pain a puppet could as Dusk dragged its body across the ground and throw it into the wall of town-hall.

Before a single speck of dust from the broken wall could fall to the ground, Dusk charged at Armamollia with a fully charged surge of lightning magic screeching in his right hand, and embed it deeply into the walking puppet.

Again, all of Ponyville was filled with the sound of a thousand birds all screaming in disharmony towards each other as Dusk's armored arm pushed itself further into Armamollia's body. Pure white, purple, and black arches filled the air around them, heating it to the point a pony would be nearly cooked alive. However, Dusk wasn't any other pony, he was a diamond dog-dragon halfbreed, and nopony could do the things he did today.

"You know something," Dusk started while parts of Armamollia's armor started to twitch from whatever unholy life being drain from it. Sparks of Dusk's magic flowed from his fist and into Armamollia's core. "I've should be thanking you…" Dusk moved his left hand to his right forearm, his magic becoming more concentrated within Armamollia's body, and building in power. "You reminded me what it means to never kneel down."

For one last time, Dusk and the metal monster locked eyes, but he didn't see it as such. Dusk saw a soul that never got the chance to live, a soul that could have made a huge difference. A poor hatchling, cursed by faith to have such a ghastly magic, and deemed an outcast in their family, could have used this puppet's soul as a friend, or guardian.

However, all can not work out in the world. "I'm truly sorry for not freeing you from that dragon-hunter. Fulgur clamorem." Dusk released all of the build up of lightning magic from his right hand and arm, causing massive discharges of purple, white, and black electricity to violently arch within Armamollia body. Massive voltages of electricity seeped from Armamollia's body arching around over the rest of his metal armor.

The intense purple light from the surge was enough to have everypony covering their eyes before Dusk ended the spell. Visible lines of ashy smoke seeped through the many cracks dents arraying its body, shock marks were easily pointed out on its body, and small sparks did remain arching in the dry heated air.

Dusk pulled his arm out of Armamollia's chest, causing an ear-piercing sound of twisting metal. Dusk turned to walk away from the non-living puppet, the gauntlets on his arms fading into a purple and white light, and flowing into the purple gem in his collar.

The gem and collar were both transformed from the magic within the two lights. Dusk's collar, which was originally just brown strap of leather, changed into a pure purple with white tribal décor engraved into the sides forcing the eye to lead to the purple gem with a white core and outline trim.

When Dusk started to take his first step away from the pile of metal, the sudden drain in his magic as well his dragon blood-line forcing its way through, caused him to suddenly collapsed to the ground.

Both Sketchy and Jinx quickly ran over to their lover's side while everypony else still stood in wide eyed expressions. While Jinx was doing anything she could to get Dusk to open his eyes, Sketchy wiped her head towards the element, and started to question all the stories she heard about the 'almighty' power of them.

"Well, what are all you ponies waiting for? Somepony go get a doctor and help us get him to the hospital," Sketchy order mostly towards the elements than anypony else. Twilight snapped out of her daze and started for the hospital to inform them of Dusk's arrival with Fluttershy and Pinkie in tow.

Applejack rushed over to help Sketchy lift Dusk's heavy weight while Jinx and Rarity looked for something to carry the halfbreed. They soon found a abandon cart on wheels that seemed to be big enough for them to use. Dusk was placed on the cart and pulled by an earth-pony stallion that volunteered to help.

Don't ever quit.

Ponyville; Ponyville Golden Care hospital

After finally making it to the hospital, Dusk was immediately taken to the intensive care unit for his physical and magical injuries. The news went from bad to worse when the doctor had diagnosed his condition to be a type of magic-fever that most magical cultures go through when they use too much magic in one go.

And it only got worse from there when he said that Ponyville, really, any hospital wasn't equip with the necessary tools to treat a halfbreed as Equestria had little knowledge of dragon arcane biology.

However as small, and very lucky, ray of hope came when Spike and Wolf suddenly showed up. When the two were questioned about their sudden appearance, Spike said that he and Wolf was digging for gems when they heard a series of explosive sounds coming from Ponyville.

Sketchy explained that Dusk had gotten into a bad fight and was now recovering, or at least trying to recover, but with the lack of knowledge of dragons Equestria had, she wasn't sure when he'll come out of it.

After asking where Dusk's room was, Spike didn't waste any time bolting straight for the intensive care unit to use his healing water technique. Thankfully, Twilight was able to convince the doctors to allow Spike through so he could perform the technique on Dusk.

Once Spike was in the room, he opened the water-pouch on his side to take a look at what state Dusk was already in, and just what needed attention. Seconds became minutes, minutes became hours for everyone in the room as Spike struggled to keep a grip on his magic long enough so he finish repairing the damaged magical-nerves in Dusk's body.

"How are we looking Spike," Wolf asked the drake, if Spike had a reason to be concerned for the half-blood, then he must have some connection to the twins. Spike didn't answer Wolf's question as he guided the orb of water over Dusk's body, tapping it where he could feel pulses of Dusk's magic against the sensitive stillness in the orb.

As Spike moved from Dusk's head and down, the halfbreed's body started to twitch in response as a sign of his slow recovery, but now still wasn't the time to celebrate. Come on Dusk, you're stronger than this. Let me see where your magic-nerves are. Spike continued the slow pace down Dusk's body, periodically tapping the orb, but stopped when a dull-purple flame started to grow on Dusk's chest. There that's the dragon's soul. Hang on Dusk.

Spike took in a slow breath as he carefully moved the orb over the small flame and whirled his hands around the sides of the orb. Soon, the orb started to copy the movement of Spike's hands, and glowing a bright blue and green.

Dusk took in deep breath as though he has been sleeping while unable to breath, and when he breath out, a small line of gray smoke flow out of Dusk's mouth, and into the orb of water. Spike waved his hands outwards once all of the smoke had left Dusk's body, that's when Dusk's eyes started to open.

"Done," Spike said as he moved the orb away from the dying flame on Dusk's chest but still kept the orb out to study the gob of pitch encased in it.

Dusk strained to sit up from the bed but was stopped by Jinx wrapping her arms around his neck. At first, Dusk's sense hadn't fully came back to him as the mare soft sobs went unanswered, but soon he registered her crying. "Jinx...s-stop crying already, I've fine aren't I?"

"No you're not," The mare shouted, forgetting that they were in a hospital, and forcing Sketchy to place a soundproof barrier on Dusk's room. "Dusk, y-you could have…" Jinx didn't have the strength to finish her sentence, fearing that it could happen if Saint ever returns to Ponyville. Dusk force his arm to move so he hold onto Jinx's head only serving to make her openly cry into his shoulder.

"Dusk," Sketchy started in a low and threatening voice that had everyone, including Wolf, fearing her for a moment while Dusk blankly moved his head towards her. "You never think do you?" Even if the question was meant to be a serious one, Dusk still managed to force out a chuckle. "You're lucky that princess Sparkle and the other elements were able to 'help' with beating that tin-can monster." Applejack was going to question why Sketchy spit out the would 'help' the way she did when she continued. "And you're really lucky that Spike was close by."

Dusk then looked over to the drake still holding the gray pitch in the orb and started to weakly chuckle. "Spike...you did what you needed?" Spike knew that Dusk wasn't talking about healing him and slightly nodded his head. "Good, hey you going to do anything with that?"

Spike raised an eyebrow, having no idea what to do with the sickly gray gob floating in the water shear. "What is it?"

"Pars animae, Half-soul. Basically, a small piece of my dragon soul that got overused, and I'm going to need that back." Dusk reached a hand out towards the orb of water and let out a quick spark towards the gray mass. The quick flash was enough to crystallize the gray pitch and some of the pure water into a small sky-blue crystal.

Dusk reached into what was left of the orb, pulled out the crystal, and tossed it up in the air. Everyone watched as Dusk's more dragon-like tongue shot out from his mouth to wrap around the crystal and pull it in his mouth.

He moaned in joy as his serrated teeth easily grinded the crystal into dust before swallowing it whole. Dusk could already feel his magic returning back to normal and was really grateful that Spike was of water-magic or he really would be in trouble. "Okay, now I'm better. Thanks for the save everyone."

"Anytime," Twilight stated, a little too quick for Sketchy's liking, but she somehow managed to hold her tongue. "So what was all that about anyway?"

Dusk's relief expression turned into a much more darker one followed with a thick cloud of smoke from his nose. "Dragon-hunter." All expected the elements flinched from the sound of the forbidden practice. "There was a unicorn stallion looking for a filly with some kind of odd magic, what ticked me off was the fact that he was a dragon-hunter, and a smug little bastard too."

"How can that be," Spike questioned, knowing full and a well about the unholy practice of Equestrian's past of killing every dragon and taking parts of their bodies as trophies, and even sometimes with highly skilled unicorn to be able to steal a dragon's elemental magic. "Celestia made that forbidden before the Nightmare Rebellion, how can…" Spike slowly stopped when he finally gathered the answer to his question while Dusk pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh,'" Dusk snorted slightly at Spike momentarily empty headedness. "And dragon-hunters aren't just a problem here. Back in the republics, my sister Verdite is a part of the Nightmare guard, and her and her squad had did a raid on a group of pony dragon-hunters. Let's just say, she was none too pleased."

Dusk could only imagine the blind fury on his eldest sister's face as she could make his magic look like it belonged to a hatchling. Just thinking of seeing the alpha dragoness in a rage forced a shiver down Dusk's spine at the mere thought. Especially since she had earth elemental-magic and could tear through a building with ease.

"So you have an explanation about this?" Dusk turned towards Sketchy, who was holding onto his collar.

"Is that my collar?" Dusk almost didn't recognize the gift his mother worked so hard to make him and his sibling when each one reached their tenth birthdays. No matter how much attention to detail is alpha hound mother has, there was no way she could have added the tribal décor, even if it was of ancient diamond dog symbols. The gem alone was enough to make him not believe it was his, no crystal, no matter how rare, has a white outline to it. "What happened to it?"

Dusk took the collar from Sketchy's hands to further examine it, only to furthered baffle by its new appearance. "Well," Applejack started, getting Dusk's attention, and pointing to her element hanging around her neck. "When ya came to save me and Rars from that tin-can's fist, your magic short of...fused with our elements."

"What?"

"It is true darling," Rarity started while Dusk was still trying to wrap his head around the fact. "Some of your sparks flew off into the elements and in returned fused with you magic." Suddenly, everyone in the room stopped their thinking to look dead at Rarity, and couldn't believe that she of all ponies had said something that sounded right. "What, it's the best I could think of."

Dusk started to chuckle, still too tired to argue with the mare's thinking, and soon started to see that it was right. "Oh man, mom is going to be pissed," he laughed, knowing that it wouldn't be right to keep this secret from his family back in the republics. "Well ain't this something...I'm an element apparently now. Though, no offense, I don't think I'll go under one of 'the' elements of harmony."

"Aww, why not," Pinkie asked, somewhat more cheerful now that she knows that neither twin was safe with Wolf. "It could be lots of fun. And…" While Pinkie went on listing every little thing that came to her head Dusk started to put on the collar, able to tune the hyperactive mare out, but still had troubles putting on the collar.

Jinx, who had already clam down by this point, helped Dusk with the rather simple task of fitting the strap in the back to the right loop. "Thanks Jinx," Dusk whispered while Pinkie somehow was giving a slide-show demonstration.

"And in twelve months everybody will had free ice-cream FOREVER!" A collective eye roll over came the group after Pinkie had just finished. "So will you do it?"

"As much as that 'sounds' awesome, I'll have to pass. I don't think whatever element I got will fit with you guys." Pinkie shrugged her shoulders, no point in making him join the elements if he didn't, and started to put up her emergency projector.

Wolf chuckled at the weirdness Spike and Quill had to grow up with, knowing that he wouldn't be able to take it for as long as they did. "Okay, after…that I think it's best if me and Spike started to head back." The elements quickly turned toward the diamond dog and drake pair as they planned to leave out the window. "Half-blood, you be careful. You have far much more to fight for than just your pride." Jinx quickly nuzzled against Dusk neck, forcing him to understand what Wolf was talking about. "Come on Spike, the others should be expecting us soon."

"Alright Wolf," Spike started with a nod before turning toward everyone else. "See all of around, I promise." Wolf hopped out of the first-story window with Spike close behind. Twilight and the rest of the elements walked over to the window to see both Spike and Wolf on all fours dashing back into Everfree.

"Spike," Dusk suddenly started, gaining the attention of the entire room. "Drake of no self-gain, Draco non sui quaestus, always looking out for the feelings of others over his own well-being." Dusk was deeply impressed at how selfless Spike was, willing to stay in a dangerous place like Everfree just so he could grow strong enough to protect everyone, but there was a price to this.

"If he isn't careful, it'll kill him one day." /-/  
/ The Elements of Definance/-/

High Moon Ch. 19: The Elements of Defiance

In Canterlot, news of the mysterious unicorn, the walking puppet, and of Dusk fusing some of his magic with two of the elements of harmony had reached the ears of Celestia as she called for a department meeting to discuss what should become of the new element and it's barer.

"I say we take the collar away from him," Major Endive started, not liking the sound of a dragon and diamond dog hybrid walking around with something that could be consider stronger than the actual elements. "If its just that than-"

Obsidian's hand slamming on the marvel table, gaining the attention of his superiors. "An alpha's collar isn't just 'that' and don't dare finish that sentence," he threatened, not caring if the pony knew what the collar really was meant to represent for every dog, or for the trouble that he could get in from speaking out of turn. "At any rate, we can't simply take the collar away from him, one: it is illegal, two: it goes against every tradition every diamond dog stands for, and three: I won't allow it."

"Why you disrespectful m-"

"Major." Endive stopped at the sound of Celestia's commanding voice, knowing that anything else she had to say would be bad for her. "As improper as Sargent Obsidian pointed out, we can not just take what rightfully belongs to him, and besides I think I have a plan that will suit everyone." All five department-heads awaited patiently for Celestia to speak her plan to them. "I propose that the halfbreed known as Dusk Flare become a part of the elements of harmony and be here out treated as one if he choose so."

The room became deathly silent, all considering the actually grand idea of a halfbreed as powerful as Dusk fighting on their sides, but all were broken when Obsidian let out a small chuckle. "Princess," he started before anyone could chew him out for laughing at Celestia's idea. "I fully agree with your plan, a diamond dog with dragon magic fighting for us sound too good to be true, but I doubt that he would want to fight under the name of 'elements of harmony.'"

Celestia raised an eyebrow towards Obsidian, as she didn't know what the citizens of the republics think about the elements of harmony. "Please tell me Sargent, why wouldn't Dusk Flare want to fight with that name?"

Obsidian let out another chuckle, leaning back in his seat, and holding up one finger. "For one, by the reports this kid is from the Lunar Republics right?" Celestia nodded her head as the letter from Twilight detailed the situation and profile of Dusk and his two mares. "Well I don't mean any harm, however, in the republics the name 'elements of harmony' is...poked fun of numerous of times, and I doubt that he wants to be the butt of the joke."

While everyone was expecting Obsidian to be chewed to bits, Celestia started to softly laugh. "Yes, my sisters have made me quite aware of the joke that floats around in their lands. So Obsidian, do you have an ideas what we should call this new type of element?"

"Nope," Obsidian quickly answered laying his hand down on the table with a chuckle. "But I do know that this half-blood would know something to call it. Also, on those line, I wanted to see if there's a way that I could somehow speak with him. If you'll let me."

Celestia closed her eyes to think upon Obsidian's request, it would make much more sense if one dog approached the other, and it could make Dusk more willing to cooperate with anything she needed him to do. On top of that, there still was the suit of heavy armor to deal with, and Obsidian's team was comprised of several well-train researchers that could further investigate the suit for any traces of the unicorn's magical signature.

"Very well, I and several of your researchers will company you to Ponyville where you will talk with Dusk Flare." Obsidian nodded his head, already listing off three of his top researchers in his head while Celestia continued. "Now that that is settled I think we should be discussing just how Dusk was able to absorb some of the element of honesty's and generosity's magic."

While musing over how a halfbreed was able to absorb some of the element's magic without it causing harm to him, Obsidian could feel the other department heads' eyes on him, which made him slightly uncomfortable. "What, is there still pieces of pork in my teeth?"

"Well, we were thinking," A large while earth pony, decked out in light-golden armor with a golden and blue mane comb back started. Obsidian and everyone else knows the pony as Lance Force, the general commander of the Solar guard, and head of the armory department. "Since you seem to know so much about dragons, much more than most of us here, I figured that you would know."

Again Obsidian let out a small chuckle, he should have guessed since he was from the only lands that had dragons freely moving about without them being the dominant race. "Well...I have heard of stories, more like small rumors around the dragon parts of the republics, but," Obsidian paused to gather his memory of the whispers he would hear in his days wandering the republics. "But, there are moments, small rare moments, where a dragon can absorb any sources of magic around them when their own magic is low." He paused again, this time his expression went from renascent to grim. "In fact, I may have 'witnessed' something like this without ever realizing it."

"And by that you mean…" Corporal Tempest lead on, wanting to know what the dog was talking about.

Obsidian took in a deep breath, which was let out as a weak, and fake chuckle. "Nothing leaves this room right?" Everyone cocked their heads at the dog's questioning of one of the most basic rules of the meetings; don't leak out information. Slowly, Corporal nodded his head, but still unsure where the dog was going. Obsidian sat back in his chair, and started to do something none of the department head and Celestia have ever seen him do; taking off his hand-bindings.

At the first snap of the arm-greaves, obvious black smoke-that of volcanic ash-spewed from the open spots, and faded at the first sign of light in the room. Celestia's eyes widened when they all were given the first sight of Obsidian's bare hands. Markings looking to belong to dragons crawled over a large portion of his arms, ending right before his forearms, and in the dead center, a skull shaped of a dragon's burned with a low sliver-red light.

Before anyone dare speak a word, Obsidian broke their thoughts, and answered their questions with one sentence. "I used to be a Fallen Saint contractor back in the republics." Endive and two other department head shot up from their seats in shock at the sudden revelation as Fallen Saints were known to be high-risk bounty-hunters throughout the republics. "Eight years I've thought of this to be a curse for my foolish ambitions, a punishment for betraying one of my closest friends, but now I see. Now I finally see that this was just a blessing from another Fallen Saint. Funny, I've feared it all this time for nothing."

Obsidian started to put on his arm-greaves again, the last sign from the dragon markings was a thin tail of smoke. "Freakily, I can live without them, and I'll continue to do so. Anyways, I believe what happen to me was the same thing that happen with Dusk, just in reverse." Celestia, who had mostly recovered from the shocking new from Obsidian, slowly nodded her head.

"Alright, that was rather...informative." Obsidian could hear the conflict in Celestia's voice, it'll take time, but soon everypony in the room will soon understand why he became a Fallen Saint. "Now for the final order of business, that mysterious unicorn with the 'shadow-magic' that was depicted in the report." All of the department heads pulled themselves out of their thoughts of understanding how a Fallen Saint was right underneath their noses for four years to listen to the remaining portion of Celestia's report. "It seems that whoever this pony is, he is looking for some kind of filly with 'odd' magic, and is now to be considered a threat along with any that are associated with him."

"Something tells me there's more," Lance started, knowing Celestia's thinking longer than any other department member. "Could we get a description of what we should look for?"

Celestia nodded her head in acknowledgment to the commander's request. "While the pony's face had yet to be seen, the most noticeable thing was the robes he wore. Pure jet black with silver ruins going along the edges. Be on the close lookout for anything like this." Every department head nodded their heads, knowing that it must have now been some occultists group out planning some kind of scheme. "If there are no more question, I want all of you to remain on standby until I have further orders, Sargent I want you and your team of researchers ready by the hour. You are all dismissed."

Each soldier started to file out of the room to leave to their respective department. Once out the door, Endive used her magic to create a sword to point at the back of Obsidian's head. One glance of the halls told Obsidian that he was free to speak without the rest of the guard finding out about his past. "Major E, what is it? I've got a team of researchers to put together in less than twenty minutes."

"Tell me mutt, you said those 'marking' are because of your own foolish ambitions." Obsidian turned his head back to find that none of the department heads had moved from their spots outside of the meeting door. All gazing straight at him as if he wasn't even the same dog as he was hours before. He couldn't resent them for their sudden caution. While Fallen Saints are sometimes revered as heroes or fools in the republics, in Equestria, the practice of bounty-hunting is frowned upon as must believe it takes away the need for the Solar guard.

"What were your true intentions?"

Obsidian closed his eyes and turned his head back around, just remembering how he acted, and viewed the world in his youth frightened him slightly. His cold treatment of others around, only act out of self-gain, and did anything possible to reach his goals. "At first...I had ill-intentions, only sought out for power, but that got me in a mess of trouble I don't want to relive." After a few more tense moments, Endive put away her sword, and started to walk past Obsidian.

"Then you better never give me a reason to start looking in your past, Fallen Saint," she whisper into his ear before walking down the hall to her own department's barracks.

Obsidian again turned his head with a blank stare back to the other department heads. "I can only assume the rest of you feel the same way," he said flatly before walking off to get everything situated for the trip to Ponyville. Obsidian walked through the halls, not believing how the other department heads are dealing with his past, but pushed the petty conflicts aside to get everything ready. Obsidian pressed a finger to his communicator earpiece to speak with Gizmo about getting the researchers ready. "Gizmo."

'Yeah boss-dog, what is it?'

"Have Trace, Notary, and Zela get ready for some work in Ponyville. And tell them I want it done two hours ago."

'Sure thing boss-dog, I'm on it.'

Ponyville; Golden Heart hospital

The flight to Ponyville was brief as Obsidian instructed the two unicorns, one mare the other stallion, and zebra mare what their assignments were. In order to find out just where the unicorn that attacked Ponyville fled to, they needed to find a trace of magical signature, and the sooner the better.

The three magical researchers were guided towards town hall where Armamollia's body still lay embedded in the broken wall, and was now acting as a support beam, making their job slightly more dangerous than they first thought.

Celestia and Obsidian were lead to the Golden Heart hospital where they met up with the elements and was lead to Dusk's room as he was getting ready to leave the hospital only after a few short hours of being their.

Once outside of his door, Celestia told the element that Obsidian alone will speak with Dusk and his two marefriends about the matter while they caught up on other important matters. As the mares left the hospital, Obsidian opened the door to find that Dusk to be a purple teenaged diamond dog dragon hybrid just like the reports stated. Along with his two marefriends Sketchy and Jinx.

"I can assume that you're Dusk Flare," Obsidian opened up as he walked into the halfbreed's room. Dusk looked away from the small number of paperwork that had to been read and signed for him to leave the hospital without any troubles. "Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Master Sergeant Obsidian, I am the head of the engineering department of the Solar guard, and if you want to keep your collar," Obsidian pointed to the purple collar around Dusk's neck. "I'm your new best friend."

Dusk sighed as he thought there would be more papers to sign or something nit picky like that. "Okay Obsidian, well what do you need of me?"

Obsidian took a chair from out of the corner and seat down in a slight sigh. "It isn't what I need of you. It is what the Solar crown needs, or better put, request of you." Dusk sat up in the bed, now more concerned about the situation. "You see, someponies here in Equestria would freak if they heard someone like you was walking around with power like you hold now."

"And by someponies you must mean the nobles of Canterlot," Sketchy cut in, surprising Obsidian at how quickly she was able to figure out his wording. "I fail to see how they can have any say what Dusk does with his element."

"Actually," Obsidian started, not sure how the halfbreed will react to what he'll tell him. "The elements of harmony are symbols of the Solar crown and basically everything Celestia tries to stand for. The nobles try following the same lead to make themselves look good." Dusk was going to question what Obsidian meant by all of this when he was stopped by the dog raising a hand. "So, it won't be long before nobles start 'offering' you things, and soon become a problem for you and your pack here."

Dusk sighed and looked over to both of his sides to see the worried looks on Jinx's and Sketchy's faces. "Okay, what should I do?" The last thing he wanted is for both of his mares to be caught in the mess of nobles pushing their ways into their lives.

"Good, now I'm going to give you three options, and I need all of you to stay calm until I explain every single one. Understood," Obsidian asked, getting a firm nod from each individual in the room. "Okay, your first option, give up your collar to the crown, and live a completely normal life." Dusk started to growl a little at the mere thought of giving up something his mother worked so hard to make specially for him but was able to remain calm with Jinx taking his hand. "Option two, become a part of the elements of harmony, and be called whenever Equestria needs you." This time, Sketchy wasn't the one to like the idea very much, and it showed in the glare she was giving Obsidian. "Finally, option three, you start your own band of elements, and you call the shots."

"My own elements? How would that even work," Dusk asked, having no idea what that would mean for him, or his mares.

Obsidian started to chuckle slightly, the situation was odd for all involved, but so is this true for everything that is new. "So as long you follow the laws of the land, whatever you want." The three lovers blankly blinked several times before Obsidian continued. "Look, not even Celestia knows what's going on right now, and I have a good feeling that you don't want to be a part of the elements. So, there's literally nothing stopping you from forming your own band of elements with your own beliefs behind them."

Dusk lay his head back against the head of the head of the hospital bed. His mind worked hard to figure out what he was going to do, the first option wasn't even an option, the second one...not gonna happen, but the third? Were do he begin? "My own elements and beliefs, huh?"

"Anything will do really," Obsidian started, wanting to help Dusk out as much as he could, and didn't want him to feel like he was being shoved into the dark alone. "Something you came up with yourself, teachings from home, family, friends, loved ones. Anything really."

Dusk closed his eyes to focus mainly on everything he stands for. Never giving up, not backing down from any challenge no matter how big it was, but knowing when you needed help and when you could stand on you own.

His father spoke of the same words to him and his siblings, the elder salamander's words-as blunt and sometimes mean as they were-always held truth in his heart. One word in particular was his father's favorite to call him: "Defiance." Dusk lifted his right hand as the door opened to Celestia and the elements. "The elements of defiance; resolve." The purple and white gem in the center of Dusk's collar started to shine a bright purple light before the metal gauntlet encased his right arm. Dusk chuckled a little, he would have never thought that his father's many insults would one day prove to be something worth wild. Maybe he'll send a thank you note explaining everything.

"The elements of defiance, starting with resolve," Obsidian mused with a slight chuckle of his own. "Alright works for me and if the rest of Equestria don't like it, then tough." Obsidian and Dusk shared a laugh while the soldier set the chair back into the corner. "Just remember, this doesn't change a single thing. You and your marefriends are still under the law, just like the rest of us, and if you ever think you can help out, you're free to do so."

Dusk returned the nod from Obsidian while his gauntlet went back into the gem in his collar. "I wouldn't have it any other way. Thanks, for you know, letting me keep my collar." Dusk touched the purple leather collar as it served to constantly remind him of his home and loving mother. No matter how many times she nearly cave his face in. "It means a lot to me."

Obsidian recognized the look in Dusk's eyes as he been through it for fourteen years. "To any dog it would. Stay safe half-blood, be smart, and protect your own. Till we met again," he started the traditional diamond dog farewells, which Dusk quickly returned.

"In the Winds of Time."

Obsidian nodded towards Dusk and started out of the room, briefly locking eye with Celestia, before heading out to check up on the research team. "Well Dusk Flare," she started, walking in the room, and waving off the three lovers' bows. "I must stay that is a very big step you've took here today. I want you to know that you have the support of the crown as well the other elements."

Dusk looked over to the bright faces of the elements, who all waved back to him. "That's awesome princess, thank you, but if its anything, can I please get out of here now. I really, really, really don't like hospitals."

Sketchy rolled her eyes and swatted Dusk's face with the small stack of paperwork in her hand "Oh quit your whining already, we're almost done with the paperwork," she said with a flat attitude but still sounding caring to the other two. "Now where were we?"

"Well I guess we'll leave you all to it," Celestia said walking out of the room with the elements following her out with a wave of the hands. Once all the mares were outside and started for town hall to met up with Obsidian, Twilight began telling everyone that Spike and Quill both showed up to the library the other day, and that they've been training for these last two months for reasons neither would tell.

However, while all the others showed their joy, Celestia remained silent, but still paid much attention. Sooner, than she would have though, all six of them were standing in front of the suit of armor that Twilight said Dusk insisted to be called by name; Armamollia. None of the elements could figure out why Dusk was so passionate with having the suit called by name but Celestia knew that it had to do with a diamond dog's respect of fallen adversaries.

Celestia eyes carefully examine the former walking puppet, pieces of its armor were melted to near unrecognizable levels, while the armor had cold off it still was now fused to town hall, and now was the only thing holding up the building. Two unicorn moved about the suit with caution, lest they a cause a sudden collapse with the weakened structure. Obsidian himself was speaking with a zebra mare, most likely getting a full report on what they had so far.

"Sargent Obsidian," Celestia called out, gaining the attention of both Obsidian and his zebra subordinate. The two gave a quick respectful bow before walking to met her. "What's the situation so far?"

"Zela." Obsidian waved over to the zebra mare as she adjusted her red-glasses and had a strictly business aura about her with her black and white mane tied back into a bun. "You want to handle this?"

"Of course Sargent," Zela said again adjusting her glasses. "Yes well, from what we actually can pick up that doesn't belong to the halfbreed is quite odd." Celestia raised an eyebrow, not liking the vague tone in Zela's voice. "It seems that there are massive amounts of black magic at play here, along with that dragon magic, however there's a third type of magic that we can't seem to understand."

Celestia crossed her arms to think about what was found out about Armamollia's artificial life. To not only find dragon magic within the suit, also black magic, that alone is enough to raise grim concerns, but what had Celestia truly worried was the unknown magic found.

"Notary is working on comparing different types of magic but she can only do so much out here without all the necessary equipment. Trace is still trying to pick up on whoever created the artificial soul magic that was used to bring the suit, known as Armamollia, to life. But, just like Notary, he is having troubles."

Celestia nodded her head, there was only so much that they could do with the limited resources available at the time. "Very well, continue what you can, and…"

Obsidian blinked several times, he could still see the princess and everyone else talking, but no sound would come from their mouths. Obsidian. His eyes started to wander around so as to not cause concern, he could have sworn that he heard a voice. A voice that he hadn't heard in eight years. Obsidian, we need to talk.

"What the-" Suddenly, Obsidian's vision went dark, and he started to collapse to the ground. Zela and Celestia tried to catch him before he fell backwards onto the ground, caught completely off-guard by his sudden fall.

Celestia knelt down trying to wake Obsidian up, even using her magic to see what became of him, but nothing was working. "Sargent, Sargent wake up, Obsidian!" Nothing. No response in any type of way. Soon Trace and Notary abandon their post to go see what was wrong with the dog they both equally respected. Celestia wiped her head towards the two unicorn, forcing them to stop when they saw signs of tears in her eyes.

"What the hell are you two waiting for? Go inform the hospital, that's an order!" Ignoring the fact that Celestia completely destroyed their thoughts of Celestia never using foul language, the two unicorns bolted straight for the Golden Heart hospital. "Obsidian please hang on, you have too much here. Sid!"

XXX

"Wake up mutt." Obsidian started to groan at the sound of a very gruff and scratchy voice and tried to go back to sleep when it spoke again. "Sid if you don't get up, I'll light your tail on fire again." This time, Obsidian's eyes snapped open as he finally fully remembered who the voice belonged to, and started to struggle to his feet.

Obsidian quickly took in his surrounding, a blank and grayish-almost completely black-plane, and turned to the source of the voice. "So mutt," A red and silver salamander dragon started, wearing nothing but a pair of black shorts, and sitting in front of a small bonfire with two tall bottles of some kind of alcohol. "How's living been? I hope you've enjoy these last eight years of yours."

"Gargoyle," Obsidian started, still not believing the drake to be sitting right in front of him with a happy smile. "W-what...how, how did this happen?" Just meeting the salamander in his volcanic-red eyes brought a wave on noxious sickness to Obsidian's stomach. "Y-you're dead, I saw it with my own eyes!" Gargoyle started to chuckle at Obsidian's predicted reaction, eight years and the dog still haven't changed much. "Gargoyle stop laughing this isn't-"

"Sid would you just calm down already," Gargoyle asked in a calm manner that went fully against the last moments the dog had with the drake. "I'll tell you everything over a drink, you're old enough now right?" Obsidian sighed, he knew better than anyone could have that the salamander wasn't going to do anything else until he got his way. "Come on mutt, we don't have all day."

"Fine," Obsidian again sighed before taking a seat across from his old, and very dead, friend. Gargoyle past one of the beers to Obsidian, who pop the cap off with his claw into the bonfire, and took a sip. Gargoyle followed suit and both sighed when the put their drinks down.

Neither one broke the crackling sounds from the bonfire lighting their small spot in the dark plane. Gargoyle allowed Obsidian these moments of silence, he knew the dog was still trying to understand everything that happen just now, and was far ill-prepared to meet a ghost from his dark past.

The silence spanned over the eight years Gargoyle had met his end during a job the two of them took together. No matter how much he wanted to forget the horrid memory of a dragon-hunter pricing Gargoyle's chest with a sword fused with another dragon's scales, Obsidian couldn't. Not with the markings on his hands always reminding him of his past ambitions to prove himself as his own dog.

Obsidian couldn't forget the burning rage towards the unicorn dragon-hunter or towards himself for getting the one being he trusted killed. How could he? It was that day he learned what the sounds of crushing skulls, ripping flesh, and ponies coughing on their own blood sounded like. It was the day he finally realized that power wasn't all that it was meant to be. It was the day he truly learned the cost of power was.

Every day, after Obsidian had to bury the salamander with his own hands, Obsidian would go completely out of his way to help others. Not for the recognition, or the words of thanks from others, but as a means of repenting for his sins.

He knew nothing he could do would ever repay the debt or guilt that hunted him, not like he deserved it anyways. Obsidian looked up from the ground, only to find Gargoyle's eyes still deadlocked on him, and with that same smile on his face. "Eight years, its been eight years. Why aren't you trying to kill me, Gargoyle?"

"Because," The salamander started, taking another swig of the strong dragon-made alcohol. "You've made it. You reached our dreams. A life of peace, happiness, and love that's returned. Why would I try to end that?"

Obsidian dropped his head again, staring into the ruby liquid. "It isn't my life to live, I should have been the one to die that day. Not you," he answered, looking back up expecting Gargoyle to be angry with him, but only got the same smile on his face. "Why have you brought me here, of all times, you picked a pretty bad one."

"Well you always said I have poor timing," Gargoyle joked, sharing a laugh with an old close friend. "Anyways, I've brought you here to tell you this: stop fighting it." Obsidian's body tensed up, already knowing what the talk was going to be about. "Sid, you shouldn't run from your past, or hide the choices that you've made. There's no honor in that." Obsidian turned his head down to the ground in shame, ever since he gotten to Equestria, he all but spoke of his true past.

In fact, only Celestia, the other department heads, Gizmo, and Sky knew of the markings on his hands also of his past as a Fallen Saint. Of the many souls he and Gargoyle ended for money and other self-gain. The only think he hadn't spoken of was the last time he seen his old friend amongst the living.

"You can't keep running forever Sid, you'll run your life away if you do that, and from what I have seen, you got far too much to allow that to happen." Obsidian slowly raised his head towards Gargoyle, the same soft friendly smile, the only one that he knew him to have unless they were on a job. "I'm telling you this as a friend, only cowards run from the truth, and I know you're not some coward." Obsidian nodded his head, knowing arguing with a ghost that not only was right, but was speaking from his hollowed heart wasn't smart. "So stop running from it and just embrace my legacy I've gave you. Put my fire and earth-magic to use already."

Obsidian looked down to his black work gloves, which were being lighted by the markings on his hands, and nodded his head. "Alright, I'll try, but there's just something's that I need to do on my own." Gargoyle nodded his head, knowing that Obsidian was talking about the secret project he's been working on for the last five years. "But I still got to ask, why now? Why, after eight years of pure silence, you choose now to speak with me?"

"Because," Gargoyle started, his voice growing dark, and the smile changing into the same harden look from their old Fallen Saint days. "There's a change in the winds Obsidian, the scent of foul intentions, and those of pleading ones, are flowing around you. I wanted you to be aware of this, all of you should. Old shadows will fall upon your home, ready yourself Sid, and embrace who you are."

Obsidian started to chuckle, not at Gargoyle's words, but the fact it took a ghost for him to understand something so basic. "Okay, thank you old friend. I promise, I won't waste this last moment together." Gargoyle and Obsidian raised there drinks high in the air, Obsidian didn't know why, but it felt like this was the final time he'll ever see the salamander again.

That's okay.

"Cheers, old friend."

Gargoyle smiled again, though it looked weak, but still pushed on. "Goodbye Obsidian, stay true to your word, and never go back on it." The two shared one last drink before the bonfire in front of the both of them went out, ending the small light in the plane.

Golden Heart hospital

Sounds of hospital monitors, keeping Obsidian's steady heartbeat in close check, slowly reached his ears as his eyes started to open. He wasn't surprised to find the first thing he saw was the white ceiling or that Luna and Nightmare had already risen the moon and stars.

Memories of the 'dream' he had of speaking with an old friend started to slowly flow back into his head. A soft smile stretched across his lips, eight long years of blaming himself for what happened, and all of it was for nothing. Gargoyle didn't hold any malice towards his own mistakes all those years ago. Be it a mere dream, or hopeful wish, Obsidian didn't care.

Just knowing that Gargoyle's spirit wasn't angry was enough for Obsidian. There wasn't a need to go knocking on the tardis gates to go looking for the salamander just to hear the same thing.

Obsidian started to sit up in the bed and move his hand to his face. Soon after that, the door opened up to Celestia and his three department members. Each one quickly filed into the dimly lit room, none breaking eye contact on the dog as he took a moment to gather his bearings. Celestia soon placed a hand on Obsidian's shoulder to get his attention. "Obsidian?"

Her word seemed to be enough to get Obsidian to look at her, slightly displeased that she was in half of the state she was when the twins went missing two months ago. "Princess," Obsidian started with a chuckle as he started to undo the straps to his gloves. "You shouldn't worry yourself over me that much. I was just sharing one last drink with an old friend, that's all." Obsidian removed the gloves, shocking his three subordinates of the dragon markings on his hands, but remained quiet as the all knew of the hard life Obsidian lived.

Celestia couldn't help but closely examine the thin lines that wrapped around his hands, going into a sharp and jagged spiral until the reached the center of the back of his hand where they from a dragon's skull. The lines and the beeping of Obsidian's heart monitor were in perfect synth with one another as the markings pulsed with a sliver-red light.

Obsidian looked towards the window next to his bed to confirm that it was indeed nighttime as pale-blue moonlight entered through the window. "Seems that I was out for quite sometime wasn't I," Obsidian joked despite the worried expressions on the ponies' faces.

Celestia moved her hand from Obsidian's shoulder and took a seat in the chair next to him. However, Obsidian didn't met her gaze as he kept his eyes on the markings glowing on his hands. "Obsidian, are you okay?"

"Yes," Obsidian started raising his right hand to gaze the dragon's skull symbol on the back of it. "In fact, I haven't felt this good in years. Well menus a few moments, but still, I'm fine."

"You sure Sargent," Trace questioned, not really knowing much about Obsidian, but still was concerned for him. "From what the doc told us, you have magic...overtaking your body, and for unicorns that's dangerous. Who knows what it can do to a diamond dog."

Obsidian moved his hand to his shaggy black hair to run his fingers through it. "Then its time I learned how to use it. I can't keep running from my past, or the choices that I've made, and I don't have any plans to any more." Obsidian pulled the bed covers off and started to leave the hospital when Celestia stopped him.

"That's all great Obsidian, but you do have to stay the night here until you're released." Sighing, Obsidian sat back in the bed, and shared Dusk's dislike of hospitals. "Then if everything is truly alright, I suppose we'll take our live, and be back by tomorrow morning." Obsidian gave Celestia a slight wave of the hand with a nod.

"Notary, tell Gizmo that-"

"Already did Sargent," The dark-blue mare started with a smug attitude. "Just get some rest, we still got some work to do tomorrow, and this time you're not getting out of it by passing out." Obsidian rolled his eyes waving the three off so he could speak with Celestia in private. The three gave a final salute before stepping out of the room to get ready to head back to Canterlot.

Obsidian waited for a moment, making sure that the three researchers were out of earshot before starting. "Princess, have you ever thought that someone long to be dead, hated you?" Celestia glanced into he unreadable look in Obsidian's glowing silver night-vision, she had an answer, but she didn't want to admit it. "Eight years, I've thought dead friend of mine heated me even into the grave, but I'm wrong. I don't rightfully understand why, anyone in his position as the right to hold a garage, but he didn't."

"Obsidian," Celestia started after taking in a slow breath. "I've lived for generations, I've seen far too many fall before me, and I know that not all of them were...happy with the choices I've made." Celestia sat next to Obsidian, just being next to the dog was enough to push most of the unwanted memories away, but she still continued onwards. "The worst I've could have done was allow any of them to continue to affect the choices I make to this day. I don't know what life you lived as a Fallen Saint, we all have the right to keep secrets, but don't allow that past to affect your future."

"Thank you princess, good night." Obsidian and Celestia shared a hug before she stood up from the bed and made her way out of Obsidian's room. Now stuck until morning, Obsidian laid back down to the bed, and closed his eyes. "And goodbye old friend, I'll never forget you, and all the things you've done for me." /-/  
/ Ch. 20: Change of Pace/-/

High Moon Ch. 20: Change of Pace

Hours have long since past after Wolf and Spike had returned to High Moon. When Blazed asked about the explosions, Spike told her a new friend of his named Dusk Flare had gotten into a fight with a unknown unicorn using some odd magic, and a suit of armor.

Quill quickly asked if the halfbreed was alright, after fighting him personally, she knew whoever this pony was must have been pretty strong to take him on and walk way. Spike waved his sister's worries off by telling her that he was able to use some healing water magic to fix most of the damage to his magic and body that happened.

However, when Spike told her that Dusk had became an element as a result of the fight, Quill nearly lost it. Not in anger, mind you, but in laughter at the thought of a male like Dusk fighting under the name 'element of harmony.'

Frost curiosity reached a peek at her lover's mad laughter and she asked just who he was. Spike and Quill took turns telling everyone about Dusk and his two marefriends, also of the large amount of knowledge he has about dragons, and the sparring match Quill had with him.

Wolf started to take further interest in Dusk, seeing how the twins reacted towards him, got him thinking that the half-blood could be of use some day. Blaze thought it was quite interesting that he was a dragon and diamond dog halfbreed, from knowing a lot about dragons, and knowing about diamond dog's strength from Wolf, she imagined that he was not someone to cross. Lily thought that it was good that the twins could have someone else besides Frost to relate to with dragons.

The conversation soon changed, only after Quill said she just had to pay a visit to the halfbreed's house. Most likely to make fun of him. Spike had already started to cook dinner, with the help of Frost, who was surprisingly an adapt cooker.

Once food was served, everyone started to each, and enjoyed the time in their own ways. Spike sat at the dinner table with his sister and marefriend as he used the pause on his water-magic to learn more about the oddly many properties that Poison Joke had. Wolf took a seat at Blaze's worktable to go over with Lily what was left to build in the city, what needed repairs, and what needed to be sealed off for the time being. Blaze, who was sitting in Wolf's lap, was working on some more homemade soap as another dip in the falls was starting to become closer.

Frost and Quill sat across from Spike and started to dig into the soup Spike showed Frost how to make, the two continued to stay in close embrace with each other. As Quill continued to cast a worried look towards Spike, Frost felt it coming from her, and knew that the two for them needed to think of something to help Spike with his ghost heart.

She started to think back every time another scorpio would fall underneath the same fait Spike is going through. The one thing each case had in common was self-conscious doubt about the world around them. Then she started to think of the times scorpios were actually able to get the ghost heart under control.

Soon, an idea sparked inside of her head, but she wasn't so sure if it would exactly work. Her plan involved learning more about Spike, specifically all of his goals, then she would be able to figure out the best way to help out. No doubt the others had thought of the same thing by now.

It was a sure-fire plan, the best way to lift any's sprites is them achieving one of their goal, but the only problem was that Spike was a very reclusive drake. Nowhere near as self-confident as Quill, then again, no one could be. However, in order to get any progress done, she'll-and the others it seemed-would have to find someway to get Spike to open up more offend.

While her lover schemed on ways to help out Spike, Quill too was thinking of ways to help with Spike's ghost heart. If what everyone says is true, and Spike's body was far too behind his magic, then she'll have to find a way to get Spike's head out of the books and get him running.

She could just drag him along with her and Wolf while they are out doing things, or maybe even ask Frost if she could make sure he is working on rebuilding the city ruins. Whatever they could do to help, she was willing to try out, even if it took her back to Ponyville a few times. Quill didn't want to risk losing her brother to becoming a wyvern.

The mere thought of losing the only blood-related family she ever known would cause her to lose it. Quill wasn't going to allow Spike to continue hiding in the shell of his former self and she knew the others wasn't going to allow the same thing.

Eventually, dishes was washed and put away, and it was time for everyone to start heading towards their respective places of sleep. Spike grabbed his stuff sitting in the corner of the room and ran over to the arcane slab door leading towards the city ruins.

Blaze waved towards Lily and the other three as they started to leave the temple while the soap for tomorrow was now sitting on an open fire. "Night Lily, Spike, Cinder, and Peewee." The four waved back before the slab door started to close.

Quill stretched out her wings, not believing she actually sat around all day thinking. "Well guess we should turn in," she said, getting up from her seat, and leading Frost over to the arcane door to their room. "Night Wolf and Blaze." The couple waved the two off as Quill opened the door with her fire-stone wrist braces.

Once it was closed, Blaze let out a long sigh, and Wolf knew what it was for. "So you're worried too huh," Wolf asked, wrapping his arms around Blaze's waist, and scratch her stomach with his claws. "You know, Spike is a lot stronger than we've gave him credit for."

"And that's what got me worried," Blaze replied, nuzzling her head against Wolf's for reassurance. "Wolf, if we can't get this ghost heart under control, one day Spike will start lashing out against everything around him." The information caught Wolf off-guard slightly, the thought of Spike senselessly attacking everything around him did cause some concern, but he knew better than to count the drake out just yet. "We've got to do something."

"Well, I've already told him that he's free to join up with me and Quill for training, but something is telling me that it's not enough." Wolf's guess was answered with a long droning sigh as well as a shake of his mare's head. "Then what else?"

"Spike needs to see what it means to strive for something. He needs a purpose, not one for others, but one he strives for himself." Wolf felt Blaze shaking a little and started to kiss the side of her neck to keep her calm. "He needs self-respect. He needs something he wants to fight or."

Wolf remained silent, thinking about what Blaze was talking about. The both of them knew of the twins' desire to be strong enough to protect each other along with them, Lily, and now Frost. As noble that motive is, they still needed something for them to strive for on their own. Quill already made it very evident that she want's to prove herself by becoming as strong as she could also learning as much about dragons as she could.

However, Spike didn't share that same ambition. In fact, the drake didn't have any ambitions of his own. All he ever want's to do is help out anyone he can. Selfless, sacrificial, and without...geed.

"Blaze," Wolf started after silent moments of thought. "Do you think he's afraid of his dragon-greed?" Blaze turned her head slightly to throw Wolf a questioning look. "The twins' did say that they pulled out of their greed-growth about a few years ago. So would you think that Spike is afraid of going through the same thing?"

Blaze paused for a moment, a dragon's greed was essential for them, but too much and it forces them to lose control of themselves. Also a dragon's greed is what make dragon's protective of things they hold precious. What they deem worthy of protecting was up to them and the way the lived.

The twins' old lives seemed to have thought them good morals, which was important, however a dragon's greed is even more so. It allowed a dragon to become close with another that has a shorter lifespan than them. It forces a dragon to strive to become stronger and it gives them something to be cautious about so they don't overdo it.

For her it seemed odd to fight off ghost heart with greed. However, greed is what give a dragon purpose in life, and that's exactly what Spike needed right now. "I suppose...let's wait on that though, first his body needs to get used to the amount of magic his dragon's soul holds, then we can work on that," Blaze answered with a slight yawn towards the end, of which Wolf chuckled at knowing that she was busy making a list of spells she wanted to teach Quill.

"Go on and go to sleep Blaze, I'll watch the fire," Wolf said which was rewarded with a quick kiss on the cheek and a nuzzle from his mare as she turned to rest her head on the side of his neck. Once Wolf was sure Blaze was asleep, he let out a droning sigh. Things were only going to get from bad to worse and there was only so much that they could do for the twins.

They'll make it through, I'm sure of it.

While the couple sat in Blaze's work area, Frost laid on top of Quill, both dressed in some of Quill's shorts and old t-shirts, and she explained her plan to help Spike out with his ghost heart. "So...if we know what Spike want to do with his life then we'll be able to help him better," Quill asked after Frost explained her plan to her.

"Not better, but it would help him focus towards a goal of his own. Also Quill I want to ask," Frost started, locking eyes with Quill as she was about to ask a rather sensitive question. "Now I know you're not a virgin."

Quill started to giggle, surprising Frost when she grabbed onto her flanks, and pulled her in for a quick kiss. "You know that," she said pulling back from the kiss with a smug attitude, even if the kiss lasted only a few seconds, Frost could feel her knees growing weak when she was reminded how strong and aggressive Quill is. Frost had to fight through instincts from diving right back in for more.

"R-right," she finally answered after a moment of regaining control over her mind. "But I wanted to know, is Spike, well you know...a virgin?" Quill flatly stared into Frost's eyes, both illuminating in their respective purple and blue, and Frost couldn't sense any emotions coming from Quill. Which scared her a little but was relieved when Quill started to laugh. "Quill I'm serious, this is important for Spike's health."

"O-okay...wait I think I'm going to-" Quill stopped her laughter when she looked at the flat expression on Frost face and soon returned back to a more appropriate manner. "Alright, sorry it was just I didn't see that one coming, but as far as I know Spike is still a virgin. Why, we don't have to set him up with someone do we?"

Frost shook her head, she too didn't like the thought of playing cupid with Spike's heart. "No, nothing like that, I just wanted to know is all. So what are Spike's goals?" Quill placed a finger on her chin in thought, thinking on the many things Spike does, and did.

"Well, back in Ponyville, if he wasn't helping with the library, he was at Rarity's trying to win over her heart. Here he been working on his magic and potion-making. Really, I don't know if he as a goal for himself to strive for, but what does it really matters? I don't really have something to work towards in the future besides becoming stronger."

"That's easy," Frost started in a matter of fact tone, sitting up in Quill's lap, and running her fingers over her exposed abdomen. "You, Quill, don't need to see into the future. The way you live is in the present, not the past, and not the future." A bead of sweat started to go down Quill's head when Frost started to lick her lips and grind her hips into hers. "For you there's only a here and now, tomorrow doesn't exist until it comes, and the past have no mean as long you never give up." Frost's eyes started to glow brighter, much more than her night-vision, and her horn as well started to spark to life. "You're far too strong to be tied down by regret or fear; not even ghost heart can bring you down."

Frost started to trail her hands upwards to Quill's breasts as well moving down to her neck, fangs at the ready, and dripping her neurotoxin as like it is her lust for Quill's power. "Um, Frost," Quill broke through Frost's changeling mating instincts right as her fangs touched on Quill's neck. "We still need to focus."

That's when Frost realized that she had let her instincts momentarily take control and quickly removed herself from Quill's neck. "Heh, sorry about that. Mating instincts and the like…" Quill started to giggle at the blush on Frost's face as her hiding behind her blue mane only made her look cuter in her eyes. "Anyways, what I said was true. Quill you're just too headstrong to think about the future."

"Well, that's because I can deal with whatever problem I face then." Frost giggled a little as she had a feeling that's what Quill was going to say. "So what you're saying is that Spike don't think of the here and now?"

"From what I could gather so far." Frost didn't want to make any assurances just yet about Spike, what she has seen was rather limited and didn't reveal much about his character. However, from the way Quill and the other feel about him, she could tell that Spike was one to think things through. "I'm not saying he is indecisive but he lacks drive to step out of his comfort zone. Then again, we all do."

Quill had to agree with Frost, even she had troubles doing something that was far out in left field, and there were still something's she hated to do. "Okay, but it's not like we can change Spike's whole outlook on life." Frost nodded her head in agreement as she laid her head back over Quill's heart and wrapped her arms around her. Quill returned the embrace also wrapping most of Frost's upper body in her wings. "Everything is going to be alright with Spike, right Frost?"

Frost could feel the worry dripping from every word in Quill's voice, concern only for her brother's life. She looked up through Quill's wings, only to find that her face was showing as much as worry in her heart. "Yes, he is Quill as long as he have someone like you backing him and he never gives up on himself, he will make it through." Frost moved up to met Quill's lips in a quick kiss, this time she didn't have to fight off any instincts as this kiss was one of pure love for the dragoness. Soon, the two lovers parted to gaze into the shine in their eyes. "You'll see Quill, Spike is much tougher than we are giving him credit for."

High Moon, city ruins

After saying goodnight to Lily, Spike laid on his bed with his right hand above his head, and gazed at the pale-yellow gem. In one day, his whole routine had to been changed so he wouldn't be consumed by the ghost heart. Now he had to rethink everything he's known and done in High Moon. All because he doubts himself...really, it might because he comparing himself to Quill.

It made sense, back when they started their magic training, Quill had always been ahead of him, and when he finally thought he had the advantage Quill again would prove him deathly wrong.

Maybe it was the way he went about his training. He sat around and meditated for hours before he could construct a technique of his own while Quill just used trial and error. But that's not Spike's thing, he couldn't just go at it like that, it didn't…feel right.

"It can't be easy for everyone…" Spike didn't know how much he'll be able to believe in these words much longer. "Ghost heart." Fear and doubt, that's what Spike though about these two words. From what everyone has told him so far, it only spawned because he doubts himself. Well, now is the best time to change that. "I won't lose."

So, the little drake is growing a backbone? Spike hardly paid much attention to the cold harsh voice of his ancestor, he can't rightfully remember the first time he heard the voice, and right now he didn't really care. What's the matter drake? First you're pipe dreams of that...mare ends, then you stop trying to be that 'shining knight,' and here you are saying you won't lose to something that's killed drakes much more powerful than you. What a joke.

"Oh why don't you just go away," Spike said, sitting up in the bed. "You're my ancestor, so shouldn't you be helping out rather than doubt me at every corner?"

Ha, ha, ha...just why should I do that? You seem to be just fine on your own. Gha, hah… Spike sighed at the cruel tone in his ancestor's voice, he knew so far he hadn't done that much. Without his water-magic, Spike was nothing but a potion-maker while Quill could still hunt and fight off intruders with her fire-magic. How does it feel to be the end of everyone's joke? Always being behind your sister, in everything? To never know what real power means?

"So," Spike snapped back at the cackling voice of the elder drake. "I'm not doing all of this to become stronger anyways. Why would I care if I'm weak or not?" Spike comeback was only met with more mocking laughter. "Know what? I just don't care what you have to think. Lily and the others believe in me and that's all that matters any more."

Ha, yeah right. Listen to me drake they are-

"No you listen to me," Spike shouted, hopping off the bed as though he was actually yelling at someone in the room. "My friends...my family cares and supports me, without them I have nothing, and there isn't anything you or anyone else can say or do about that. I don't know what kind of life you had, it must have been a lonely one, but don't try bringing me down the same pit you've allowed yourself to fall in."

Spike stood at the end of his bed waiting for his ancestor to say something, most likely another comeback, but got nothing for a long moment before it spoke again. See here drake, It started in a grim hollow tone however Spike didn't fatter under it. I've lived much longer than you pathetic excuse of a life and I have seen countless fall before me. What makes you so different?

"I have others that believe in me, that want me to succeed, and more importantly I believe in myself." Spike could feel his ancestor trying to speak up again but he didn't want any of it. "I don't need your approval whether I am truly living or not." Again, only silence ringed throughout Spike's head as his ancestor took a moment to muse over the growing drake.

Fine, it finally started with a chuckle that for once wasn't a mocking one. You want to know what it is like to really live like a dragon, here you go. Spike cocked his head in bewilderment before an unbearable pain ripped across his body, bringing him to his knees. I hope you know what you're doing, `cus this is the last time I'll try.

Spike vision went completely dark moments after the voice had left his head. This night, he didn't dream, and he wasn't trapped with the ghost heart threatening to kill him. This night, he slept a blank sleep, one that was completely forgetful. Almost making him question which was reality and which was dream.

The next morning

The bright light from the sun seeping into the cracks along the windows forced Lily to wake up with a stretch of her transparent wings. Each of the shining butterfly wings shimmered with a rainbow colored light as her body absorb as much magic from the sun as she could before her long day would start.

This was her everyday morning ritual, wake up, take in as much magic from the early sunlight, get dressed, and go about her day. She had done this for the last nine years, the only change was the twins' sudden appearance in High Moon two months ago, but everything mostly have stayed the same.

Spike quickly became independent after he found his own routine to follow every morning. Neither phoenix would move until she or Spike wake them and Spike rarely interrupt their sleep.

Sliding out of the bed, Lily used the covers to hide most of her tall slender body. She may usually still have the mornings to herself but the thought of Spike walking in on her while she getting dressed, and the thought of him finally losing control of his dragon instincts, made her wary of being too free.

However, she had to drop the shield that was her dusty cover so she could actually pick something out. Just the thought of the young drake accidentally walking in on her and then having his way with her, caused a bright blush on Lily's cheeks.

No. She knew better to think that Spike would allow his instincts to take over like that, but still… No, no, and if anything Quill was more likely to lose control before Spike. Lily quickly got dressed in a dark-green robe, going down the length of her upper thighs, and ending right at her knees. At the suggestion of Quill and Blaze, Lily finally decided to change up the way her while mane was.

Quickly buzzing her wings behind her, Lily created a small mirror floating in front of her, and started to brush out her mane. After always having it in a bun at the top and the rest falling down, she didn't really have any ideas for what to do with silky long mane. "I wonder if Blaze would have any ideas," she openly asked herself before just tying it up with a black alligator-leather strap.

Lily started to walk out of her room to see if Spike was up and ready to head over to the temple. When she got to the drake's room, she knocked on the door, and hoped he remembered that he was supposed to be taking it easy with his magic training for awhile "Spike, Spike sweetie are you up?"

"Yeah I'm just getting dressed, I'll met you in front of the tunnel in a sec," Spike called back from behind the door. Lily nodded her head and started for the pallor room to wake the phoenixes before heading to the tunnel leading to the temple.

"Cinder, Peewee, it's time to wake up," Lily called out to the support beams and many nests that started to form along them. Soon, both the purple/black and orange/red phoenixes were out of their shaded nests, and flew down to her shoulders. The both of them nuzzled against Lily's head with a cheerful screech. "Well, you two are cheery this morning," she laughed as she started for the mansion doors to wait at the arcane slab-door.

Once outside her wings started to shimmer even more as she absorbed more of the sun's rays into them. Lily did this not only to recharge her magic but also to giver her that extra...huff to get her through the day. For flutterponies, the sunlight was like an energy drink without any harmful levels of sugar, but the one downside to this was the large mood swing she suffers when the sun goes down for the night.

Without its light, Lily feels...drained and very tired, and it was the main reason she didn't enjoy being up late at night. Thus far, she hadn't had to deal with anything like it besides when she found the twins out in Everfree. Other than that, she been able to keep her magic levels in her body normal, and any chance she gets to absorb more sunlight the better.

Like now as she stood in front of the tunnel door while the two phoenixes resumed their flying game, and from the looks of things, Cinder was in the lead. Lily giggled as Cinder suddenly banked left, cutting Peewee off, and making him run into a low hanging cloud.

Cinder circled back to a large tree branch near the lake Spike mediated at while Peewee flew back towards her. Once perched, Cinder shot Peewee a smug victorious look as Spike finally started to make his way up the hill.

"Ready to go," Lily asked the drake, noting that he didn't seemed to be under any effects of his ghost heart, and that he was awfully well-dressed considering the normal day that's ahead of him. Spike nodded his head while the two phoenixes flew over to his shoulders.

Soon, the four started to make their way through the tunnels to the temple, and both Lily and Spike were going over what they had planned for the day. Lily wasn't too surprised when he said that he wanted to tag along with Quill and Frost to visit Dusk in Ponyville. From what he and Quill have said about the halfbreed, he did sound quite knowledgeable about dragons, and also he quite nice to the two of them.

While the twins and changeling mare where out, Wolf had plans to push further into the ruins, but to do this he was going to need Blaze fire magic to light the way and Lily's ability to make stronger shields than unicorns. In fact, the three have been planning to do this for quite some time, but the addition of a changeling prompted Wolf to up the expected time of exploration.

Spike didn't waste a moment of thought before he said that he'll make sure he and the others would be back in time to help out as much as they could. Lily tried to wave the drake's offer off, knowing that it wouldn't be quite safe for all of them to be in uncharted regions of the ruins, but Spike continued to insist to where he was begging Lily.

After a moment of thought Lily gave in his pleas and said that she'll talk about it with Wolf to see what he thought. Soon, the four finally made it towards the arcane slab blocking Blaze's work area, and Lily opened it with her firestone necklace.

Both Peewee and Cinder flew towards the perch hanging above the smoke chamber as their food was already set by Quill while Frost and Blaze were fixing some breakfast. "Morning, Lily and Spike," Blaze started sliding a bowl of sliced fruit towards the both of them. "The both of you slept fine last night?"

"I did," Spike quickly answered, tossing a piece of fruit in the air, and catching it in his mouth. Frost, who was walking by, sensed the falseness in Spike's emotions, but thought against saying anything lest it cause difficulties for the drake. "So where's Wolf," he asked, noticing the dog's absents from the room.

"Oh he woke up quite earlier to borrow rope from Zecora," Blaze answered, taking a seat down in front of Lily, and started to eat. "So Spike you going with Quill to Dusk's house in Ponyville?" Spike nodded his head while his mouth was full of fresh fruit. "Well, alright just be sure to be heading back before it gets too late, Wolf said that he has some more work for you, or something like that."

Spike opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by Quill. "We will," she quickly answered, flying down from the birds' coop, and downing the rest of her bowl. "Come on lead-feet, I want to get their as soon as we can." Everyone watched as Quill flew over to the dish container and placed her blow in it. "Oh man, I can't wait to see the look on Dusk's face."

Spike rolled his eyes while Frost giggled at her lover's silliness and soon all three were heading out towards Ponyville after saying goodbye to the others. Once outside, they ran into Wolf, and told him that they should be back by nightfall. After giving them a quick warning about how dangerous Everfree is at night, Wolf allowed the three to start making their way towards Ponyville.

While his sister and marefriend took to the skies, Spike ran on all fours quickly becoming used to running like this, and was able to keep up with the two above. Right before they reached the border between Everfree and Ponyville, Frost changed into her dragoness form so no issues would come up about it.

She and Quill landed on top of a building while Spike used his claws and tail to scale the wall. "So Spike, um…" Quill's eyes scanned over Ponyville looking for any signs of the halfbreed or his mares but didn't find either one. "Just where do Dusk live anyways?"

"Well, when I went to Twilight's the other night, I think he turned right from the center of town. So I guess somewhere over there," Spike vaguely answered only faintly remembering all the events from two days ago.

"Great, come on." Quill spared her wings again, taking flight into the air, and started for the direction Spike pointed out with Frost in tow. For a moment Spike didn't know what he was going to do, then he saw that the buildings were close enough to where he could jump across.

Not the safest way but the best to keep up with Quill. Spike backed up to the edge before taking off towards the row of buildings in front of him and leaping across. Thankfully he made it across the first roof and easily made it across the others. Once the row ended, Spike started to run on all fours to add more power to his jumping so he would make it to the next block.

All of the ponies outside watched in awe as the three dragons made it through the block before landing back on the ground. "Okay," Spike started, breathing a little heavily. "That, that was fun." Quill flashed Spike a bright smile while Frost just giggled as they started to make their way down the street.

For the most part, Quill was able to ignore the ponies curious looks, because she knew their only paying her any kind of attention now because of the elements. Spike had a little more trouble doing the same thing as some of the looks held a sense of malice behind them; no doubt for the elements falling apart slightly.

Frost had it worse than the other two. Being a changeling she could actually feel the collective emotions coming from the small town goers. Most were questioning the twins' sudden appearances, others held malice towards them, and some were wondering who she was.

This scared her the most, if anypony figured out her true identity, she and Quill would face the wrath of Equestrian's bitterness towards the changeling race. Frost have heard whispers that Celestia tried to work something out but other than that she wasn't sure what to believe.

Quill noticed Frost's shifting eyes and wrap a wing around her to act as a shield from questioning eyes of Ponyville. Once Spike figured out what Quill was doing, he started to walk ahead as well making himself more noticeable than the other two. Frost blushed from Quill's quick thinking along with Spike's willingness to help her out.

Even as a princess, she would have never gotten the same kind of treatment or freedom she got with Quill and the others. Usually she was stuck in her hive doing nothing new or having the liberty to do as such. The only time she would see the outside world is when she had to take a secret tunnel to her mother's mass hive deep within the center of Everfree. Even then, she was still heavily guard by other scorpios, and she hated it.

Frost never enjoyed having other risk their lives for her without her giving something in return. She had power of her own, she may be attached by Quill's own power, but that was because of changeling and dragon mating instincts. Frost couldn't, and wouldn't, sit around while others are doing things for her. She was even scolded by both her mother and Chrysalis for sometimes leaving her hive during the night to freely play about, especially during the winter time when her ice-magic was at its peak.

However it seemed that as long as she stayed with Quill and the others in High Moon, she would no longer have to deal with any of that. "Hey Frost, you doing good," Quill asked in a hushed voice, worried that some unicorn could pick up on her changeling magic.

Frost smiled brightly at Quill as she pulled her closer with her arm and rested her head on top of hers. "Now I am." Quill blushed at Frost's sudden close mood but made no objections know in any way while Spike continued to act friendly to everypony around them. "So which house is Dusk's?" Quill and Spike both started to scan the row of homes, each one looking identical towards the other, and the only notable difference between them was the size of them.

Welcome to Ponyville.

"Um…maybe it's-"

"The one down the street on your right." All three turned their head back at the unmistakable deep voice of the only other halfbreed they knew, Dusk. "Hey guys, how's it going, and who is the new face?" Frost's body violently started to shake from the large amounts of power coming from Dusk. He was far past Quill's and something told her he had years of training to reach such high levels of power. "Hey, dragoness are you alright?"

"Huh? Y-yeah just...never met a halfbreed like yourself before," she answered while she started to use Quill to help her stay standing up. "Oh right, my name is Frost." Dusk chuckled a little, walking towards the two dragonesses, and shaking Frost's hand.

"Well it's nice to met you Frost," he said, walking past them, but stopping to pat Quill on the back. "You sure know how to pick'em Quill." Both Quill and Frost brightly blushed at Dusk's words, not realizing Quill's wing around Frost was a sign of their relationship. "Yo, Spike, how you holding up?"

Dusk wrap his arm around the shorter drake's neck and started to pull him towards his house as he did wanted to talk with Spike and Quill about another aspect of their magic. Quill finally snapped out of her flustered and started to lead Frost after the two males. However, Frost still was highly reluctant to get too close to Dusk when she could.

Quill looked over to Frost, who had her eyes deadlocked on Dusk as he chatted with Spike. She had the same look in her eyes as when she first met her but as a look of fear as well. "Frost what's the matter?"

"S-so p-powerful…" Quill whipped her head back to Dusk, who was laughing along with Spike as they started to come up on to his house. She knew that Dusk was strong, properly just as strong as Wolf, but for Frost to be fearing and attracted to him; he had to be hiding something.

"It's okay Frost, Dusk is a good guy, he won't hurt you alright?" Frost slowly, almost subconsciously, nodded her head, but still kept her eyes deadlocked on Dusk. Soon, the four made it to Dusk's front door step to his two-story house, and opened it for the others to follow him in.

"Ya'll make yourselves at home for now, I just got off of work, and I need to take a shower." Dusk lifted his arm and quickly reed his head back from the punch of musk from the early shift in the construction yard. "Bad." Dusk made his way towards the stairs to take a very quick shower. Spike shrugged his shoulders and took a seat in a chair while Frost and Quill seat together on the couch.

Dusk walk across the hallway connecting the bedroom and bathroom upstairs as well as Sketchy's art studio and Jinx's and his game-room. He took note of how close Frost was sitting with Quill and also the decent scent of a changeling. "Help yourselves to the soda in the fridge in the kitchen right there next to that arch-door," he called out to them as he walked into the bathroom with a change of clothes in hand.

Again, Spike shrugged his shoulder, and hopped off the chair. "You guys want one?" Quill tore her attention away from Frost for a moment just to nod her head since she hasn't had one in a long while. "What about you Frost?" The mare seemed to be too far into her own thoughts to hear Spike and it took a nudge from Quill to get her back into reality again.

"H-huh, yeah I'll have a drink." Spike look towards Quill, who motioned her head towards Dusk's kitchen so she could talk to Frost in private for a brief moment. Spike nodded his head, knowing that Frost had been acting weird ever since Dusk showed up.

"Frost are you sure you're alright?" Frost took in a deep breath to calm her nerves, she knew that she didn't have anything to be worrying about, but the fact that Dusk's magic was at high levels as it was freighted her a little. The halfbreed's magical present reminded her of her father's, who by her definition, was a true monster.

"Yes, yes I'm fine. It's just that Dusk has magical levels equal that of my father's, and let's just say, I don't like to be reminded of him." Quill nuzzled her head against Frost's to help her calm down, getting a kiss on the cheek as a return of affection. "Don't worry, last I saw of him, he was chained up by my mother."

Quill nodded her head but still was concerned about Frost. Spike soon showed up with three cans of grape soda and handed the two lovers theirs while he open his with his tail. Both Quill and Spike started to down their drinks, missing the fizzy taste, while Frost stared into the tin-can. Having lived in a changeling hive deep in Everfree forest, Frost had never drank anything like soda, but it couldn't be too bad if Quill and Spike likes it...right?

A look over to Quill and then Spike, told her that there wasn't anything wrong with the drink. So she decided to learn what was so good about it herself. Upon first taste, Frost's eyes widened with an electric shock starting in her mouth, and going all the way down to the rest of her body. Even her wings started to twitch from the high-energy drink, which all ended with a happy sigh on Quill's shoulder.

"I take it you liked it," Quill asked in a slight mocking tone after she finished her drink. All she got in response was a nod from Frost while Spike soon finished his with a burp. "Spike, that's totally-" Quill couldn't finish her words before Frost too let out a might burp that even caught her off-guard. Both twins stared at the changeling disguised as a dragoness, who had a bright blush written on her face.

"E-excuse me…" Another long pause overtook the three, the only sound was the ticking of the clock on the wall, but was soon shattered by both twins bursting out in laughter. The blush on Frost's face only grow in intensity but she still joined in on the laughter. Right after they all calm down, Dusk came out of the bathroom wrapping his head with a towel while he wore a pale-purple shorts with a dark-blue shirt was wrapped in his tail.

"Well sounds like you guys are having fun," he said, walking down the stairs with the towel around his neck. He walked around the couch, not looking at anyone in the room, but still having some effect on Frost. "You know, in the republics, I was friends with a lot of other species." Quill and Spike cocked their heads while Frost knew Dusk was talking directly to her. "Some tried lying to me and other-"

"Fine," Frost cut in, dropping her disguise with a flat defeated look. Quill was going to quickly think of something to say to save Frost when she again cut in. "What gave me away?" Dusk chuckled and pointed to his nose with a smug look on his face. "Right, you're part diamond dog, I forgotten that fact."

"It's alright," Dusk waved off Frost's-and the other two's-worries and lean against the wall next to the tv. "Back in the republics, I was friends with a few changelings, and so was Jinx and Sketchy. Hell, a changeling princess is my Lunar-Mother. So you don't have to hide."

Frost started to giggle at Dusk's friendly smile while Spike and Quill breath out sighs of relief. "Okay, it's just that Equestria has a...'different' take on us changelings." Dusk nodded his head as he, and the rest of the republics, have heard about the changeling invasion of Equestrian's capital three years back.

"Well I'm with you on that. Most ponies here don't like the idea of well, me." Quill and Spike again cocked their heads at Dusk, not exactly sure what he was talking about. "Halfbreeds of the dragon and dog kind. Equestria is known to not 'like' the idea of beings walking around with as much power as I have."

"Oh that make sense," Quill said, knowing that some of the nobles didn't like the idea of having her and Spike around when they got older. While Dusk continued to talk with Spike and Frost, Quill kept thinking about this.

Ponies feared dragons because of their size and magic, going as far as to bury their dark past of dragon-hunting, and forgetting all they used to know about dragon. It was no mistaking it any more, Celestia was hiding something from them, from all of Equestria, and Quill needed to know what and why.

"...so Obsidian tells me that I have to either give up my collar, join the elements of harmony, or make my own band of elements." Quill heard Dusk continue over her own thoughts, forcing her to pay attention to the interesting story as it was the main reason for coming to his house. "There was no way I was going to give up something my mother worked so hard to make for me. I didn't want to join the elements of harmony either, there's...there's a really bad joke about them that I'll tell you later. So I had no other option than to…"

Dusk raised his hands up and activated the magic in his element, causing his hands to be encased in the purple and white light from the gem in his collar. Once the light was gone, Spike, Frost, and Quill were amazed by the metal gauntlets traveling from his fists to his shoulders. The streaks of white going along the dark-purple armor made it look like blots of pure lightning forever arching on them. "Make my own band of elements, cool isn't it," he asked with a smug attitude that rivals Quill's.

"Dude," Quill started with a breathless tone of voice while Spike and Frost were still trying to understand how his element came about. "That's just sick."

Dusk let out a small chuckle and put the gauntlets back into his element. "Thanks, I'm still trying to get used to it, but it feels...natural. Anyway, I'm glad I ran into you guys. There's something I needed to ask you but I'll ask Frost first."

Frost raised an eyebrow towards Dusk, not sure what kind of question he would have for her. "Okay, what is it?"

"Have you heard of clamor draconis?" Frost's eyes widened at the sound of those two words, telling Dusk that she has in fact heard of them. "I see so you have," Dusk continued in a slightly darker tone. "And I'm guessing you've tried it at least once?"

"Unfortunately, more than once," Frost answered after a short pause with as much of a dark tone as Dusk's. "But why do you want to know that?" Frost caught Dusk's eyes shifted over both twins, forcing her to come to a conclusion he learned some time ago. "They don't know, do they?"

"As far as I can tell, no, but that's what I wanted to tell them today. If you're willing to help?" Frost quickly stood back up and changed back into her dragoness form as well. "I'll take that as a yes." Dusk's guess was responded with a nod from Frost. "Alright, Spike, Quill, follow me for a sec. There's something that I've got to show you."

Without another word, Dusk put on his shirt, and started out the door with Frost at close tow. After sharing a confused look with each other, the twins soon followed the two out the door, and wander what was so important that it would force them to start acting such a way. /-/  
/ Ch. 21: Dragon's Cry & The Power of the Past/-/

High Moon Ch. 21: Dragon's Cry & The Power of the Past

Spike and Quill were led out of Ponyville by both Dusk and Frost, who both remained silent, and uncaring of the looks from the ponies. Much without their knowledge, all four of the dragon-bloods could clearly hear every word spoken in a hushed whisper. Some again was questioning who Frost was and what as her relationship with the twins. Others wanted to know where and how Dusk knew the twins also if they knew he was a new element or not.

Of course, Dusk failed to care for any of the words. His mother taught him and his siblings not to worry themselves about what other's think of him but still hold pride in anything he does. Frost frankly didn't care much for the nameless faces as she and Dusk were faced with more pressing matters that needed to be attended to.

Soon, Dusk lead them on to a path leading back into Everfree, and continued a ways in until they were out of anypony's four kept walking down the path away from Ponyville. Dusk thought of the best way to explain the dark art of clamor draconis.

Dusk finally stopped when he knew that they were out of the earshot of ponies. He and Frost turned around to face the two and Dusk begin, "Quill, remember that I've told you about blood-fire right?" Quill nodded her head, remembering when she first met Dusk during the camping trip. "Well, clamor draconis, dragon's cry, it's a dark technique that's basically the black-magic of the dragon world."

"But I thought you said that dragons could have shadow-magic," Spike spoke up, remembering Dusk telling him and the elements about the mysterious unicorn using a dragon's magic. Spike was still slightly shaken up when he learned that their was a dragon-hunter here in Equestria; lurking somewhere in the deepest of shadows. "Isn't those two the same thing?"

Dusk shook his head and raised his right hand near his face. "Normally, a dragon's magic is fueled by the natural magic within them, but there are moments where a dragon can feed their magic from other sources." A dark-purple and blue flame started to flare around Dusk's hand, flowing as though it was made of pure energy. "Right now, I'm only using the magic within my dragon's soul, but when I do this." Dusk focused on the magic flowing in the air around them and added it to the magic already lighting the purple and blue flame.

Suddenly, the flame grew into a much large inferno of purples, blues, whites, and a small outline tone of black. Spike took a step back from the crawling flame as it only reminded him of his nightmares involving fire. However, Quill didn't move back, but instead took a step forwards like she was in some kind of trance.

"The extent of my magic is increased," Dusk continued, ending the surge of his fire-magic, and breaking Quill out of her trance. She shook her head, not knowing what came over her, but having a distinct feeling of calmness that only further to confuse her. "There's a number of other sources of magic for fire-magic there's fires, volcanos, and sometimes the sun itself."

"For water-magic," Frost started getting the twins' attentions. "Streams, puddles, and even the ocean." Spike easily made the connection between his mediation and the sudden spike in his water-magic. It was by being near the lake that his magic was able to reach out to the nature magic in the water, it also would explain why the ghost heart was able to attack him during the camping trip.

"So you're able to understand why most fear dragon's magic," Dusk asked leaning against a tree while the twin rethought the way they used their magic. "Not many dragon's ever bother to learn how to harness the other sources of magic, as it takes near years to learn master the ability, but 'good ol' dad made sure I knew."

"My father as well made me quite aware of the different sources of magic," Frost added in, sticking out her hand, freezing the air to create the same short halberd she used to impress Wolf yesterday, and spinning it in the same fashion as well. "While my sister denounce her dragon heritage, I was more inclined to learn more."

Frost started to spin the halberd around her side and turned to a tree on the far end of the path. "She learned more of our changeling magic while I…" Frost suddenly stop the halberd's spinning with the curved blade end pointed out in front of her and threw it at the tree. "continued to push myself."

The frozen weapon pierced the dense wood of the yellowwood tree and continued to push itself deeper within the wood before completely freezing the whole tree in a flash. Spike and Quill stood back in awe as ice fully encased the tree along with the leaves on it. However, their wonderment of the frozen tree was shattered by Dusk kicking off the tree he was leaning on.

Suddenly, the sound of the wind heating and cracking filled the small path that they were at as he created a blade of pure lightning in the palm of his right hand. The three others were instantly impressed with the bright display of Dusk magic. Spike started to question just how strong Dusk was, Quill wanted to find some way to match his magic, and Frost noted to not ever cross him.

In a blinding flash, Dusk's entire body vanished into a purple light, and reappeared behind the three. In a single blink of their eyes, the twins missed what Dusk did to the tree, and only caught him walking from behind it. Once he was back over to the rest of them, the yellowwood tree started to slowly fracture before breaking apart, and vanishing in a blinding purple flame at the snap of Dusk's fingers.

"Dad made my magic seem cool, so I kept asking questions." Again, Spike and Quill were remained about how far behind they was with their magic. Both Dusk and Frost were only half dragons, and yet they had or knowledge about their magic than the both of them combined. "However, me and my brothers soon started to ask the right questions…" The twins snapped out of their thoughts at the grim tone in Dusk's voice. "My father soon told us about dragon's cry, a dark version of the four makers' gifts to the world, and something most dragon's can't beginning to master."

"I myself only been able to use it at certain times of the year," Frost added in, remembering the times during the winter months where she had to step out of her hive to deal with any dangerous creature wandering far too close. She knew they were only trying to find somewhere to sleep for the winter but she had to look after her own first. "I do my best to restrain from using it as it has...unpleasant effects on one's body."

"Effects that cause even elder dragons to go insane. The last time I had to use it was against a sea serpent. Couldn't move for days," Dusk said with a shake of his head, the feeling of being unable to do anything for days really got underneath his skin. "That's why I lead you guys out here, to tell you to never use it. If you really have to, make sure it will end the fight."

"The last thing you two need is being caught in a fight while unable to fight back," Frost added in, remembering the last time she had to use it, and how she failed miserably. Her only saving grace was her squad of scorpios coming to her aid. "The dragon's cry got it name because when a dragon uses it, they start crying blood out of their eyes."

"Whoa," Both Spike and Quill said at the exact same time also taking a step back from both halfbreeds.

Dusk nodded his head and started to walk back on the path to Ponyville. "Yeah it's bad, hurts like hell too, and takes a couple of years to get right." The four soon found themselves back into the curious eyes of Ponyville, however; Dusk again didn't pay much attention. "Legend has it that the four makers themselves never liked the technique, even if it was used to save a clan of dragons. So most dragons either never learn about it, or do their best from ever having to use it."

"Which is why your training is so important," Frost again started, wrapping a wing around Quill, and continued to walk behind Dusk. "So you don't have to use dragon's cry." Frost felt slight worry from Quill and Spike and quickly thought to put it to rest. "Don't worry though, the both of you are too strong, and smart to do something like that." Frost pulled Quill closer to her with her wing and lean into her ear. "And I know you're stronger."

Quill had to suppress a shiver from going down her spine as Frost's low purr. "Frost, not now…" While the two lovers had their fun, Dusk continued to make his way back to his house.

"I said it once, I'll it again, Quill sure knows how to pick'em," he said, taking a glance back to see Frost toying with Quill's ear, and chuckling at the bright blush on Quill's scales. However, his laughter ended when Dusk heard Spike sighing a little. "Come on man," Dusk started, patting Spike on the back to get him out of his funk. "Be happy, you're still breathing, and everyday something new happens right?"

Spike, who somehow managed to not look like a fool while he was tripping, looked into Dusk's reassuring eyes, but was unable to mimic the cheer in them. "Y-Yeah…" Dusk sighed, not in defeat, but in pity for the drake. The 'incident' with Sweetie and Scootaloo really must have caused a major dent to Spike's self-confidence.

He wished he could help the drake out, but something's must be done on one's own. "Well alright, I'll see you guys around." The two lovers looked towards Dusk as he got ready to teleport off to wherever he had to go. "Jinx wanted to do this date night thing and Sketchy will kill me if I don't help her plan everything out, see ya," he said before disappearing into a purple flash.

"Well that's just great," Quill started in a flat tone, displeased with Dusk's sudden departure, but couldn't do much about it. "What are we going to do for the rest of the day?" Spike quickly thought of an answer and was cut off even quicker. "And don't say go talk to the elements."

"Quill come on, they helped raise us this far, and we at least owe them that much." Quill sighed, knowing that Spike was right, but still didn't want to deal with it as of yet. "Can we at least go looking for Rainbow, she been missing for two months now."

Walking out of Frost's wing and towards Spike, Quill stared directly into his eyes, and thought of any reason not to see the elements. However, there wasn't much luck with that. "Fine, but only Rainbow." Without another word, Quill opened her wings to take flight towards the south side of town where she knew Rainbow Dash's house was, and soon was followed by Spike and Frost.

All and all, Quill didn't have much resentment towards Rainbow as she was the one to teach her how to fly after her wings had grown, and maybe-just maybe-Rainbow would be able to talk some sense into the others.

High Moon city ruins

After Wolf came back with the rope from Zecora's, Blaze wrote out a note for if the twins and Frost returns while they were out, and told Peewee and Cinder to keep watch of the temple. Wolf, Lily, and Blaze started out of the temple while they made their way to the mansion. Soon, they were making plans for what they had planned to do with the underground area Wolf thought was too risky to venture into. However, first they needed to figure out what was the past's purpose of the underground tunnels.

Wolf still argued that it needed to be still blocked off but Blaze and Lily continued to insist that it may hold a key to understanding more about Equestrian's buried past. He still didn't see the need until Blaze told him that the past may hold more knowledge for the twins here in the future. Lily too added in that they still needed to learn more about High Moon if they are to truly use it to the fullest advantage.

Unable to keep arguing with them any more, Wolf had finally agreed to start exploring the abandoned ruins. As the three pushed out of the mansion and to the rest of the city behind it, they kept to the inside walkway linking the mansion to-what it seems-to be an meeting hall. Through the shattered and cracked windows, Blaze again marveled how hold much of the ancient city was able to remain standing.

Even with Wolf's repairs to certain parts, it was easy to tell that the city have seen some hard times. Many roofs were fractured, or just completely gone altogether, and Wolf had little intentions of fixing them. Stone staircases laid in ruin and neglect, makeshift wooden scaffolding somehow managed to hold up buildings, and nature have reclaimed much of the land.

Structures that appear to be once homes for ponies were now nothing but rubble. Only a few stone-made buildings seemed to hold victory over the test of time; shines, archways, and small temples were the few to be able to hold this right.

However, it was still their home.

Wolf opened the door to the meeting hall so they could make it through the actual open streets of the ancient city. Even with the land being covered in small patches of turf and other foliage, the bright sun above along with the sounds of the approaching fall season gave the ruins a feel that couldn't be copied by anything else.

For the eight long years, the three have call this their home, and have all bravely fought for it time and time again. Soon, a sense of duty overcame the three of them as they all vowed to help rebuilding their home.

To many, the task would seem impossible, some would dare say foolish, but they were determined none the less. So what if much of the ancient city had been claimed by time and Mother Nature? Or that the once concrete ground now had grass and other plant life taking hold? It was apart of their lives, it was something they all worked so hard to rebuild, and there was no stopping them now.

Eventually, the three soon made it to the fractured stone entrance way that Wolf blocked off with the fallen pieces of wood. Just seeing the entrance in such disrepair was enough to gave Wolf more of a reason not to go down the dark tunnel. However, after a little more 'encouragement' from Blaze, Wolf started to remove removed the wooden beams with ease. Once out of the way, the three of them looked down into the pitch darkness of a set of winding stairs leading into the underground. The fact that it was underground gave Wolf more than one reason to seal it off the way he did.

For one, if the ruins were as old as they all thought it was, then there was no telling what condition the underground was. Two, he-nor the others-knew just where the tunnels would lead. Lily thought that it would lead to the castle in Everfree since it was so close to the temple. However, Wolf was quick to disprove that idea as he knew that their was no way for ponies to move that much earth over the two mile span without causing a cave in, but he did have a theory that it would lead to some ancient tome filled with buried knowledge.

Blaze ended their debt by rushing down the stairs saying they would never know without actually looking. Unable to argue with the basic and blunt logic, Wolf and Lily soon followed Blaze into the dark unknown. As they walked down the stairs, Blaze used her magic to create a small fire-ball to light the way while Lily continued to muse over what could be down there, and Wolf took the rear using his diamond dog senses to watch out for any unsuspected surprises.

The winding stairs seemed to just continued downwards without end and each step Wolf caught Lily becoming more fidgety. "Hey Lily, are you alright," he asked in the softest voice he could but still making the flutterpony jump in surprise.

"Y-yes, I am fine," Lily fakely answered. Not once has she told either Wolf or Blaze of her race's natural fears of being underground since it has never came up until now. "Just not quite used to being underground."

Wolf heard the worry shaking through her voice and it didn't take much for him to know why. As a diamond dog, Wolf didn't have any problems seeing, or even living underground. Blaze was far too curious for her own good and generally didn't have many fears she had to worry about. Lily on the other hand, was an insect-pony, and that meant being too far underground for her was scary.

"Hey it's fine, being underground isn't all that bad if you know what's in front of you," Wolf reassured, hopping down a few steps to walk beside Lily. "My older brother, Slage, used to tell me this little trick to keep me from freaking out when I was younger."

"Oh yeah, what was it?" Lily looked back to the bright shine in Wolf's dull-green eyes that only hold experience and trust in them.

"Keep going, every tunnel leads somewhere, and before you know it…" Finally the three made it to the bottom steps and were given the sight of a large door, far too big for ponies to consider useful. The light from Blaze's fire-ball revealed the dirty white marble, gold, and silver trim on the decorated doors. Not even a thousand plus years could ruin the parish metal cuts along the doors' edges. On the left hand door, gold leaded all the way around, and moved into the center to from the outline of a sun. On the right hand side, silver followed the same pattern, but formed a crescent moon with in part of the sun.

"You'll find something that makes it worth wild." Wolf walked up to the two doors and placed his hands on the dry dirt on the off-white marble doors. As he furthered tried to comprehend just how something like this was constructed underground without any damage to the surface levels, Blaze and Lily continued to eye the design cut within the marble.

"Do you think we should open it," Blaze asked, not seeing any keyhole, or sensing any magical runes on it.

Wolf looked back to the other two with an assure smile, the marble still was more than strong enough to support the weight of the earth above their heads, and he figured that there had to been some type of ceiling on the other side of the massive doors. "We came all this far didn't we?"

He soon turned back around, placed his other hand on the door, and started to push it open. At first, the door refused to move as the dirt had more than enough time to harden into stone, but soon the dog's strength started to crack the stones sealing the doors. Lily started to shake every time she saw another piece of stone fall from the top of the two doors but kept calm while Wolf finally got the right hand door to open up.

A cloud of dust and air rushed past the three, threatening to knock them over as it fled to the first chance of being free. Wolf shrugged off the rushing wind and started to make his way through the crack he made in the doors with Blaze and Lily following right after.

From the bright crimson of Blaze's fire-ball, the three examined the large room as it seemed to have been a tomb of some kind. Just like the doors outside, gold and silver lined the walls, and formed an array of designs on the walls. Suits of black metal armor formed a solid row against the far left wall where a normal sized door lead further into the new area.

Right in front of the three was a another set of stairs leading up to a spot that appeared to be a place for a thorn just without it there. On either side of that were the solar and lunar symbols decorated on silk tapestry, however ruined by time as rips and tears created holes on random places.

The more the three looked around, the more they discovered about the area, and soon all three came to the same conclusion; it was another castle, only difference it seemed to have a bunker-like feel to it.

"Hey Blaze could we get some more light?" Suddenly, the torches lining the walls lit up, each one holding their own color, and cycled between a gold and blue flame. Everyone was startled by the unexpected display and Wolf turned towards his marefriend with a confused and worried look on his face. "Um...since when can you do that?"

Blaze slowly shook her head just as confused as Wolf and Lily. "That's wasn't me."

"It was me," a voice called out to them from the left hand door. Slowly, a shadowy figure started to emerge from the darkness shielding the door's entrance. Wolf stepped in front of Lily and Blaze when the creature fully emerged from the darkness. The large creature walked along on all fours, its fur and mane was of jet-black, and pair of large wings resting neatly on its back. The only true color on the creature's body was the bright gold of its pupils and the deep blue of its irises.

The creature's body was shaped like a lion's but had a cat-like head. Even its tail was like a feline's along with the blue slits of its eyes. Wolf could tell by the way the creature's body was shaped, that it was a female. "Okay, but who, or rather, what are you," Wolf asked, not feeling any hostile emotions from the creature, but that's it.

"Please master," the creature started, bowing her head towards Wolf, and continued to speak in a soft voice. "Allow me to introduce myself, I used to be called Isis, but you may give me any name you see fit. I am also a sphinx as well as the caretaker of this tomb."

Wolf kept his gaze transfixed on Isis, nothing he could think would correctly explain how old she was, but it was quickly obvious by her young completion that she could hide it. "A sphinx? What in Cerberus's name is that?"

"Master please forgive my inattentive answer," Isis quickly apologize, "A sphinx is a mythological feline. We move along this world and the next as guardians of souls, land, treasures, and knowledge." Isis got off of her hunches and started to walk past Wolf and the others, motioning them to follow her as she walked to the door on the adjacent wall. "I've been here since the first construction of this city many moons ago." Isis's gold and blue eyes started to light up, lighting every touch on the winding hall way. "My first masters were the alicorn sisters before the Lunar Fall and the Nightmare Rebellion."

The other's started to look at each other, now getting a sense at how old Isis could be, but remained quiet as they turned to the right into another hallway. "I have long since sensed Luna's return as well as the nightmare's. However, time has seem to have forgotten me, and I remind her waiting for my new master's arrival."

"And you think this 'new master' is Wolf," Lily asked the same question the other two were thinking. Isis stopped walking to look back into the flutterpony's eyes. Lily could feel the hollowness of being abandoned for a thousands years flowing freely from Isis's cold golden and blue eyes. But, she pushed past the heavyweight her eyes carried to further question. "Surely if you venture towards the new capital where the sun goddess now rule, she would realize her mistake, and apologize...right?"

"Over many of times, I have thought of that, but this is my home. If Celestia wanted me to stand by her side again, she would have already came for me," Isis started, resuming the walk down the hall, and finishing in a much lower tone. "As I have awaited for centuries." It wasn't two steps before she continued that thought.

"And centuries still."

Both Lily and Blaze flinched from the bitterness in Isis's tone while Wolf looked at her with a sympathetic gaze. To only know caring for others, who suddenly leave, and not come back for her must have been hard on Isis's soul. To be alone for a thousand years, only to wait for the ones you're supposed to be protecting, and have them not to come. That alone should have driven Isis into a blind fury or a depressing sadness. However, she seems to only be faintly showing it as the rest of her body-movement remains unreadable.

"Master," Isis started again, looking down the hall where the others were frozen in their thoughts, but her words were enough to break them out of their thoughts. "I would advise you to keep up if that isn't too much trouble, as you had constantly stated before, most of these ruins are unstable."

The three soon ran to catch up with the sphinx also with a few questions for her. "Hey Isis," Wolf started after catching up to the sphinx's side and looking down to her golden and blue eyes. "How did you know about me saying that it might be unstable down here?"

"I may have not left this tomb in my actual body in centuries but I do sometimes enjoy watching you and your pack members move about High Moon." To further illustrate her answer, Isis again used whatever means of magic she has to will one of the golden flames from the torch to float in front of her.

"See master?" Wolf looked into the golden and white flame, thinking he saw some image being made out in it, and soon made out the images to be of him and the others living in High Moon. "I've been watching all of you for these eight years. All of the moments you've all spent together, the laughs you shared, and the tears you shed as well. I've been patiently watching, and waiting, for you to come find me master."

The longer Wolf stared into the orb of golden fire, the longer Isis's words held truth. Images of him and Blaze meeting for the first time in High Moon. The months that passed before Blaze finally confessed her feeling for the dog. Also the moment when both shared their own life-stories with one another and learned so much about each other.

Then soon, the moment where they met Lily in the ruins, of how Wolf started to act coldly towards the mare, but eventually coming to secretly enjoy her presents. Of the many adventures they had around Everfree trying to explore and learn more about their environment and soon the twins' arrival to High Moon two months back.

It was all true, every image that Isis showed to Wolf was ones from the past, and there was no mistaking that the sphinx had been keeping a close watchful eye on his pack. However, one question still burned in his mind.

"Okay," Wolf slightly breath out a sigh, never seeing magic such as the sphinx's, and was quite interested of how powerful she was. Then as he thought about it, there truly was no telling what the sphinx was capable of, since she have evidently lived for centuries. However, he put that aside for later. "That's odd, but I need to know; how do you know I'm your master? What makes me so special?"

Isis turned towards Wolf and gave him a warm friendly smile that he honestly thought she wasn't capable of. "Because master, you not only care for this land, but for any that wants to call it home. That alone is enough of a reason for me." After hearing the sphinx's words, Wolf turned his head back to the hallway in front of him to think about what the sphinx was telling him. Sure, it was true that he cared more for those living in High Moon then the land itself, but that didn't give him right of another's soul...does it?

Isis saw the deep though her master was in and took it upon herself to relieve him of it. "Master, over the many years of living, I've unfortunately met those that would fight over land as though it is not already around them anywhere else. I've watched great kingdoms fall because of their greed, bitterness, and self-righteous motives. However, you on the other hand, don't. You know the importance of another's life and never push be on what can be done. Because you, master, don't need to push others to do what they can, but instead inspire them to push themselves; a trait most leaders lack. This is why I am happy to call you my master."

The group finally reached the end of the hallway as Isis placed a paw on the black-marble door, causing it to glow in a faded blue light before opening up to another flight of stairs leading up to the surface. "And as my master," Isis started ascending the stairs with the others close behind. "I'm a your full disposal, and I am fully prepared to carry out any bidding you have for me."

Wolf took a glance back to Blaze, who just shrugged her shoulders as she wasn't sure what the emphasis was for either. "Okay Isis, well since you know more about the ruins layout, could you help with rebuilding it?" Again, Isis turned back to Wolf with a cheery smile that betrayed the hollow emotions from before.

"Of course master, in fact, I have been preparing for such a task, but it will take quite a considerable time before all of the ruins will be in peak conditions." Wolf nodded his head, pleased that there was something more they could do for the city ruins. When Isis reached the top of the stairs, she placed her hand on the dirty white-marble door, and opened it with a golden light. "However, I will need a few materials for such a task, but there's time for that later. First I want to show you something master."

Isis continued to lead them into a large room, decorated the same way as the main entrance room, but slightly smaller. In fact, the main-rather only-difference was a round pestle in the center of the room with a blood-red gem floating above the ground in a dull-blue light.

Lily and Blaze stopped right in front of the door while Wolf continued to venture onwards to the floating gem. "In a time long before the Lunar Fall, or the alicorn sisters taking power, a relic held the power to bring dreams into the waking world, but was destroyed in fear of being too powerful. However, before the original star's destruction, multiple copies were created, and I managed to keep one here all this time."

"Well, what do you want me to do with it," Wolf questioned looking back towards Isis with a questioning gaze. "I don't need a gem to bring my dreams to reality if I can do it with my own two hands."

Isis nodded her head, only getting a new reason to be proud to call Wolf her new master. "Do not mistake master, this is only a mere copy, nowhere close to the power the real star held, but I think you could find better us for it than I." Wolf looked past Isis to look into Blaze's eyes, he could see the slight worry in them, but also the confidence she had in him. "You mustn't worry yourself master, the gem, like most objects of power, are useless until given a owner."

Wolf turned back to the gem and started to reach out to it. Okay, I don't know what you are, but if you're as powerful as Isis is making you seem, then you better not try anything funny. Wolf took the gem in his hand and pulled it from the dull-blue light. For a moment, nothing happened, and it seemed that the gem was just a red-stone, however all notion was shattered when the gem started to brightly shine.

The blood-red light blinded everyone as the gem started to react with the magic in Wolf's fire-stone braces. Once the light had faded, Wolf was the first to open his eyes, and was the first to noticed what the gem did to the braces on his wrists. The black and silver steel was now engraved with lines of blood-red and dull-blue, looking as to be vines. In the center, the gem from the pastel seemed to fused with the fire-stone that was already there, and pulsed like a beating heart.

Wolf stared at the pulsing blue light from the blood-red gems, an aura of magic could be felt from them, but it was something he never felt before. "Isis," Wolf started, turning around to face the sphinx as she walked towards him. "Just what was that?"

Isis sat down on her haunches in front of Wolf and placed a paw on the gem embedded in the braces. "Master, please remain calm, the fact that you're not losing control of your mind means the star fragment accepted you as its new owner. As I have," she reassured with a calm voice before continuing, "That fragment held enough power to help you achieve your goals. However, as you have just stated, it will have to be done with your own two hands."

Wolf closed his eyes and took in a deep breath to gather his thoughts before speaking again. "Alright, so where do we start first?" Isis again smiled the same warm motherly smile towards Wolf and stood up on all fours again.

"Wherever you please, master."

Chuckling, Wolf walked towards the sphinx, and knelt down to her height. "Then Isis, let me be the first to truly welcome you to High Moon." The two touched heads, Isis giving Wolf total trust and control, and Wolf giving his trust as well. Whatever knowledge the sphinx had about the past would prove to be invaluable towards the growth of High Moon. However, it couldn't put a price on the new family she just got, and Wolf was going to insure her safety. Just like he does for the others. /-/  
/ Ch. 22: Moving On/-/

High Moon Ch. 22: Moving on

Back in Ponyville, Frost and Quill landed back on the ground while Spike slowed to a stop. After getting his breath back, he looked out to the empty grassy meadow for any sight of something that could be Rainbow Dash's house, however the only thing out in the field was a few rocks and a small lake.

Nothing that could even resemble a house for the daredevil mare. That's when Quill walking under where a massive cloud casted a shadow over the green hills did he finally realize that Rainbow's house wasn't on the land but rather above it.

"You have got to be kidding," Spike stared breathless, not from running across Ponyville on all fours, but from looking up at Rainbow Dash's cloud-house. Over the years of him living in Ponyville, not once has he actually been to Rainbow's house, or even thought to. The massive cloud ground casted a shadow over the three of them while Quill got ready to fly up there. "Since when did Rainbow have this kind of money to have a cloud-house?"

"Well where else did you expect her to live," Quill retorted with an eye-roll, not really impressed with the cloud-house any more as she have seen it many times before. "I mean, we're talking about the Rainbow Dash, Spike. That and apparently Rainbow's family is sort of rich, or, was rich before most of the money went to her."

"Wait, what?"

"Okay look," Quill started, turning around to face Spike so she could somehow explain everything to him without breaking the promise she made with Rainbow six months ago. "Rainbow's great-grandfather was like the inventor of cloud-construction. But she never wanted to tell anyone because she wanted to leave her own mark on the world." Suddenly, Frost started to feel empathy in Quill's words as she continued. "That's why Rainbow tries so hard at everything she does, she never wants to miss her chance, but she keeps selling herself short."

Spike blinked a couple of times, as long as he knew Rainbow, she had always been the one to never sell herself short. Headstrong, always bragging about some new trick, or looking for someway to get noticed. That's all Spike knew about the mare, which was...nothing really. Not once have he took the time to actually hang out with her. Sure, they could share a laugh or two every now and again, but not much else.

While Quill spent much more time with her than even Twilight would. So she was bound to know more than he would think. "Oh I see," Spike finally said after realizing that he knew nothing about Rainbow Dash.

"Right, but that's also why I think that it is a good idea to find her. If anyone can pull the elements back together it's Rainbow Dash." Quill turned back around and started walking until she was underneath the cloud-home. Spike and Frost watched as Quill launched from the ground and through the bottom floor, which soon closed on itself after she passed through.

That's when Quill's words finally got through to Spike's head. "Hey wait! I thought Twilight usually pulls everyone together?" Of course Quill didn't hear, or pertained to, Spike's question as she started to walk on top of the cloud-floor, and noted that everything was normal.

Fountain cycling rain-water, arched-walkway, and the front door itself was all fine. Quill soon walked through the archway to reach the front door where she tried to unlock it only to find it already opened.

That's not good. Quill pushed the door open and started to look for the rainbow manned mare or at least her pet turtle. However, the large two-story cloud-house was completely vacant, and any traces of her ever being there was gone.

She check every spot Rainbow usually was in, her master bedroom, a study where she would plan out her tricks on paper first, and the workout room she had. But nothing. Not her living room, game room, or even the indoor pool she made herself. Rainbow was nowhere to be found in her large, almost mansion, house.

Quill started to become slightly worried as Rainbow would never up and leave without writing out a note telling somepony where she was. "Rainbow, Tank, where are you two," she shouted around the empty cloud-house. Quill flew back down the stairs and ran into the kitchen only to find a note sitting on the table.

Quill recognized the neat handwriting as Rainbow's, she hates to write so normally it would be near impossible to read her handwriting, but this was neat. Too neat, like she had to fight herself to write it. Quill slowly picked the letter up and started to read before letting out a small puff of black smoke as the letter read:

Dear Anypony,

If anypony is wondering where I am, stop. Tank and I are taking a short break for a little while and we should be back in a month or so. I'll be staying in Baltimare with a cousin of mine while I work out a few things. What happen with the twins got me wondering about a few...personal things and I need some time to work them out. Alone. Twilight, if you read this, I'm sorry for all the things that has happen with the twins. Rarity, if you read this, know that it isn't all your fault. And if somehow Celestia reads this, you need to spend more time with them.

I'm sorry if I've made anypony worry about me or caused some inconvenience for anypony. Don't worry about the weather team, I had about nine months of leave build up anyways, and I might as well use them some time. Don't try calling either, if you really need to talk with me, the you can come to Baltimare to do it.

Only come get me after a month has passed, I really need this time alone with my cousin to work things out, but if its something to deal with the elements only then come and get me. However, if Tank and I aren't back by a month's time, then come find us in Baltimare, and I'll explain everything there.

Until then this is goodbye.

Finally, an unwanted connection was made in Quill's head about Rainbow's 'disappearance.' "Nopony even looked," Quill faintly said after reading the note several more times over, still not believing that nopony thought to even look for Rainbow, and were quick to say she disappeared. "Why those…well looks like we will be talking to the elements. Just not the kind of talk you think Spike." Quill folded the note up and placed it in her pant's pocket before running out the door.

Back on the ground Spike and Frost looked up to see Quill soaring straight towards the center of Ponyville and noticed that she didn't even pay them any kind of attention. "This can't be good," Frost said, sensing a large amount of rage streaking off of Quill as she tore through the skies. "Come on Spike, we better catch up with her before she hurts somepony by mistake."

Frost and Spike took off after Quill, knowing that she could in fact hurt somepony by mistake if she isn't took careful. However, Quill was a faster flyer than Frost, and already had a head start on them. Luckily, Frost was able to use her shape-shifting ability to make her wings grow twice their normal size so she could catch up with the ill-tempered dragoness.

Quill's anger was so high that she failed to notice Frost flying above her until it was too late. Frost suddenly swept down towards Quill and wrapped her arms around her smaller body, forcing Quill's wings shut.

"Frost let me go," Quill shouted, struggling against Frost's surprisingly strong grip as the changeling kept them in the air with her amplified wings.

"First, I need you to calm down, sweetie. Whatever you have to do, nothing will come good from you doing it in anger." Frost's soft words worked in getting Quill to start calming down but she could still feel slight rage from her. "Now, you want to talk about it first? Maybe it'll help calm you down more."

Quill started to breath slowly to gather her words so it didn't sound like she was yelling at Frost. "Okay, I'm okay...Frost, they never looked for her." Quill's anger was slowly replaced with sadness and regret. "All this time, the elements just thought Rainbow was just gone, but not a single one even thought of going to her house. What kind of friends just think that their other friend just abandon them?"

Still in the cover of the clouds, Frost started to nibble on Quill's ear-frill, and rub her abdomen through her light-green shirt. Quill groaned from the soft touch as it was severing to further calm her down. "I don't know Quill, the best way is to go to the source, but not with the kind of anger you had." Quill sighed, being calm down even more by her lover's touch, and nodded her head. "Good, now don't you think that you should talk this out with your brother? He at least deserve that much since it was his idea to come here."

"Fine," Quill started in a low moan, enjoying Frost's breath on the back of her neck, and finding that she was right either way she looked at it. "You can let me down now Frost and thanks." Frost kissed the side of Quill's cheek before slowly letting her down to the ground again. Spike ran over to where Frost had landed to see what was up with Quill.

"Quill, what's the matter?" Quill reached into her pocket and pulled out the folded note Rainbow left behind for somepony else to pick up. "What's this," he asked, taking the letter from Quill, and quickly reading over it. From the drop in his emotions, Frost could tell that whatever was written on the note wasn't good. "Wait, she'd been in Baltimare this entire time? Why hasn't she came back or even sent out a letter."

Quill started to chuckle a little and shook her head. "Because maybe she doesn't want to be found." Spike look towards Quill, who had a flat defeated look on her face. "Maybe, she doesn't want to come back. And maybe, just maybe, she wants to live out her own life." Spike tried to find someway to argue with Quill, anything to say, but nothing he could think of would sound right.

All Spike knew about the mare that she was loyal to the very end. Anytime somepony needed her she was right there to help out and never quit until the job was finished. She was a shoulder to cry on, one that was reliable enough to keep friends together in a tight pinch, and she would never abandon anyone. "Rainbow wouldn't just leave her friends like that."

Quill took the letter from Spike's hand and folded it up again. "No, she didn't, but the elements did." Spike cocked his head at Quill's words and was going to convince her otherwise before she continued. "Two months, they had two months to get over themselves, and they couldn't even do that much."

After remembering what kind of state they found Twilight in, Spike had to agree with a sigh. "You want to know why she just left a note instead of telling one of them? She wouldn't be able to take their pleading, Rainbow is way too loyal for that. So she just up and bailed thinking that they would be worried enough to actually look for her."

"And it seems that they didn't," Frost spoke up after gathering enough emotions the two had about Rainbow and the situation to be able to freely speak as well. "By my guess, they were hoping that she or someone else would come to their rescues."

Quill nodded her head towards Frost, not surprise that the mare was able to pick up on what's going on. "Exactly, the one time Rainbow needed them, and they all sit a home wallowing in their own despair." Silence overtook the meadows as the gentle autumn breeze betrayed the storm going on in Quill's head. She should have guessed that none of the elements would actually do something about Rainbow disappearing.

Hump, some friends alright.

"So what you want to do," Spike asked breaking through the stillness of the green hills. "Yelling at them would only make things worse but we can't just keep this to ourselves." Quill closed her eyes for a moment, yelling would make things worse as much as they need someone to do it, but she wasn't sure if she could take seeing them realize that they forgotten about their friend for two months.

"Alright," She started, coming up with a plan that was sure to work. "Frost can you make something like a bow and arrows?"

"Sure," the mare answered, sparking her magic, and creating a frozen longbow by freezing the air around them. Spike again was mesmerized by the flexibility of Frost's magic, to not only be able to create a halberd and use it to freeze whole objects, but to also create something a fickle as a bow and arrow. Seeing the mare's magic in work, made him wonder what else he could do with his water-magic. "Why?"

"We're going to send them a massage." Without another word, Quill opened her wings, and started again for Ponyville. Frost looked towards Spike, hoping he would knew what the dragoness was thinking, but he was just as confused as she was.

Whatever Quill had planned, it was sure to slap some sense into the elements. Soon, the three found themselves standing on a roof-top overlooking the wrecked town hall. Quill didn't questioned what happened to the building as she did managed to catch some of Dusk explanation of what happened the other day.

Fortune would have it as not only the elements, but also Celestia stood near with a familiar looking diamond dog talking to her while two unicorns and a zebra mare examined the metal suit of armor melted to the wall.

Quill's eyes looked over the battle scene, noting parts of the ground was cursed, other buildings had cracks and other types of damage to them, and that the suit of black armor was fused to the stone wall of town hall. Quill had to admit that whatever power Dusk was hiding away from them must be very dangerous and also made sure not do anything to piss him off.

She reached into her pocket to pull out the note from Rainbow Dash and hand it to Frost. "Tie it to an arrow and shot it somewhere that will catch their attentions," she said, knowing that she would absolutely flip if she heard a single confused word from the elements.

Frost nodded her head and took the note from Quill. She then did the same thing as before and created a frozen bow and arrow. After tying the letter carefully to the arrow, Frost got into a firing position, and drawn back the thin thread of frozen line on the bow. She took aim at a spot on near the suit of armor's head and fired.

Thanks to her wind magic, the arrow was able to pierce the hard stone, and embed itself within it. Suddenly, the elements, Celestia, and solar guards turned around to see Frost, Quill, and Spike standing top of a building. Quill's eyes stared straight at Celestia, still holding distrust in the mare, but somehow was able to hold herself back. Obsidian caught the death-glare Quill was shooting Celestia, quickly recognizing it as one of animosity, and knew why she was giving Celestia the look.

"We're leaving," Quill said with a sharp turn of her head before opening her wings to take off back to High Moon. Frost and Spike quickly followed the dragoness but not before Spike gave one last look towards Celestia before jumping off the roof-top and running after the other two.

Trace was going to go after them when Obsidian stopped him by the shoulder. "Sargent you can't-"

"They're not our mission any more Trace." The unicorn gritted his teeth in frustration as he was one of the many soldiers that wanted to keep looking for the twins to bring them back. As much as he hated it, Obsidian was right. They long since made their choice and it was unmistakable that they were given the chance to come back.

Obsidian let the stallion's shoulder go and walked over to the arrow that was shot by the unknown dragoness. Still wearing his work-gloves, Obsidian pulled the arrow from the stone wall, and was surprised that much of the arrow-head was embedded in it. Once he was able to get the note that was tied to it off, Obsidian tossed the arrow aside knowing that it would serve any other further propose.

Celestia and the elements walked towards Obsidian as his eyes quickly scanned over the note, growing more confused with each letter. "Sargent Obsidian, what is it," Celestia asked, seldom ever seeing the bewildered look on Obsidian's face before, and coupled with the twins' sudden appearance and disappearance it couldn't be good.

After reading the letter several more times to make sure that he wasn't somehow missing something, Obsidian looked straight towards the elements standing behind Celestia. "Um...girls, you said that Rainbow Dash has been gone for a whole two months now right?" Since she was the last on to speak with the mare after the events two months ago with the twins, Fluttershy nodded her head while the others look towards each other with a confused look on their faces. "Did she say anything about how long she would be gone."

"N-no, in fact Rainbow barely told me anything," Fluttershy started, remembering how quite Rainbow Dash was after they all were back in Ponyville two months ago. "I asked if she was okay but she just said that she needed to work something out. I-I had let it go because I thought that we all needed to be alone for a little while."

Obsidian again glanced back to the letter to confirm something before continuing. "Okay...so after, oh I don't know, a week or two of not hearing anything from her, you tried to go talk to her right? Specifically, at her house." Fluttershy turned her head away as she didn't thought of doing that, and from the downward cast looks on the other four elements, neither did they. "Oh that's not good. Um, girls, Celestia, you all might want to read this." Obsidian handed the note over to Celestia, who took in in her magical grasp, and held it in front of her so the elements could read along with her. "And you might want to read it over a few times," Obsidian added as Celestia's eyes scanned over the letter quicker than his eyes did.

Once she was sure the elements had read it a few times themselves, Celestia turned towards them, and saw the blankness that only comes from realizing they all have missed up. This whole time, Rainbow had been in Baltimare with her cousin, and she was only supposed to be gone a month.

But instead, two whole months had passed and not once have they at all thought of looking for her, yet they were so quick to go looking for Spike and Quill, even getting the entire solar guard involved.

Before Celestia could question their choices, Obsidian sighed, and gained everypony's attention. "I think I know where Rainbow is," he said, nodding his head with a knowing smirk, and feeling like he should hit himself for being so dense. "About three days after the twins had moved to Everfree, Sky sent me a letter saying her cousin was staying with her for the month, and I think Rainbow is that cousin."

Celestia closed her eyes and took in a deep breath to calm her nerves after seeing how much both Quill and Spike had grown over the two months. She slowly opened her eyes again to see Obsidian looking her straight in the eyes. "Obsidian, are you sure?"

"Best I could think of. I could go and check for you, it might be best if I go anyways." No one was sure how Rainbow would react to her friends showing up a month late, and since she was Rainbow's cousin, Obsidian could count on Sky to keep them in touch with Rainbow.

"Unfortunately, I need you here while your team oversees this operation until we can get a trace on that mysterious unicorn." Obsidian sighed but still nodded his head, they top priority was getting the location of the occultist unicorn, and learn about his plans. "However, I do agree with you, but we simply can't just drop everything and go to Baltimare."

"Actually…" Everyone turned their heads down the street to see the familiar purple fur of Dusk with his mares right behind him. "Whatever you need done in Baltimare I can do it," he continued as he and his mares started to walk towards the group. "We just got a letter a few hours ago from a friend from the republics, who'll be arriving at Baltimare in a few hours, and I was just getting ready to take off."

Celestia smiled at Dusk kind and polite offer as she had little time to get to know him or his mares that well, it was good to see that he was willing to go out of his way a little to help out. "Only if it isn't too much trouble Mr. Flare."

Dusk rolled his eyes and waved a dismissive hand towards the alicorn. "Pfft...trouble, trouble is my middle name, and Dusk will do just fine princess."

"You should listen to him," Sketchy cut in before anyone could speak. "Mister 'tough' guy over here gets himself caught in so much that he would save the world the trouble by wearing a target on his back." Jinx started to laugh at Sketchy's joke while Dusk rolled his eyes in mild annoyance.

"Ha, ha, ha...Sketchy you are the funnies mares in the world."

Both of his mares wrapped their arms around him to get him to stop pouting like a little pup but Sketchy had more to add. "I try," she whispered in Dusk's ear with a smug look on her face, which only added more fuel to Jinx's laughter, and more to the boiling pit in Dusk.

"Anyways," Dusk paused to shot a glare towards Sketchy, who was trying to act innocent, before turning back to Celestia. "I'll be happy to help out with...what do you need done in Baltimare?"

Celestia, who knew that Dusk had already met the twins, and knew much of what happened two months ago, passed the note from Rainbow Dash over to Dusk. "There's a mare named of Rainbow Dash that supposed to live here but have been staying in Baltimare for the last two months and we need someone to check up on her. However, we're not sure how she would react if the elements came a month late."

Dusk nodded his head and put the note in his back pocket. "I'm taking it that it has something to do with the twins," he asked in a low serious tone that was near polar from the one he first was speaking with. After noting the tone he had about the manner, Celestia gave a slight nod to the halfbreed. "Right, go to Baltimare, pick up Arctic, and find Rainbow. Anything else?"

"Nah half-blood," Obsidian started with a shake of his head. "You should be able to find her in a house that near the sea-port on a street called 'Seawinds Avenue.' It'll be the last one right before the street for the sea-port."

Dusk nodded his head towards the dog, making sure not to forget the directions he was given. "Got ya," he said giving a mock salute before planting a kiss on both of his mares' cheeks, catching them-and everyone else-off-guard, which got them to let him go, and started to walk off. "I better get going, got to make sure about a few surprises for date."

A bright blush came over Jinx's face while Sketchy's cocked her head slightly. "Surprises, what surprises Dusk?" The halfbreed turned to answer his mare but closed his mouth with a knowing smirk. "Dusk, what surprises are you talking about?" Instead of giving an answer, Dusk flared out his wings, and took flight towards a small cloud above him. Sketchy, who hates being left with little information, started to run towards the cloud in hopes of getting the halfbreed's attention.

However, she was too slow as the cloud started to spark with Dusk's purple electricity, and was helpless to stop Dusk from using the build up of his magic in the cloud to rocket himself towards the direction he was given earlier today of Baltimare.

Everyone covered their ears from the thunderous shockwave that was created from Dusk's sudden take-off. All that was left was a few sparks of purple electricity. While everyone stared at the impressive display of Dusk's ability to control his dragon-magic, Jinx started to slowly tip-toe her way away from her other packmate, but still got caught.

"Jinx," Sketchy started with a low tone. Jinx, who barely took one step away, jumped slightly from Sketchy questioning voice, and dared to look back towards the stern look on Sketchy's face. Simply looking in the flatness in Sketchy's black eyes was enough to send a slight chill down her spine as she remembered why she was called 'The Queen of Mean' back home. "What kind of 'surprises' Dusk was talking about?"

"Uh...oh will you look at that," Jinx stated, looking down to an invisible watch on her wrist with the fakest grin imaginable. "Well, I better be getting some things ready for our date." Before Sketchy could stop her, Jinx teleported away from the scene.

Sketchy stared at the spot Jinx was just in, burning holes into the ground before throwing up her hands in defeat. "I give up." Sketchy's horn sparked an off-black before she too teleported away to finish some things of her own for the date-night Jinx had wanted to do. An awkward silence overtook the square as everyone blinked a few times in mild-confusion at the lover's antics but soon thought best to further question it.

High Moon; city ruins

After convincing Isis to follow him out of the tomb so she could live with the rest of the pack, Wolf and the others finally started to walk through the fallen city, and wondered what the sphinx could do for High Moon. It was obvious that she had a plan to rebuild the city ruins and also tell them what they needed to know about the past. But something told Wolf that she would be doing something much more than that.

Blaze truly was happy for the sphinx, it was still worried to hear her call Wolf 'master,' but in the end she guessed it couldn't be helped. She also wonder what kind of knowledge she had from the past that she could share with them now.

Lily sympathized with her misplaced attitude. All what Isis knows was severing others, so the best way for her to cope with being abandoned by Celestia and Luna was to find a new master, and there was no one better suited for that than Wolf.

While the three held to their own thoughts, Isis looked over the broken land that was called her home, and was only glad that the final battle during the Nightmare Rebellion didn't take place there. She then turn her attention to Wolf, who was gazing over the lands with a look of thought.

Over the eight years of watching him and the other two do their best to care for the broken lands, Isis had grown attached to the way they would push past the odds to get things done, and silently yearned for the bond Wolf held with Blaze. Her eyes then trailed over the mare, wide hips able to give him the alpha cub that was already growing inside of her, large breasts to feed the cub, and-by what she had sensed-a powerful mage.

That's when she thought of taking a form that would please her new master. "Hey Isis," Wolf started, turning around only to see the sphinx be bath in golden and blue light, and standing up on her back legs. Wolf stopped walking as Isis started to shift forms, causing the other two to follow his gaze, and were dumbfounded by the sight as while.

Once the light had faded, Isis was now standing on her back legs like the rest of them. Her front paws had turned into five-digit fingers while her back ones stayed the same and her wings seemed to be larger. However, what also remained the same was her not having any clothes on, and Wolf's eyes couldn't do much from trailing up her long slender legs to her curvy hips and up her tone abdomen to her full chest.

A shift jab to the rips from Blaze, gave enough reason for Wolf to avert his eyes away from the stunning sphinx's body. "Um...Isis, just what did you do?" Isis cocked her head at Wolf's question, not aware of what she had done.

"I simply shifted forms, master," she answered with a flex of her wings. Over a thousand years, she had not once changed into this bipedal form, and she would need a moment to get used to walking like this again. "I thought it would serve you better use, I didn't do anything wrong, did I?"

A quick sigh came from Wolf as he removed his large black shirt and toss it toward Isis. The sphinx looked down to the black stained fabric, she noted every small detail of the dusty shirt, but couldn't figure out why Wolf have given it to her. "No, but put that on. We'll...um, have to find something for you to wear."

Isis did as her master told her to do, still unable to see the point, but didn't question. Luckily, Wolf's shirt was large enough to cover Isis's body all the way down mid-thigh. "Like this master?"

"Yeah, come on the twins and Frost should be making their way back here, and I want to introduce you to them." Isis nodded her head, already knowing of the twin dragons from the short two months of watching them learn, but still knew little of Frost. Wolf and the others started to make their way back to the mansion, where Lily gave Isis some of her old pants to tie around her waist with a piece of white cloth.

When the four made it through the tunnels to the temple, Wolf spotted Quill playing with the phoenixes while Frost and Spike sat at the table, talking about something amongst themselves. The three soon gave him their attention when the slab door moved back into place and quickly questioned the new face.

Knowing that they would have questions, Wolf quickly started to explain everything that had happen while they were away. "Twins, Frost, I would like you three to meet Isis," he started, waving a hand over to the sphinx, and continued. "From what we've been able to tell, she'd been here in High Moon for much longer than either Blaze, Lily, or myself, and now she wants to be apart of our little pack."

Frost and Spike started to walk around the table and towards the four adults while Quill landed back on the ground with the phoenixes on her shoulders. Isis quickly bowed her head towards the three, getting them to do the same, and smiling towards all of them.

"Hello, as master have already stated, I am Isis, and I'm also a sphinx. It is a pleasure to finally met all of you in person," Isis said with a soft gentle voice. "I've been dwelling here since its construction ten centuries ago and I hope that we all could live here together in peace for a considerable time."

"Heh, hi, I'm Quill Dragul," Quill started with a friendly smile, not questioning the sphinx's sudden appearance that much after seeing weirder with the elements. "This sack of coals right here is my twin brother Spike," she continued waving a hand over Spike, who was rolling his eyes at Quill's 'introduction.' "And this lovely mare right here is my marefriend, Frost."

Frost started to giggle with a sly blush on her face. "Hello it's nice to met you." Isis nodded towards the changeling. Suddenly, Wolf clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention.

"Alright everyone," he started, walking towards the center of the room where Blaze's table was, and placed his hands down it. "Since our pack is growing, I thought of a little renovation project is in order. Blaze, Lily, and twins you already know about us rebuilding the city so this is directed towards Frost and Isis." Both nodded their heads as they knew Wolf was taking the opportunity to get everyone's main role are. "Isis, since you know more about High Moon, I'm trusting you to work with Frost here, and do what you two can on getting things done."

"Of course master."

"Alright, this should be easy enough."

Wolf nodded his head towards the two, knowing that the city ruins were in good hands. "Great, now if you two ever need any help, don't hesitate to ask. Spike, in light of recent circumstance, tomorrow we'll be heading out to the nearby river to get you fishing." Spike nodded his head with a thumbs up showing his support of Wolf's plan.

Wolf knew that if anyone can catch some fish, it was him, and if anything the role change should help with his new weight training. "Quill, you keep hunting out there, something tells me we're going to need a few more pounds of meat to add to the winter storage, but be careful out there. Predators get desperate the closer the winter comes."

Quill scoffed at Wolf warning and snapped her fingers to create a small fire-ball above her hand. "Like they got something on this," she said in a smug voice that got some laughing and others rolling their eyes. "But seriously, I'll keep my eyes open." Two months, and Quill had learn being cocky when it come against other predators is a really dumb and costly thing to do. The last thing she wanted was Wolf worrying that she couldn't handle hunting on her own.

"Right, Lily and I will be doing some exploring soon." To this Lily tilted her head, not in objection, but in mild surprise as she didn't see where it was coming from. "I can only imagine what things we'll be needing for the city and I want to start doing some more trading with the nearby towns that close to Everfree. Also the ones within."

"Whoa, wait," Spike started as he and Quill were caught off-guard by the new bit of information. "There are towns in Everfree?"

Wolf furred his bow then suddenly remembered that he hadn't told them about the few small towns that are set up in Everfree. "Oh right, I haven't told you two about them just yet. Well, in all honest, 'town' isn't the right word I would call them, but yes. There are a few newish settlements out here, most of which are somewhere around a few centuries old, and their our ticket to getting a few things we need."

"Cool, think we can tag along," Quill asked, wanting to see these towns for herself. "We might as well since I'm guessing that we'll have to anyways."

Wolf chuckled from Quill's ever so brash way of thinking and nodded his head. "Sure why not, I had plans for you two to do so anyways." Quill and Spike started to smile at the thought of exploring more of their home while Wolf turned towards Frost. "What about you Frost, you wanna tag along?"

Frost placed a finger on her chin in thought, she already knew how to get around Everfree through the tunnels of her old hive, but unless she wants to start a war, she'll have to learn the route the old fashion way. "I might as well, I'm only used to traveling through the tunnels, and I have no idea how to get there from here."

Wolf nodded his head, thinking that was enough for the impromptu meeting, and stood up from the table. "Alright, if that's everything," he paused to see if anyone had something to add to the new agenda and continued when no one did. "Let's all head to the falls for a bath before dinner."

Everyone nodded their heads and started for their clothes in their separate living areas while Lily let Isis continue to borrow her clothes. There was much to do before winter, or before the birth of Wolf's cub in the few short seven months. But if things continued on the path they were on now, there would be nothing to worry about when the time come.

/ Ch. 23: Time Heals No Scars/-/

High Moon Ch. 23:  
Time Heals No Scars

Already above the salty skies of Baltimare, Dusk slowed his flight to land on a cloud to rest for a bit. His breath was short and ragged, like he flew a marathon, but still had the same smile he normally would after using the rail-launch technique. Ever since he learned the skill of building up his lightning-magic within a cloud, and mixing it with a little wind-magic, Dusk was able to be anywhere half the time any could imagine. In fact, the next best thing he could do was turning himself into actual lightning, but that was even more taxing on his body than shooting himself out of a cloud.

However, using the rail-launch did allow him to make it to Baltimare from Ponyville in the short fifty minutes was heavily taxing on his body, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to take another one for another two or so days.

Not that he had to use it quite often, considering that Ponyville was a small town, but still he could feel the strain of pushing his wings near past their limits in the base of them. Still he had two jobs to do in the sea-port town and one of them had a timer on them.

Dusk stood from the soft cloud and started to look for anything that could lead him to the docks where Arctic was hopefully at. In his search, he found several fast-food joints, fruit stands, a blacksmith shop, and even a comic-book store. However, he couldn't locate the docks.

That's when he remembered back to what Obsidian said about where Rainbow Dash should be at. "Seawind Avenue, wonder where that is?" When he finally looked up from the street, Dusk found the spot where the town met the sea, and knew that the docks had to been over in that direction.

He opened his wings to take flight towards the sea, taking it slow so he could give the appendages the rest they needed, and took time to breath in the familiar scent of salty air. Though, he couldn't shake the odd feeling that he had forgotten something rather important, but he pushed it aside as he flew towards the docks. Baltimare skies was a welcomed change of pace as each breeze served to remind him of home.

Thinking of being out on the ocean with his brothers and father, sharing stories, passing on their own knowledge to each other, telling jokes, and the occasional prank or two. All of these and so much more made up Dusk's old life back in the republics, he was still sad to say goodbye to most of it, but he had his own life to carve into the world; we all do.

No one could hope to live underneath someone else's shadow, it'll kill them. The thought of having someone to be constantly compared to while you're trying to achieve your own goals would drive any to the brink of insanity.

That's why he and his siblings all left home when they could, to find their own place in the world, but never forgetting where they came from. Dusk knew that he couldn't, and wouldn't, ever forget his family back home. Anytime any of them needed his help, he'll hop on the first boat back to the republics to do so, and he knew they would do the same thing.

No matter how many fights, arguments, or even running away they were put through, all of them came through no matter what. Sure, there were moments where Dusk wanted to rip apart Siege, or even Volt over something stupid, but in the end he got over it.

Time mead all wounds, the big, and small. No matter how deep they go, time heals all wounds, but will always leaves a scar of reminder. A scar that acts as a constant reminder of broken trust, abandonment, lost, fear, and much more weighing factors that causes us to question the things we do in our lives. Causes us to doubt our own way of living and forces us to face things we don't want to deal with.

However, Dusk didn't have to worry much about this. Anything Dusk started, he finished to the very end. During this, he have left many scars, and caused wounds that seemed to never be fixed again.

For example, in the fight with the rugby team, Dusk had caused more damaged than just to the players, but he'll never be able to help mend this. Friends, family, fellow citizens, they all placed their trust in that team to play with honor and dignity, but all that was shattered when he fought all of them and indirectly gave Sketchy enough time to send multiple copies of her evidence to every newspaper in Nebula.

Once news got out, it had spread like wild-fire. Couches were fired, teachers were placed on trial for their jobs, and even the school board itself was held in question. Soon, the whole school started to blame Dusk, Jinx, Sketchy, and Arctic the worse, for the accusing eyes of the republics falling on them.

Dusk was able to scare off most agitators just by shooting them a threatening glare, Sketchy used her smarts to shield Jinx from their harmful words, but Arctic was caught in the crossfire. In the time of a short few weeks, Arctic had quickly became suicidal as a result, and had to be stopped from killing herself at home. However, her parents failed to take the right steps to insure her safety, and did their best to keep it 'within the family' type matter.

This didn't work very much as Jinx was able to point out the change in Arctic's mood to the others. They did their best to keep Arctic in high spirits, hanging out with her whenever they could, taking her out to parties, and even tagging along with her mother to a beach resort during the summer.

Unfortunately, this wasn't able to undo the damage from the bullying she had to deal with at school, and one day she tried to end her life during school one time by jumping off the top of the three-story building. Luckily, Dusk was outside skipping class with a few other diamond dogs, and saw Arctic trying to end her life. He knew that he wasn't fast enough to catch her before she fell, that's when he learned the rail-launch technique, not by thinking too much about doing it, but by willing his magic to aid him in saving his friend's life.

Right before she hit the ground, Dusk was able to catch her, and protected her with his wings. Once he was able to open his eyes again, he found himself in the hospital with his entire family sitting around him. His mother had informed him that Arctic was being treated for minor injuries she suffered to her right wing and was also being placed on suicide watch by her family.

It wasn't until graduation before she was taken off suicide watch but everyone still felt as though she shouldn't live by herself. This was the reason Dusk and his mares were so quick to let her stay at their house in Ponyville with them, one to be with their friend again, and two to keep an eye on her as well.

And the start of this new responsibility, was on the right foot as Dusk found the ship that Arctic's letter said she would be arriving on, but more importantly the mare herself. Dusk had to think for a moment before he recognized the small white pegasus mare. It seemed ever in these two years apart, Arctic was able to keep her small slender frame, and from the looks had let her mane grow out a little.

Dusk landed on the dock right behind the mare and had to hold back a chuckle at the perfect chance to get her back for her goodbye present that had him picking silly-sting out of his fur for days.

Sticking his pointer finger up near his face, and charging it with a small dose of electricity, Dusk slowly aimed it towards the mare's wing-base. "Ahh!" The ever so familiar shout from his old friend called out over the sounds of ponies coming off of the ship, causing everypony to look towards Arctic while she hovered in the air above a chuckling Dusk.

She was going to turn around and give the unknown prankster a piece of her mind but stopped when she recognized the dark fur coloration of Dusk along with the large set of dragon wings on his back.

"Dusk?" Arctic landed back on the ground looking straight into Dusk's purple eyes, something about them seemed different than she once remembered, but their was no doubt that he was in fact the halfbreed she knew. Arctic beamed as her arms wrapped around the halfbreed's torso and nuzzled into his white shirt. "Dusk, I've missed you!"

Dusk chuckled at the mare's excitement as he had missed her as well. "I missed you too Arctic," he started, wrapping his arms around her waist so not to damage her wings. Soon, to Arctic's slight displeasure, Dusk ended the embrace, and rubbed the top of Arctic's head. "So how was college?"

"Fun, I met a lot of great friends, but boring," Arctic replied, no longer feeling nervous about standing on the docks with the large halfbreed standing by her side. "Where's Sketchy and Jinx, they're not here with you?" Dusk shook his head and pointed a thumb towards his wings with a sly smirk.

"Nah, I took the lightning express here," he answer with a sense of too much pride in his voice but still managed to get Arctic to giggle. During the laughing, Dusk had finally remembered what he was forgetting when he had got to Baltimare. "Actually, we'll have to fly back to Ponyville...I forgot my wallet."

"Great," Arctic sighed, hoping to have some time to catch up with the halfbreed without having to do any strenuous flying. "Well, we can go when my stuff gets unloaded." Dusk directed his attention towards the crew of earth-ponies and a few griffons unloading several of the passengers' baggage, and by the pace they were working, it'll be some time before they would be done. "So, what have you been up to these two years?"

Dusk turned back to Arctic, knowing that it'll be a lot for her to take in, but she was a good friend and she deserved to know what happened to him during the last two months. "Artie," he started with a slight smile, "don't I got a story for you…"

High Moon; Falls

While Dusk went over everything involving what happen to him while he and his mares were in Ponyville, Wolf and his pack all enjoyed a quick dip in the pools of water at the falls. As usual, Wolf and Spike were trapped at the edges of the bottom pool, not really making much conversation as sitting there without any clothes on was slightly awkward for the both of them.

However, unlike the males, the females above them were freely sitting close to each other, and even going as far as to help wash each other. Soon Lily and Blaze became friends with Isis after seeing that she did had a gentle playful side to her underneath the rather distant personality she seemed to always carry in her voice.

This left Quill to be wrapped in Frost's leathery bat-like wings at the top pool to enjoy the tranquil peace as the mares and sphinx's playing below them was muted by the rushing water. The task of actually washing themselves were forgotten as Frost's gentle hands danced across Quill's body while they simply soak in the red-orange light from the setting sun after the long day of learning and teaching along with the bearing discovery of Rainbow's true whereabouts.

Quill still felt somewhat guilty about Rainbow being abandoned by the elements, however, she would remind herself that it was their choice to wallow in their own despair while Rainbow was away. They honestly couldn't expect Rainbow Dash to come to their rescue after they fell apart on their own accord.

Through really, this wasn't her problem to deal with any more, but she still couldn't shake the feeling of guilt off her shoulders. She didn't know why though. Quill couldn't care less about the other elements, but when it came to Rainbow, it was a completely different story.

Frost felt the conflicting feelings coming from Quill, she had for a while now, and now that they were alone, she knew Quill would be more open with her feelings. "Quill sweetie," she started, pulling her closer with her wings, and bringing her head down to Quill's ear. "You know that you can talk to me about anything, right?"

"I know," Quill started in a sigh, knowing that Frost was able to sense the guilt coming from her ever since they learned the truth about Rainbow Dash. "Frost, what would you do if a friend of yours had something that they were hiding, and you were the only one that knew about it, what would you do?"

Frost paused for a moment, she knew this had to do with Rainbow, but didn't have any ideas what to tell Quill. "Well, that depends...how big of a secret are we talking about?" Quill was silence for a moment, allowing the rushing sound of the falls to take over again, and continued to fight herself about the situation. Frost frowned at the waves of regret and dejection coming from Quill as she knew her dragoness wasn't the type to mood about things. "Quill if you care about this Rainbow Dash then don't you think that you'll do more good going to her?"

Another long pause came, this time, Frost didn't feel the weighing emotions coming from Quill, but still didn't like the hesitate one taking its place. Frost spun Quill around and sealed her lips within a kiss before she could question herself any further.

At first, Quill tried to fight the warm loving kiss as it betrayed the thoughts in her head, but she soon closed her eyes giving in to her lover. Quill's hands instinctively moved down to Frost's hips to pull her closer to her while Frost toyed with the soft spines of Quill's ear-frills.

Frost snaked her tongue into Quill's mouth and for a moment took control of the kiss before breaking away. Quill stared into Frost's icy-blue eyes as she stared back into her bright purple. "Quill, I can't sit-" Frost's words were cut off by Quill wrapping her hands around her neck and pulling her back into a much more heated kiss, of which Quill took full control of.

Frost tried to move her lover off her before her instincts could take over but Quill was unrelenting with the kiss. Her tongue was already out of her mouth and around Frost before she could even think about it.

Suddenly, Frost was hit with a violent wave of heat coming from Quill, and moving straight towards her marehood. Her eyes started to roll back from the flush of emotions coming from Quill before they slowly fluttered close to better enjoy the new rush.

Quill's hands moved back into the water to reach Frost's round flanks and give them a squeeze. Quill enjoyed the feeling of Frost's moans in the kiss as she continued to squeeze the perfectly round flanks, even moving to her tail to give it a quick tug.

For a moment, Quill took the time to better examine the rather impressive appendage right above Frost's round flanks. The fur on it was much denser than the fur on the rest of her body, almost more dragon-like. Slightly wide at the base, trailing inward to a point where fill-like spines were at the end, and curving to a point.

The tail was interesting to Quill, everything about Frost was interesting about her, and she was going to protect her. Frost again tried fighting against the immense wave of emotions coming from Quill but each time her tongue would pull on her's, or when her claws would dig into her flanks, she would lose control of herself again.

Quill took two large handfuls of the round flanks and spread them apart, making Frost sequel in joy. Taking the loud moans as a good sign, Quill started to massage them, and brought a new heat to Frost. However, to the disapproval of the changeling, Quill ended the passionate kiss, and moved her hands away from her flanks to wrap her wings around her back.

Quill rested her head on Frost's right shoulder while she took a moment to regain her mind from her instincts. "Q-Quill what was that," Frost asked with a slight heavy breath from the breathtaking kiss. Quill didn't answer right away as she too was still trying to pull herself together. "Love, is everything alright?"

"Frost," Quill started in a slight sigh as she removed herself from Frost's warm body to look her in the eyes. "Thank you." Frost tilted her head in mild confusion at the unanticipated change in Quill's emotions but kept quiet to let her speak. "You just reminded me that I can't help everyone. Rainbow maybe my friend, I would do anything to help her out, but I got my own life to live. You, Spike, the others, and High Moon, I got way too much to deal with first before I can help them." Frost smiled at Quill sense of devotion towards her and the others. There was no doubt that it had to been hard for her to choose her new life over her old. "I can't save everyone, and I'm not going to. I got you guys to worry about first."

The two moved in for another kiss, this time, neither looked for dominance, and just enjoy the other's love before they parted again. Quill started to move her hands over Frost's body, she didn't know how or why, but she loved every part of the changeling. Even if she barely knew her, what she did know was enough for her.

Again, the two lovers were forced to break apart, but neither one broke the stare into each other's eyes. "Frost, I promise I'll protect you," Quill spoke feeling a fire being lighted in her chest and growing with every second she looked into the changeling's eyes. "I'll keep you safe and I'll never let you go."

Frost blinked back a tear from Quill's words of devotion, she didn't need her changeling ability to tell that all of her words were spoken with love, and to hear someone say them to her was truly a dream come true. "Well, I hope you don't expect me to sit back and let you do everything for me."

Quill shook her head with a slight chuckle. "No, I couldn't could I?" Both lovers started to giggle from the small joke Frost told. Soon, the giggles came to an end, but the fire in their chests had only just begin. Quill again pulled Frost in for another tender kiss, running her hands over her sides to memorize every curve on her body. Frost returned the favor by moving her hands to the base of Quill's wings to massage the tight flight muscle underneath her scales.

This time it was Quill who was moaning into the kiss as the sensation of having the tight flight muscles eased out by the one she loved. In move to return the loving treatment, Quill moved her hands down to Frost's dragon-like scorpion tail to get a light tug, and to take a handful of her plentiful flanks.

Their bodies pressed against each other and Frost's larger chest overtook Quill's near non-existent chest. Sounds of the water falling behind them soon became deaf to their ears along with any outside noise. For right now, all they wanted to hear was the other's breath, and feel the other's touch.

Quill managed to again snake her fork-tongue back into Frost's mouth, taking her tongue in hers, and moving about her mouth. Quill started to toy with the changeling's tongue, briefly pulling out of the kiss to drag her tongue out with her's, and diving right back in.

Frost giggled in the kiss at Quill's playful and aggressive nature as she rather enjoyed the dragoness taking charge. Quill was a powerful dragoness, even for the age she was, she still had more magic dwelling within her than any scorpio that Frost came by.

To much of their disfavor, the need of air forced the two to break away from the kiss, but remain closely together. Quill looked up to Frost's beautiful icy-blue eyes as they shined with the fading light of the sun, which highlighted her features, and caused every single drip of water on her to shimmer in a reflective red light.

Quill never felt this way with anyone she have known, not with the crusaders, any other pony, or even Rarity. Only three short, yet powerful words could ever begin to faithfully express the way she feels about her. "I love you, Frost."

The soft whisper was all Frost needed to hear from her younger lover before she again pulled her into a quick kiss. Once they parted again, Frost trailed her tongue over Quill's cheek, and over to her ear. "I love you too, Quill."

The two lovers remained close to each other, enjoying the loving warmth from their bodies as they discovered a love that was sure to last. Unfortunately, for Spike, he had yet to do the same as his twin.

Down in the bottom pool, Spike looked up towards the falling water, wishing that he could use his magic to surf up towards the orange skies to soar high above the ground, but with the ghost heart attacking him; he couldn't. So he abandoned that thought and turned his head down to the water. That when he looked towards Wolf, who hadn't removed his head away from the dirt path leading back into High Moon. Spike had secretly admired the dog's ability to rally others together to get things done.

It didn't stop there, he was strong, brave, knew how to make something from nothing, and always had a leveled head. He was everything Spike strived to be; a shining knight. Wolf didn't need the armor, the fame, or the comic sized muscles. All he needed was his mare. All he had to do was care and protect her and that was enough for him. If anyone wanted to live in High Moon, he'll let them as long as they help out with a few things, and return a few favors.

That alone made him much more of a knight than Spike, and over the two months, have broken his ideals of what a knight was really supposed to be. Once he thought of them to be someone who was brave, who had honor, admittedly a cape and deck of armor.

His whole life, Spike thought that he'll needed all of these before he could win over Rarity's heart, but of course he was wrong. For Wolf, it was Blaze's love that turned him into a knight; into something he wanted to be. Something that from the look of things, he'll never be.

"Hey Wolf," he started, breaking the still silence that became the few moments where he and Wolf would sit near each other, but still faintly got the dog's attention.

Wolf waited for Spike to continue with whatever he had to say, which took much longer than he liked, and turned around to the drake. "What is it Spike?"

There was another silent pause before Spike continued onwards. "You and Blaze have been together for a long time right?" Wolf raised an eyebrow towards the slightly off-wall question as Spike had never shown any interest in the manner but still nodded his head. "How you do it?" Wolf was going to question the drake when he started to correct himself. "I mean, how you manage to say with her for all these years? Most stallions can't even keep a mare for a week before they start looking for another. So how you did it?"

Of all of the things he could have asked… Wolf chuckled to himself before turning his back to the drake. "Because I love her," Wolf answered after a short moment, gaining all of Spike's attention. "Spike, I wouldn't be constantly risking my life for a hunk of land if it wasn't for her. I have no other reason to fight but for her."

"O-oh, right...that makes sense." Through the corner of his eyes, Wolf saw the slight dejection on Spike's face, and had a feeling of why it was their.

"Why you fight Spike," Wolf asked after a short moment of thought, he knew the drake's answer would be something along the lines of becoming strong, but he-no-Spike needed to learn why he fights.

"Well...I fight to protect everyone important to me," Spike started, using the same words Wolf guessed he would, but kept this to himself so Spike would keep going. "I want to become stronger so I can help everyone. I don't want to sit back any more and let others do things for me."

"Humph, yes I see," Wolf thoughtlessly started, impressed with Spike's sense of duty, but unimpressed by the typical-ness of his answer. Suddenly, Wolf whipped his head towards Spike, and locked eyes with him. "But what about you?"

For a moment, Spike couldn't answer Wolf's question, not because he couldn't think of an answer, but from the sharp glare from his dull-green eyes. He couldn't explain it, the look in Wolf's eyes made Spike feel like a black-hole was growing in his chest forcing him to cave in with fear, but at the same time prevent him from doing so.

"I'm still waiting Spike," Wolf said, already having turned back around, and breaking Spike out of his stupor.

"Huh…I-I fight for-"

Wolf again whipped his head back around to peer into Spike's hesitant eyes again. "I already know this Spike, we all do, but what do you want to make of yourself?" Spike slowly closed his mouth as he truly couldn't think of an answer.

Before High Moon, all Spike could think about was wooing Rarity, and living by her side. Now that's no longer possible. So he just made protecting everyone his new goal, however, even this wasn't achievable. Everyone in High Moon was far be on capable of taking care of themselves, the elements had each other, and now Ponyville had Dusk to be able to look after it.

So what was their for him? Spike wasn't satisfied with just strength alone, he needed a reason to have that power, but what good if it was just for himself? What's power without meaning? Where is the need, where's the need of him…

Slowly, the soul-crushing realization started to hit Spike in the chest. Without meaning in his life, the need of protecting those close to him, why was he here? "I-I don't know," Spike finally said after giving into the sudden revelation. "I'm...I'm not needed…" Wolf soften his expression after seeing Spike's turn dark. "Everyone can look out for themselves, they don't need me."

"Then find something worth fighting for," Wolf started, turning away from Spike, and looking back towards the path. "Ever since I was a young cub, I thought that I would find some land to call my own, and a furious pack to claim. Back then all I cared about was finding a hound to give birth to my cubs and rule like a king." Wolf started to chuckle at the hollow goal he had for himself when he was younger, always finding it funny that one mare was able to get him to change him so easily. "Every young cub thinks of this, and from our point of view, this is normal."

Spike looked up from the shimmering water to Wolf, who was looking straight up at the sky with a look that only comes from knowing what it means to fight for someone else. "However, now that's so much different, and all it took was one mare." Wolf turned his head back to Spike, looking straight into the lost gaze in his eyes. "Spike, just cause everyone can watch out from themselves doesn't mean that they don't need, or want you. Through, this isn't enough, and you know that. You can't help everyone Spike, you have to pick and choose your battles, and find someone worth fighting for."

The drake stared at the back of Wolf's head, slowly processing what he told him, and soon finding a new sense of meaning in his life. "Yeah, yeah!" Spike stood from the lake with a roaring fire burning in his chest, a feeling that he'd never felt before. "You're right Wolf, I got to start living for myself, and find something that I got to live for!"

"That's great and all Spike," Wolf started, refusing to turn his head around to the awkward sight behind him. "But could you...you know sit back down? We're still not wearing any clothes right now, just so you know."

In his excitement, Spike failed to hear Wolf's warning, and continued to plan out his new way of living. "I got nothing to lose right?" Besides you dignity. "So what's the harm in trying? This is great, hey Wolf you think that-"

"Woo Spike!" The drake's body froze at the mocking sound of Blaze's voice and dared to look up to the cliff to see her standing close to the edge wearing a few pieces of cloth to cover her large breasts and marehood. "Looks like Wolf got you beat in size, more ways than one." Spike's entire face started to become bright red before he ducked himself back into the water in complete embarrassment. "Oh woohoo, Wolfie…" Wolf turned around to the top of the cliff to see his love flashing her marehood a little with a slutty look. "I know what's for dinner."

Wolf turned back around and started to get out of the pool to get dress. "What the hell gotten into her," he whispered to himself as he grabbed his pants from a tree limb and put them on. "Spike, if I was you, I'll get dressed as soon as I can. You know, before the girls can make their way down." Suddenly, the drake shot out of the water, and dashed over to the bushes where his cloths were sitting at.

Wolf started to shake his head while he leaned against a tree to wait for the others to make it down the hill. Eight years with dealing with Blaze's over excitement for things, Lily's flat attitude after nightfall, and two months with the twins. Yeah, and Wolf was the king of it all.

"Weirdest fucking pack ever...but I love'em."

Baltimare; Seawinds Avenue

Walking down the street in Baltimare, Dusk carried some of Arctic's stuff from what she brought while the mare herself walked by his side with a rolling suitcase behind her. After leaving the docks, Dusk told Arctic that he had one more thing to do before they could head back to Ponyville, and started to inform her about everything that has happened. Arctic had quietly listen to every word Dusk had to say regarding the twins, the mysterious unicorn, and him becoming an element.

She couldn't believe that one of her closest friends had became an element, on top of that, made his own band of elements, and was now on a job for the solar crown. Arctic knew something was different about Dusk but becoming an element wasn't it. Back in school, Dusk was always distant to others around him, and was completely cold to any that got too close to him.

The fact that she was able to become friends with the dog in the short two weeks before the fight with the rugby team was a miracle on it's own. Now he was going around helping others that he barely knew, even teaching other dragons about their magic.

Arctic knew if Dusk had ever gotten past his cold view on the world, he would easily see the world around him in a different light, and it showed in the way he was talking to her. "So now I got to talk to a Rainbow Dash about her working something out with the other elements," Dusk finished his long story with handing the note to Arctic. While she started to read the letter, Dusk continued with the last part. "Celestia was worried that she'll flip or something like that. I don't know why though, if she the element of loyalty then she'll understand right?"

"I don't know Dusk," Arctic started, handing the note back to Dusk so he could put it back into his back pocket. "I mean from the sound of things, she was counting on them to kept themselves together while she was away, and from what you told me, they didn't."

Dusk nodded his head in argument as Arctic was right. He may not know the elements enough to be able to tell what really was going on but from the way everyone was handling the situation, it sounded like the elements royal messed up big time. But the question was, how would Rainbow react to her friends being late, and having send someone she never met before.

"So how you going to do it?" Dusk looked over toward Arctic with a blank stare that told her he didn't have any plan. "Great, so do you even know where she is?"

Dusk opened his mouth to speak when a slightly high-pitched voice broke out. "Ohhh, Rainbow Dash...could you help with this dear." The two friends looked down the street to see a very tall off-white pegasus mare wearing a rather tight blue dress. That's when they saw another pegasus mare with a rainbow mane wearing gym shorts and white T-shirt.

"I'm guessing that's her," Dusk said, pointing towards Rainbow as she went over to the other mare to see what she wanted, and starting to make his way over to her. "Come on Artie, the sooner we get this done the better." Dusk and Arctic quickly made their way through the crowded street towards the two mares.

"No way Mia," Rainbow started at the other mare, who looked like a supermodel, and somewhat similar to Celestia. "I'm not flying to the store just so you could-"

"Excuse me." Rainbow stopped at the deep sound of a male voice walking towards her. She and Mia turned toward Dusk and Arctic, her eyes quickly skipped over the smaller mare to look over Dusk. For a moment, Rainbow though she was seeing things when she saw the pair of dragon wings sitting on his back, but guess that he had to been what been called a 'halfbreed.' "Are you Rainbow Dash?"

"The one and only," Rainbow started with pride in her voice that matched Quill's. "What can I do for you?" Dusk reached into his back pocket and pulled out the note Rainbow handwritten. She quickly recognized her handwriting and looked towards the halfbreed with a questioning gaze. "How did you get this?"

Arctic flinched behind Dusk from Rainbow sudden accusing tone and Dusk had to take a slight breath to keep from shouting back. "Ms. Dash, please don't yell," he started, knowing Arctic have problems when others raise their voice around her. Rainbow was going to question him again when she realized the real reason he was asking her not to yell. "I know you have a lot of questions, so I'll give you the short story. My name is Dusk Flare and I am another element but I'm not with the elements of harmony. This note was delivered by Quill Dragul to Celestia and the elements in Ponyville and I offered to come speak with you about it."

Rainbow blinked back with a confused look while Mia knew what he was talking about as Celestia had already filled her in one hour before. "Quill huh, I figured that she would wind up finding it. So what's the deal, why aren't Twilight and the others here, and when did the twins move back to Ponyville?"

Dusk shook his head, again surprising Rainbow. "The twins hadn't move back to Ponyville, in fact, they're doing just fine, but they came to hang out with me for a few hours. Is there anywhere we could sit down and talk? I think it'll be better if you got caught up with everything."

"Sure, come on, I'll take you to my cousin's house." Dusk started to follow Rainbow and Mia to Rainbow's cousin's house with Arctic holding close behind. Both Dusk and Rainbow had questions, and by the looks of things, it'll be awhile before any of them are fully answered. /-/  
/ Ch. 24: New Meaning/-/

High Moon Ch. 24: New Meaning

After everyone had finished bathing, and gotten dressed, Wolf's pack started to make their way towards the temple. Wolf again took the time to go over what everyone should be doing tomorrow. Isis will start overseeing the reconstruction of the city ruins and will be taking note of any material that she would need to do so. Spike, Quill, and Frost will follow Wolf to the nearest town called White Tail Valley. Lily and Blaze were free to do anything they please so as long as they were back before the moon.

Everyone agreed to the tasks that they were assigned for tomorrow as it will give them all something to do and focus on. Right as they made it back to the temple, Blaze had tried to apologize for peeping over the cliff to Spike, but was waved off by the drake. All but Wolf was impressed by the drake's willingness to overlook something like that but Blaze made a mental note to make it up to the drake somehow.

Soon, the moon started to slowly make its way up the darkened skies and dinner was starting to be fixed by Spike and Frost. That's when Wolf thought about the sphinx's diet and asked Isis what kind of food she preferred. At first, all she would say was anything Wolf thought was good for her to eat, but Wolf kept pressing on. She soon revealed that she preferred fish and other aquatic sea-life. However, she also enjoyed a good fresh fruit or vegetable, which made things easier since she was an omnivore that didn't have much of a heavy preference.

Wolf took note of this and made sure that he start adding fish to the list of animals to hunt before the winter. Once the two chiefs were done, dinner was served to the right diets. A plate of fruit salad for Blaze, Lily, and Isis, and a few chunks of seasoned meat for the carnivores.

Of course, the phoenixes weren't forgotten as Quill and Spike took turns tossing up sliced apples. Wolf than noted that they'll need to start planting seeds for fruits and vegetables if they were going to continue to grow in the way they were.

He then asked if Blaze had any more of that rapid-growth potion she made a few months before the twins showed up. However, when she went to check in her chest of items, she was slightly miffed to say that she didn't, and would have to make a new batch tomorrow.

Soon, everyone finished their food and Lily, Isis, and Spike started to make their way towards the mansion ruins for the night with the phoenixes following close behind them. After helping Frost cleanup, Blaze lead Wolf to their room for 'dessert,' and Frost did the same for Quill.

Once behind closed doors, Frost pushed Quill to the bed, and pouched right on top of her. The two's fingers intertwined as so did their tongues and Quill took her role as the dominant one. Frost started to moan when she felt that same intense wave of heat coming from Quill as from the waterfalls and started to crave more of the overwhelming feeling. She moved her free hand down Quill's hardened body and slipped them in her shorts.

Quill felt Frost trying to use the same spell she used their first time together and suddenly sat up, pushing Frost to her back on the bed. Frost was caught off-guard by the sudden change in position and was forced to pull her hand out of Quill's dragonesshood. "Q-Quill?" Frost looked up to the bright shine in Quill's purple eyes, much too bright for it to be simply just her nightvision, but Frost couldn't think much past that part.

"Frost," Quill started in a low seductive voice, one that sent a chill down Frost's spine, and continued to baffle her. "Tonight, let's not use a spell. I got a better idea," she continued as she reached a hand out to the green shirt Frost borrowed from Quill and lifted it from her body. It wasn't two seconds after before Quill's mouth latched around the icy-blue nipples and her hands around the sides to massage them.

Frost did her best to keep her moans down so Wolf and Blaze wouldn't hear them but Quill's sharp fangs and claws were almost too much for her. She couldn't believe how sensitive her breasts where, or how Quill continued to bring such joy to her. With just her own touch, she didn't feel much of anything, but with Quill doing it; it was so much more.

Her nipples became incredibly harder, to the point she thought they would be stuck like that. Her knees would always feel weak when her dragoness was claiming her, and it was near impossible to think straight. From Quill's slightest touches, waves of tingling moved from each nipple to the rest of her body, and quickly increased in their speed and power throughout her body.

Quill opened one eye to peek at the pleasure written on Frost's face. She took pride and joy knowing that it was her to be the only one to enjoyed such a beautiful sight. However, the large round breasts wasn't enough for Quill's groping hands. As she snaked her hands down to Frost's slightly larger flanks, Quill took her time dragging her claws slowly through Frost's fur to get a slight whimper from her before she grip her mare's flanks through the tight purple shorts.

Frost's squeals were muffled by her biting down on her lips as he hoped Quill would move on already. To her luck, Quill quickly became tired with teasing her lover, and released her breasts but not before pulling on the nipples and letting them snap back into place. The rough treatment was enough to get a hushed squeal from Frost and caused her body to shake a little.

Quill sat up on top of Frost's waist to take in the sight of her handy work. Frost already had a line of drool going down her mouth along with her heavily breathing. But what made the slight more rewarding for Quill, was the bright blush across Frost's cheeks.

A violent shiver went down Frost's body when she felt the large amount of lust coming from Quill's hungry eyes. The shiver only grew when she dared to met her lover in the eyes as they peeped over every inch of her bare chest making her feel slightly subconscious. "Q-Quill quit staring, its making you drool…"

Quill licked her lips in a more dragon-like display, only adding to the mare's subconsciousness as she leaned into her ear, and started to nibble on it while her hands went back to Frost's breasts.

Frost's swarmed around under the dragoness's pleasurable treatment and whimpered a moan when she felt Quill remove her teeth from her ear. "I'm drooling because I have something to drool about." Frost's body shook from the low whisper in her ear as she started to lick her tongue across the side of her cheek before sealing her mouth in a kiss.

Frost again started to moan when the intensity feeling returned to her, reaching out to her soaking marehood, and oddly to her chest. She couldn't possibly fight off Quill's tongue long enough to figure out what was the intense and wonderful feeling taking her body.

'I-is this what it means...to love someone,' Frost questioned while Quill's hands moved back to her flanks. She never once felt this burning wave before and the only explanation she could think of was the fact that Quill did in fact love her, not just cause of the physical relationship, but because that's what her heart told her.

It was incredible!

For a changeling, feeling true love from another was enough to bring them to their knees, and make them do anything to keep that source of love going. It was like a drug. Upon first taste, she needed more, and as long as Quill continued to return her love her, she'll have it.

Frost had heard rumors of a changeling actually finding someone to love but would have never guessed that it would feel this great. Everytime she was remained of Quill's love, it felt like an inferno was started in her chest, and spread to every part of her body.

Just from the slightest touches from Quill was enough to send a shiver down to her knees. This was only added on top of the fact that Quill had to be intensely powerful. Sure, that halfbreed from Ponyville had the strength that reminded her of her montours father, but Quill was something different.

She had power that exceed her magic, she had power to get things that needed to be done, and knew when to pick and choose her battles. The more Frost thought about it, the more Quill seemed to be everything she had ever thought of a mate; kind, funny, loyal, and due to her instincts, powerful.

Frost could only think of three short powerful words to describe how she feels about her lover. "Quill, I love you," Frost moan while Quill was busy toying with Frost's collarbone. The changeling's words were enough for her to break out of her own dragoness mating instincts and down into her lover's shining icy-blue eyes. "I-I've never felt this way about anybody before, and it's not just because of how strong you are." Tears started to stream down Frost's face, reflecting the shine in her eyes, and making them that much more captivating. "You have a good heart Quill, you may not do the smart thing all the time, but you always have good intentions."

Quill moved down to lick away the tears, tickling Frost's cheek, and sealing her lips with another soft kiss. Frost's hands latched around Quill's neck to pull her closer while Quill's hands moved to her back, close to the base of her wings. For an entirety, the two remained locked in each other's lips, and took that moment of foreverness to explore every inch of the other's mouth.

Unfortunately, biology demands air for their lungs, and forced them to part ways for a moment. "Frost, I'm the one how should be saying that," Quill started staring into Frost's shining eyes while her hands reached the base of her bat-wings. "Before I found you in that storm, I didn't know what I'll do. I was mad, betrayed by my closest friends, and I couldn't take the weight of everyone's faults any more. But, you took all that away, and you help me see that I can't run from everything." Frost started to moan when Quill started to toy with her flight muscles in the base of her wings and from the pure love from her words. "Frost, I...I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Frost's heart and mind stopped at the dragoness's words as her eyes shot open to see Quill move in for another kiss on the lips, of which she greatly accepted, and pulled her lover in closer with her hands around her head-spines.

Another moment of foreverness ended with Quill trailing her lips down Frost's body, leaving bites and kisses down, and stopping for a moment to play with Frost's breasts. Frost moaned in approval when Quill's teeth nibbled on her hardened nipples and resumed groping the large flesh.

Soon, the mare's hushed begging was enough to get Quill to move back down the rest of her body, dragging her tongue the way down, and again tickling her fur. Frost had a hard time picking rather to laugh uncontrollably or moan Quill's name, however, the latter soon became the case as Quill removed Frost's shorts, and started to dance her tongue over her marehood.

The experience was new for the both of them as Quill's fixable and untrained reptilian tongue wildly moved about Frost's marehood, lapping up any sweet juices that she could taste, and savoring the icy taste.

Frost was left squirming under Quill's inexperienced tongue, only her moans could be used as singles of where Quill should move her tongue next. She never experienced something like this in her life. Sure she went into heat before and learned, and used, a number of spells to deal with it.

However, she never felt anything like this. Quill's wild and untrained tongue moved over every inch of her marehood, quickly becoming more focus as she went on, and drove Frost up the wall. It wasn't just Quill's tongue work, it was how quick she was learning, and adapting to the new experience.

It quickly got to the point where Frost couldn't keep still and prevent Quill from fully enjoying the sweet taste of Frost's marehood. After having her head moved out again by Frost her legs closing down, Quill grabbed onto Frost's wide thighs, and spread them wide.

Frost squealed in surprise when Quill did this and violently blushed when she felt her dragoness's lust grow stronger. Quill quickly dived back into the open space between Frost's legs and started to attack her outer walls. Now unable to move her legs, Frost was left to moan from Quill's tongue work, and could feel a climax building.

However, Quill didn't listen to any of the changeling's warnings, and continued to greedily drink any of her pre-cum. Wanting more, Quill thought of slipping her tongue in Frost's marehood, and was rewarded by a loud throaty moan and a new wave of taste.

Quill's mind did its best to determine the taste, warm-hot even-yet cold like an ice-cube, and the conflicting sense drove her wild. Each drop had Quill wanting more so she could understand the wondrous mystery that is her marefriend, Frost.

With her lover's fixable and shift tongue moving inside of her marehood, Frost was forced to bite down on her own lower lip to keep her moans from reaching the ears of Wolf and Blaze. However, this task was almost impossible to do as Quill continued to push more of her serpent tongue within her depths.

It wasn't long in Quill's exploration did she find a spot in Frost's marehood that forced a shiver down her entire body. Once Quill noticed this, that one spot became the focus of her assault, and again was rewarded with a long throaty moans of approval from Frost.

The mare soon started to buck her hips into Quill's face to get more of the tongue's magical feel within her. Even going as far as to place her hands pushed Quill's head further into her marehood to enjoy every time her tongue found it's way towards that spot.

Although, Frost could feel a climax quickly approaching, and did her best to fight it off for a little while longer; just another moment. She wanted Quill to know that she had to continue to work to please her. To know that she wasn't just some mare looking for a quick fix. That she was one to know how to make her work to achieve her goals.

It wasn't hard for Quill to tell that her mare was about to reach release, as she felt Frost's marehood clenching down around her tongue the same way it did when she had that shaft in the cave and knew that she was trying to fight back her climax.

Quill took this as a sign of a challenge from Frost, saying that if she couldn't get her to come, that she shouldn't be the one in charge in their relationship. Not liking the idea of being at the mare's mercy, Quill quickly upped the pace of her tongue, and redoubled her efforts on that spot deep in Frost's depths.

Soon, an idea of getting her lover the release her body craved soon came to Quill's head and she started to softly bite on the swollen marehood. The soft nibble with Quill's fangs was the final straw for Frost as her body started to violently shake.

Quill couldn't pull her tongue out of Frost's gushing marehood, so instead, she started to greedily drink the small torrent of mare-cum, and even continued to play with the sensitive spot in Frost's marehood.

Frost's eyes started to roll to the back of her head while her hips bucked wildly into Quill's face. She wanted to scream, oh so how did she wanted to shout out the one that brought her such joy, but she didn't in fear of waking Wolf and Blaze.

Fortunately, yet unfortunately, Frost started to calm down from her high, and slumped down to the bed in a sweaty mess. However, Quill didn't remove herself until she lap up every drop of the delicious cum.

Once licked clean, Quill finally removed herself from Frost's marehood, and licked off the cum around her cheeks. "Mm...I think I can get used to this," she said, looking down to the ragged mess of her lover, and holding pride that it was her that did this.

"Y-you...are e-evil," Frost half-joked, barely able to catch her breath, or hold a moment of thought together. Quill giggled to herself as she moved to the left side of Frost's head and gripped Frost's right breast with another-slightly darker-giggle. "I've c-created a monster."

Quill started to toy with Frost's still hardened nipple and started to nibble on her ear, getting her to softly moan. "No, I've always been this way, but you woke the beast in me," Quill joked again, not sure if she was really just joking or not. "Night Frost, we got things to do tomorrow, and Wolf usually get up early when he have things to do."

Frost turned around to face Quill in the eyes and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "Then we better get some kind of rest." The two lover wrapped each other in their wings and closed their eyes to dream about the life ahead of the both of them.

Baltimare; Sky Bloom's house

"So they sent you instead," Rainbow questioned after Dusk had finished his story of what's been going on in her absence. Over the last hour and half, Dusk was going over any knowledge he had of the elements and twins to Rainbow Dash, and had answered all of her questions in full.

Now however, Rainbow didn't care much of listening to the halfbreed, and didn't care that the elements didn't have the guts to come meet her in person. "So, two months, and not once have they thought of going to my house to check on me." Dusk slightly nodded his head, giving Rainbow all she needed. "Hmuh, figures. So what you wanted anyways? Or should I say, what they wanted, message-mutt."

Dusk took in a deep breath as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay," he breath out in a tired sigh, holding up two fingers in the air. "Two things," Dusk started, snapping his purple eyes open, and holding up one finger. "One, I'm going to overlook 'massager-mutt' for now, and two…" he paused again with another sigh before continuing with a softer tone. "they just want to know how their friend is doing."

"Fine," Rainbow forced out a chuckle while she looked up to the white ceiling above. "I'm doing just fine if they really needed to know. But it sounds like they have seen better days." When Rainbow didn't hear anything from Dusk, she turned her head back down to see the flat expression on his face, and knew that he wasn't satisfied with her joke. "Okay, look like that letter already says, I need time alright? I mean," Rainbow pushed herself from the couch and started to walk around the room with the look of frustration on her face. "I need time alright? I shouldn't have to be expected to come to their rescue because they can't move on."

Dusk nodded his head in understanding, it would be unfair for anyone to ask Rainbow to bare the weight of others when she has her own to carry. "I understand that but your friends are just worried about you," Dusk continued on, "Don't you think that you could have, you know, left that note at one of their houses? That way they would have at least known that you were alright."

"He's right you know," Mia called out from the kitchen where she and Sky Bloom were fixing the three of them dinner. Rainbow, Dusk, and Arctic turned towards the tall pegasus as she sat a pot on the stove to boil. "If you honestly wanted your friends to know where you were then you would have left it at one of their houses."

Rainbow turned her head away from her cousin's friend that's been living with her just as long as she has while the mare herself started to walk towards her with an obvious, yet still, natural sway of her hips. She stopped right in front of Rainbow, who refused to look her way. "So the question is, why you didn't?"

A long pausing silence overtook the living room as everyone waited for Rainbow's answer. However, she seemed to be unwilling to answer the question, and Mia didn't let her get away with this one.

"I think it's because you didn't want them to find you." Rainbow's body jumping was more than enough for Mia to know that she was in the right field and continued to press in that direction. "Perhus, you no longer care about the other elements, and you just want to be alone. But really, you're scared." Again, Rainbow's body jumped from the alicorn in disguise. Rainbow's hands even started to tremble at her sides while her mane hid her face. "Be honest Rainbow, you're afraid that blame could somehow fall on your shoulders from two months ago."

Rainbow started to wordlessly mumble something to herself, most likely a silent demand to get Mia to stop speaking the truth, but she wasn't of fortune. "Now you think just cause you hid away for two months that you have the right to denounce them. Well, it doesn't work like that, if anything, they have the right to denounce you for abandoning them."

"I didn't abandon anypony," Rainbow whispered with venom lacing her tongue.

Only Mia and Dusk were able to hear the low whisper but the other two pegasi could feel something wrong in the air. "Aren't you supposed to be the element of loyalty? So why are you here and not there, helping your friends?"

"I didn't abandon anyone."

Mia started to frown at the same repeated words she would always get when Rainbow was back into a corner. She knew any further would spark a violent reaction in Rainbow so she left it be to attend to the cooking again. Mia caught the worried look in Sky's eyes and shook her head, knowing that she couldn't do much else.

However, Dusk couldn't stand to see the mare so conflicted by whatever was keeping her in Blatimare, and didn't drop the subject. "So you're just going to hide," he asked, standing up from his seat in another couch in the room, and taking a step closer to the mare. "You are just going to stay here while your friends deal with the mess that's left behind. I may only know small bits of what happened two months ago but what I do know is how the twins felt out of place. I mean look at me," he paused to wave his hand over the room and then himself. "How out of place can you get with a dragon and diamond dog halfbreed?"

Rainbow looked up from her mane with one eye directed towards Dusk. When he saw the lostness in her eyes, Dusk shook his head and started to walk back to Arctic's stuff sitting in the corner of the room. "Rainbow," Dusk started as he was picking up Arctic's duffle-bag and suitcase. "I'm going to tell you something I learn a long time ago. You can't run from what needs to be done, one day or another it will catch up with you." Dusk took one last look back to the lone eye sticking out of Rainbow's mane, it still had hesitation in it. "Come on Arctic, let's get to Ponyville before it gets too late."

"Alright Dusk," Arctic started, standing from her seat in the couch, and bowing her head towards Mia and Sky. "Bye Miss. Bloom, Miss. Light, and Miss Dash, I hope...I hope everything works out in the end." Sky and Mia waved off Arctic while Rainbow remained rooted to her spot. Arctic tried to think of something to say to Rainbow, but seeing the barren look in her eyes reminded her too much of her own. "B-bye." Arctic grabbed her roller suitcase and followed Dusk out the door, but right before leaving, she heard Sky tell Rainbow that Dusk was right.

Dusk closed the door when Arctic was fully outside and puffed a gray cloud of smoke towards the darkened skies above. Arctic looked into the bright shines in Dusk's purple eyes, the Dusk she once knew would have dragged Rainbow against her will back to Ponyville, but it seemed that he had done more than grow in these two years.

"You think she is going to be okay?" Dusk didn't answer Arctic's question right away as his eyes and mind were busy listing all of the stars he could remember his mother teaching him when he and his siblings were younger.

All Dusk could think that would begin to answer the question was a saying only kept in the republics. "All lives start as one, all lives gather together, and all lives end as one," he recited from a young memory. "All find their place in the world, all strive for a goal, and all make their lives with their hands." A slow pause took the two back to their homes in the republics, one just saying goodbye to the lands, and the other longing to see them again. "Come on Arctic, let's go home."

Arctic nodded her head and followed Dusk as he took flight towards the darkened skies to fly back to the warmth of his home; to the waiting arms of his mares.

Two Hours later…

Finally, after two hours of flying and resting, both Arctic and Dusk made it to Ponyville, and expected a slight night to rest for tomorrow of looking for a job for Arctic. Dusk just wanted to finish off Jinx's gem noodles she made for him the other night, and after getting Arctic settled, go to sleep.

However, the makers seemed to have another plan for him.

"What the hell," Dusk wordlessly questioned the air transport sitting outside of his house while Arctic was trying to catch her breath. A few moments passed before he came to the conclusion that the elements, Celestia, and the Solar guards thought to wait out in his house. "Perfect, 'cus I really want to deal with them right now."

Arctic, skipping over the air-transport, looked over to her friend when she recognize the dull tone in his voice, and knew that he wasn't in any mood to deal with any more questions. "Dusk," she started, placing a hand on his shoulder to gain his attention, and continue when he turned back to her. "Are you going to be fine?"

Dusk took in a deep breath and let out a small gray cloud. Right now, he didn't want Arctic worrying that he'll revert back to his old self, and he didn't want either of his mares to think the same thing. "Yes, yes...I'll be fine Arctic. Come on, you must be tired, and I still got a job to finish."

After staring into Dusk's eyes for a few more moments, to see if he was in fact telling the truth, Arctic released Dusk's shoulder so he could walk over to unlock the door. However, right before walking in, Dusk took in a deep breath, and let out a slightly darker cloud of smoke.

Once he finally pushed open the door, and turned on the light, Dusk was greeted with a sight that he didn't like very much. All five of the elements found some spot on his couch to sleep, the Solar guards took chairs from the kitchen to circle around the living room, and Celestia was snoring in the recliner.

Before the halfbreed could say anything about the unwanted guests, Jinx and Sketchy made their ways down the stairs to greet their missed friend. "Oh Arctic, it is so good to see you," Jinx cheered, waking a few of the 'guests' up from their sleep. "Dusk was nice to you on the way back right? We all know how he gets when he doesn't eat."

"Ha-ah, Jinx, you are super funny," Dusk quickly retorted, only getting the mares to laugh at him some more. Once Dusk cut a glance towards the elements to see their questioning gazes, he turned back to his mares, but more specifically, Sketchy. "Listen, why don't you girls get Arctic all situated while I entertain our 'guests.' I'll try and not be too loud or anything and it shouldn't be too long either."

While everyone else thought that Dusk was just talking normally, Sketchy knew that he was telling her to take Jinx and Arctic up stairs, and to place a soundproof barrier around the downstairs. "Sure, Dusk," she started with a slight spark of her horn as a response to his message. "Come on Artie, all that flying must have you tried."

Sketchy turned towards the stairs, taking Arctic's heaviest bags off of Dusk's shoulders, and leading the two other mares upstairs. "Oh come on Sketchy," Arctic started, not aware of Dusk's and her's plan. "I'm not the same weak flyer that you remember."

"Of course you're not Artie," Sketchy replied at the top of the stairs with another few brief flash of her horn telling Dusk how long it would take her to get everything in place. "Jinx could you show her the way to the bathroom? I'm sure Arctic wants to be all, how you put it sometimes, 'squeaky' clean."

Jinx's ears perked up at this, excited of what those words met to her. "Sure, I can do that," she again cheered, taking Arctic's hand, and leading her to the guest bathroom so she could bath. With some help.

While Arctic was looking for a way out of that, Sketchy did as Dusk silently asked her to do, and placed a soundproof barrier over the staircase so he could freely speak to the elements. Over the five hours that they were 'camping' out at her house, Sketchy had to several times stop herself from yelling at any of the elements for their somewhat selfish view of Rainbow Dash and the twins, but if anyone can set them straight it was the cold teenager from two years ago that's inside of Dusk.

Once Sketchy walked off, to find other ways to keep Jinx and Arctic busy while he dealt with the elements, Dusk took in a deep breath, and let out a crawling cloud of smoke at everyone in the room.

He, however, paid no mind to their whining compliances as he wordlessly walked to the kitchen to fix him some late dinner. Obsidian and Celestia were the only ones to recognize the sudden drop in his attitude, as both had acted in a similar manner at some point of their lives.

Once he was at the fridge, Dusk pulled out a large white styrofoam cup, marked with his name on it, and placed it in the microwave. Everyone remained silent while he fixed his dinner, lest they say or do something to further anger him. Soon, the sound of the microwave cried out, and Dusk reached into the nearby drawer to pull out a pair of chopsticks.

Dusk open the refrigerator up again with his tail while he spun the chopsticks around in a performance type manner. "So, it's like totally cool that you all just stay in my house while I'm out helping you out," he finally started, bobbing his head to a fast-pace tone in his head, and pulling out his dinner along with a can drink from the refrigerator.

"But whatever," Dusk paused to slam the microwave door close with his free hand and the refrigerator door close with his right foot and started to walk back to the couch.

Applejack and Fluttershy quickly moved out of the way to let Dusk sit down as he started to dig into the gem filled noodles. Soon, the only sounds that came in the room was him slurping up the noodles, and crushing up the gems with his teeth.

"So," Dusk again finally started after finishing more than half of the meal and placing the styrofoam cup on the table. "Your friend Rainbow," he paused as he moved his tail, which was still holding the grape soda, to his face and popping it open with a claw. "Isn't happy."

Dusk started to drink the bubbly drink while everyone tried to figure out what he meant by Rainbow wasn't happy. Well, most of them anyways. Obsidian was still trying to understand why the halfbreed was acting in such a cold tone but something told him that if he keeps talking that they will learn why.

"Also," Dusk again started, with a slight chuckle that sounded like a mocking one. "She reminds me of my brother Volt when he was a pup. One, impatient, and two…" Dusk started to bring the can to his lip again before speaking, "a coward."

Applejack shot up from her seat and slammed her hand down onto the wooden table in front of Dusk. "What ya say!" Even with the mare yelling at full volume, Dusk remain unfazed by her demanding tone as he continued to drink his soda with his eyes closed. "How the hay ya say that our Rainbow is a coward. She got more back-bone in her whole body than you do in you tail."

Dusk looked over to the burning fire in Applejack's eyes and returned the stare with a much darker one of his own. "Oh, really?" Suddenly, Dusk's tail crushed the can in a simple and fluid motion that frightened Applejack a little, and flicked the can into the trashcan that was behind the couch. Dusk slowly reached out to the styrofoam cup to finish off the rest of his dinner.

"Tah' don't prove nothing," Applejack shouted in a huff before sitting back down and refusing to look Dusk's way. However, the halfbreed didn't care much about the farm-mare's attitude towards him, and simply continued to eat. "And could you stop tah' slurping?"

Dusk cut the ball of noodles with his shredded teeth and started to munch down on the small bits of gems in them. "In my house," he started with his mouth full of the yellow chicken-flavored noodles. "I eat any way I so please."

"Fine," Applejack snorted, tired of dealing with the halfbreed's sudden poor attitude, and wanting to move the 'conversation' onward. "So what ya mean that Rainbow isn't happy and tah' she a coward?"

Dusk again placed the cup down onto the table, but still kept the chopsticks in his hands, and sighed out another plume of black smoke, this time, to the tv instead of anyone's faces. Dusk sat back in his seat, kicking out his feet on the table, starting to spin around the chopsticks.

He took this moment to think to himself of the best way to explain everything he was able to pick up on the mare. "Rainbow, she hesitant, impatient, can't handle the truth when it is smacking her in the face, irritable…"

While Dusk continue to point out every single fault that he found with Rainbow, Rarity, sitting next to Applejack, started to clench her hands as well as grit her teeth, but was able to retain some of her composure until...

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot, a coward."

"That tears it," Rarity suddenly shouted at the halfbreed as she shot up from the couch, activated her element, and started to drive her saber towards Dusk's head before anyone could stop her. However, the stainless pure white steel was stopped by Dusk gripping it with the two wooden chopsticks, and keeping the blade's point mere inches from his head.

Rarity tried to move the saber away from him put the halfbreed's grip on the chopsticks outweighed her's on the saber. "Give it a rest already," Dusk started in a hollow tone while his eyes were hidden beneath his black hair. "I hate to say this, but, only Sargent Obsidian and princess Celestia here can have a chance of beating me in a fight."

"Rarity," Celestia started, just as upset with Dusk's attitude as the rest of the others, but had a feeling that he was somehow testing the elements. From the looks of things, they were failing said test. "Withdraw your weapon and allow Dusk Flare to fully explain himself." The mare glared down at Dusk for another moment, not getting any kind of reaction from him, and soon doing as Celestia instructed. "Now Dusk, just why is it that you feel this way about Rainbow."

"Simple your highness," Dusk started, sitting up in his seat, and stretching out his sore wings. "When I told her that you guys just wanted to know why she hadn't came back just yet, she just went on and on about how she 'needed more time.' When really, she just too afraid to face what happen here."

All of the elements' faces soften when they realize that he was talking about the twins leaving two months ago. "Also there was this other mare," Dusk stated, quickly forcing both Obsidian and Celestia to come to the same conclusion. "Tall, very beautiful, and had the body of a supermodel yet the brains of a psychiatrist."

"You must mean Mia Light," Obsidian broke in and getting a nod from Dusk. "Yes, she is...a friend of my marefriend, and I met her not to long ago."

Dusk nodded his head in acknowledgement before continuing. "Yeah that's her, from what I can guess, she been pressing Rainbow this entire time. Because as soon as she started to speak, Rainbow started to show her true colors."

Dusk started to chuckle at his pun while Obsidian had to stifle a laugh of his own. "Half-blood, this is hardly the best time to be cracking jokes," Obsidian said, paying the elements' glares no mind.

"Sorry, too easy," Dusk manage to cough out, "So anyways, Mia went on to say that Rainbow was afraid to come back because of her own inhibitions that she refuses to get over. However, she just froze up and just kept saying that she didn't abandon anyone, and I don't blame her." Applejack was going to shot up to shout at the halfbreed but look towards Celestia told her not to. "Girls, there's just something I, no, you have to ask yourselves. Do all of you really care about Rainbow?"

The room again became silent as the elements' brains started to process what the halfbreed was to them. He was wrong of course, they cared and loved Rainbow Dash, and nothing could ever change that firm belief that they had. Anytime she needed them, they were there no matter what happened...until the twins ran-away.

"I mean really," Dusk started to break them out of their thoughts while he continued to spin the chopsticks around. "Two months, you all had two whole months to get over the twins, but none of you did. And now, you own weakness cost you a friend."

Truth, this was the truth, and it was eating away at the elements every second they faced this fact. A pony that they dared to call friend counted on them to move on their own and watch out for each other while she was working out personal business. She trusted them to band together and stay strong until she came home. She gave them the chance to come speak with her.

They didn't.

Twilight locked out the world, Rarity became slightly hollow, Applejack tried to bury her emotions in her work, Pinkie tried to force smiles on everyone's face, and Fluttershy just sat and cried. None of them were deserving of Rainbow's help, of her trust, or of the truth.

How can they be entitled to such liberties if they can't be trusted enough to care for themselves? How can they be expected to help others when they couldn't even help themselves?

They couldn't.

"That brings me to another thing I wanted to talk about," Dusk started again, standing up from his seat, and glaring down to the lost and angered face of the elements. "I think you girls need to start at square one." The room's collective attention fell on the halfbreed as he started to walk towards the stairs. "None of you have any remote idea what real power is or how to use it."

"And by that you mean," Twilight started, standing up with the others, and more than tried with his attitude. "If you haven't notice, we've fought off many threats to Equestria, and have proved our bonds to be stronger than-"

"Cut the crap," Dusk barked at the mares, getting them to back down as he took a much more roomy seat on the stairs. "Threats to Equestria, what a joke! At the most any of you have done was defeating princess Nightmare and Luna, other than that, you girls have been tools." Applejack would have jump over the couch and gave Dusk piece of her mind if it was for Fluttershy and Pinkie holding her back, not like she could do anything to the halfbreed.

Dusk looked at the struggling mare with mild-amusement. Honestly, he was expecting them to be much more than this, but he should have known better. "If your 'bonds' are as strong as you claim they are," he started, getting Applejack to stop struggling for a moment. "Then why haven't any of you notice that Rainbow was in Blatimare this whole time?"

Applejack opened her mouth to speak but no words were made. The others tried the same thing but they too met the same helpless faith. Another long pause overtook the room as the elements mindlessly opened and closed their mouths looking for an answer but not finding one.

"See," Dusk again broke through their thoughts as he stood from the step. "None of you knows what it really means to have a bond with another, and if you somehow do, your too irresponsible enough to act on said bond." Dusk looked in each of the elements' eyes, all speaking lost and hesitation just like Rainbow. "Pathetic." Turning around, Dusk started up the stairs to finally get some much deserved sleep, but not before casting one final look down towards the group.

While the elements came to the realization of how weak their bonds truly were, Obsidian was musing over the fact that they weren't dealing with the man Dusk is today, instead, the cold teenager he was, and knew that he had officially lost all of his respect towards the elements.

"Get out of my house."

/ Ch. 25: A Cage Bird's Song/-/

High Moon Ch. 25:  
A Cage Bird's song

"Can you freaking believe him," Applejack shouted as she and the other elements followed Celestia out the door with the Solar guards close behind her. None of the elements could believe the things Dusk accused them of, not only that, he indirectly called everything they been through pointless.

Insulting their friend while she wasn't there to define herself, saying they weren't worthy of the close bond that they shared with each other, and acting as if he was better than them for some reason. Not a single one of the girls had ever met an attitude Dusk displayed towards them until now and they simply didn't know how to deal with it.

"Yes, he was quite rude," Rarity followed up, still shaken that he was able to stop her with mere chopsticks without even look at her, and angered at the way he downed Rainbow Dash. "How dare he insult Rainbow like that, she everything but a coward." Twilight and Pinkie nodded their heads in agreement with Rarity and Applejack while Fluttershy held her head down low. "Why, I have half a mind to-"

Celestia stopped in her walk turned around to face each of the elements with a deep frown. "Girls stop it," she started with a displeased tone in her voice. "I'm deeply disappointed in all of you." Twilight's body tensed at the disheartened tone of voice as her mouth opened to explain for why they were acting like that. However, Celestia didn't on want to hear another word come from any of the five mares. "No Twilight, Dusk may have said it in a derogatory way, but he's right none the less. I want all of you to think about what he've said and confront him about it tomorrow. End of discussion."

Without waiting for anyone to say a thing to her, Celestia started to walk towards the air-transport to head back to Canterlot with her guards following her, but stopped when Obsidian whispered something into her ear.

To whatever he said, Celestia nodded her head, and resumed walking towards the air-transport with the other three guard following while Obsidian stood and watched. "He was right you know," Obsidian started, turning around to face the elements, and nodding his head. "About you girls not knowing what it really means to have a true bond."

While he said this, Dusk was already making his way into his mare's arms, and held them close vowing to protect them from any that threatens their dreams. "How could you all anyways," Obsidian asked as Dusk pulled Jinx into a kiss while he rubbed a hand over Sketchy's breasts. "I mean, if it takes the world to be endanger, just for you all to call yourselves friends, then it can't be a real bond."

"What the hay that's supposed to mean," Applejack asked while Jinx and Sketchy toyed with Dusk's ears and the base of his wings. "We're closer than any other so what make him so special?"

"It's the fact that he was able to be friends with others without having the world in danger." Pinkie, who was friends with everyone in Ponyville even before she became an element, was going to prove Obsidian's words wrong before he continued; "It's because of the fact that he was able to find others to share pieces of his heart." Fluttershy and Twilight started to blush when they realize that Obsidian was talking about finding someone to love and the others soon did the same for different reasons.

Obsidian looked into the blushing faces of the elements and started to shake his head. "Look at all of you," he started waving his hand over to them with a slight look of disbelief. "Full grown mares blushing like little fillies." The dog's blunt words caused the heated blushing to grow in size along with the smallest signs of tears in Fluttershy's eyes.

"Look girls, I hate to say this, because I don't know everything ya'll did in these last four years, but," Obsidian paused to take a deep breath, the next few words are going to hurt them, badly. However they needed to be spoken. "But, just cause all of you are elements, does not mean you share the same bond as everyone else, and that don't mean it's any stronger. Furthermore..."

Obsidian paused again, seeing the distorted looks in the elements' eyes after the series of self-revolutions Dusk shoved them through in the last twenty minutes, but pushed on for their betterment.

"Just cause you're elements, don't make you friends."

Suddenly, Fluttershy took off from the scene before anyone could process what the dog just spoken, and Pinkie's mane started to deflate along with her fur darkening. Obsidian watched the mare fly straight home, no doubt crying the whole way at the realization that she'd never shared a real bond with any of the elements. The remaining four cast their eyes to the ground as they soon thought the same thing.

It wasn't the truth, so why did it feel like it?

"You shouldn't take everything I just said to heart," Obsidian started again, only managing to get Twilight to look up from the ground, and fingering that's the one he needed to speak with. "Like you've said princess Sparkle, you girls share a friendship that's stronger than I've ever seen before, but that don't mean that you all are closer to each other than anyone else."

"Then, what should we do?" Lost, that's the only thing Obsidian could hear in her voice, and she somewhat had a right to this. For years, Twilight built her life around her friends, and the bonds they shared. Only for that to start falling apart when the twins ran away to that other diamond dog and his pack. Now, all she was hearing and seeing was how weak they truly were.

The elements of harmony are supposed to be the symbols of everything that's powerful about friendship. However, in twenty short minutes, a halfbreed from a different country tore apart the illusion of the bond that they thought they held for each other, and now they didn't know what to do.

This was especially bad of Equestria, with half of the militant force of the Lunar Republics, numerous times have the elements been called for to 'save the day,' but if this self-doubt continued; harmony will soon fall.

"You should keep doing what you're already doing," Obsidian said, knowing that they had something that is, in fact, worth calling a bond. They wouldn't have been able to use the elements for as long as they have if they didn't. "Like I've just said, don't take all of this to heart. Dusk...he was just trying to wake you mares up from your filly-pouting."

"So...we're really are friends?" Obsidian looked over to Pinkie, whose fur had somewhat brightened up a bit at the mere thought that nothing has changed between her friends. "N-no one is mad right? Everyone…everyone can go back to smiling?"

Obsidian almost drew his own blood from biting down on his lips, he may be a soldier, but that don't mean he don't have a heart. Seeing the tears in the party-mare's crystal-blue eyes was almost enough to get Obsidian to tell them what they wanted to hear, not what they needed hear.

Obsidian dropped his with a long droning sigh, Twilight could have sworn she saw small sliver-red embers shining in his mouth, but played it as a trick of the mind. "Now, if you have to ask me that," he started not daring to look up to the mares. "What do you think the answer is?" All four mares dropped their heads, ready to go back to their home, and cry to sleep like Fluttershy is most likely doing right now.

However, was stopped when Obsidian snapped his head back up to them. "Who am I for telling you that you're friends or not," he started to laugh with an unreadable look on his face. "Are you really going to let a half-blood tell you that every little misadventure that you girls somehow find yourselves in was worthless?" Obsidian waited until the girls started to shake their heads before continuing; "Then why the absolute fuck are you all taking his words so heavily?"

"Because he had no right to say them," Applejack shouted, waving her hands in the air in anger, and still upset with Dusk's attitude towards her and the others. "Who does he think he is anyways?"

"You still don't get it," Obsidian scoffed, taking a short walk around in a circle to keep him from shouting at the mares. Once he was fully turned around, all he saw was the confused looks on the mares' face that didn't help with him not yelling. "He was testing all of you."

To his displeasure, the looks on the element faces only became more bewildered, and it became that much harder to not yell at them. "Dusk was seeing how strong your bonds were. He knew that if he told the straight blunt truth about Rainbow, you girls would react, but he wanted to see how you would react."

Twilight soon figured the rest on her own, and by the way both Rarity, Applejack, and herself handled the situation, they failed the test. Celestia knew this too, if anything, she was able to pick up on it before Obsidian did. That's why she was disappointed with them, they couldn't even tell when someone was testing their bonds, and only reacted when they should have acted.

"We've failed it didn't we," she asked Obsidian, who could only nod as an answer. "We're not weak because we became friends to be elements. We're weak because we only see that."

Obsidian started to bob his head around to get the mare's words to process in his own way before answering. "Yeah...you could say that," he said, not really sure if that what he was looking for, but they had to start somewhere. "Or, you could say that...I don't know, you're weak because you failed to see the real bonds that all of you share."

"Yeah, you're right Sargent," Twilight said with a bright smile, now finally trusting Obsidian's judgement to let the twins stay in Everfree two months ago. After seeing the twins a few days ago, she was somewhat relieved that they were still together, and growing healthy. "Come on girls," Twilight started turning around to her friends with a brighter smile on her face. "Let's go talk with Fluttershy, and then Rainbow. Thank you, Obsidian."

Before the mares could run off, Obsidian stopped them with a hand, and started to chuckle a little before speaking. "Okay, okay, I'm happy that you all finally know what's important, but why don't you talk to Fluttershy first, help yourselves-by that I mean talk with Dusk-and then go get Rainbow. How's that sound? I'm sure she'll be angry with you all if you break apart as soon as she start acting cold to you."

Twilight nodded her head before rushing over to Obsidian to wrap her arms around him with the others. "Thanks Obsidian!" Soon, the hug ended with the mares running off to Fluttershy's house to tell her all the things that Obsidian told them, and to forge a plan to confront Dusk tomorrow.

Obsidian watched the mares run down the street until they rounded a corner towards the shy mare's house and started to shake his head. "Those mares need a stallion," he muttered underneath his breath before walking towards the air-transport, and making his way up the platform.

"Well," Celestia started as soon as Obsidian made his way to his seat across from her. "How did it go," she asked, only able to see their reactions to his words from the transport's window. Obsidian didn't answer the mare's question, only telling the earth-mare polite to get them in the air, and then finally taking his seat across from Celestia. "From the look of things, you were able to get through them?"

Again Obsidian didn't answer any of the mare's questions as he started to take off his work gloves while the transport was finished with preparations for takeoff. However, after he ran his hand through his black hair, and placed it back on the the steel wall, did he look Celestia's way.

"Princess," he started with a tried tone in his voice as he wasn't the best to deal with emotional situations due to the way he look at things but still was able to lead the elements onto the right path. He hoped. "Those mares are the densest things I've ever met in my entire life and I worked with a salamander drake in the republics for three years of my life." Celestia softly giggled at the unintended joke that he made about the elements, which he overlooked due to how tied he was.

"I need a drink."

Ponyville; Dusk's house, the next morning

The next morning at Dusk's house was even more lively now that Arctic was staying with them until she feels like she can stay on her own. Both Jinx and Sketchy, who had already eaten themselves, were hard at work fixing the the two others breakfast while Arctic and Dusk sat on the couch watching whatever Dusk could find on tv.

Soon, Arctic gave up on watching the rather dullish cartoons Equestria had compared to the republics, and started to sketch something into her sketchbook that she carries around with her.

Already, Dusk's day looked to be filled with things that needed to get done. First was to head to the temporary town-hall to get Arctic registered as a legal citizens of Ponyville, then there was the last few things Sketchy wanted to plan for their big date-night with Jinx, and finally-he didn't know why-deal with the elements again.

Call it him being paranoid, but something was telling Dusk that he hadn't seen the last of the elements. After last night, all he could gather from them that they were truly nothing but a band of spoiled fillies that couldn't take the truth.

He honestly knew that it wasn't fair to test their bonds and wills the way he did, but from what he overheard from around town, someone needed to set them straight. Dusk still couldn't believe that they allowed their lives to come at a complete stop for two months because of the twins running away.

It was truly one word to describe them: pathetic and petty. Okay, so two words or like a lot of words, but the point still remains that they had two months to get over it. Rainbow was no better, in fact, she was the worst of them all. She did nothing but run away when her friends needed a strong shoulder to lean on and a stronger arm to push them.

She was that strong shoulder and arm, or so he first though. All Rainbow turned out to be was a mare with a short fuse, and when back into a corner, crumbles like a cookie. Dusk meant all of the things he said about Rainbow, it was just the way he said it that set the elements off.

In hindsight, Dusk could have done that much better, but the past is the past. No changing it now.

"Say Dusk," Arctic started, pulling Dusk out of his thoughts from last night, but not looking up from her sketch-book. "That yellow mare with the pink mane, what was her name?" Dusk raise an eyebrow towards his friend for the odd question. "Just out of curiosity," Arctic quickly started when she didn't hear anything from the dog.

"Um…" Honestly, Dusk didn't know all of the elements' names, and Fluttershy was the one that he failed to learn. "Well that easy, its um...okay um, I dunno."

"Fluttershy." Dusk and Arctic looked towards Sketchy as she and Jinx walked over to them with plates of hash-browns and eggs floating in their magical grips. "She came to visit Rarity one time while I was working at the boutique," she continued to answer as she handed Arctic her plate while Jinx handed Dusk's his. Sketchy and Jinx sat on either side of Dusk while Arctic made room for Sketchy. "Why you want to know?"

Arctic's face started to heat up at the real answer that screamed to be revealed but pushed that away. "N-no reason," she muttered to herself as she hid behind her sky-blue mane, which was much longer than Sketchy remembered it was.

Sketchy was going to further question the mare when the doorbell started to go off. All three lovers raised an eyebrow towards the wooden door as none of them were expecting anyone to show up at their house this early in the morning.

After getting another ring, Sketchy got up from the couch and went to answer it while Dusk silently prayed that it wasn't who he thought it was. Once at the door, Sketchy opened it to find that it was all five of the elements of harmony standing at the doorway. Sketchy flat stared at the mares, already having to put up with them for five whole hours yesterday, and knew they were only here to speak with Dusk.

Sketchy turned her back to the elements and started to walk back to the couch. "Dusk, you have five fillies that want to talk with you," she said before Twilight could say a single thing. None of the elements reacted to the mare call them fillies as that is just how they were acting for the last two months.

"Fine," Dusk sighed, knowing that there wasn't a way out of talking with the mares. After setting his plate on the table, Dusk got up from his seat, and started to walk over to the mares. The closer that Dusk got to them, the more they saw every muscle on his body as he was only in a pair of black gym shorts with a purple stripe down the sides.

However, one look over towards his mares, they all soon stop staring when they caught Sketchy's dark look. "So fillies," Dusk started, resting his arm on the door-frame, and crossing his legs. "Are you lost and need a big-bad halfbreed to guide you all home. Or am I speaking with grown mares?"

Pinkie started to laugh at Dusk, admittedly, funny joke, and now seeing how his cruel humor was just the same as her lighthearted one when she didn't take it to heart. Twilight, however, just rolled her eyes as she was not going to let his bluntness get in the way of what needed to be done.

"You would be speaking with mares, thank you," she started, holding her nose up high with her eyes closed, and getting Dusk to chuckle a little. "We just came here to say, sorry for last night, and that you're right. All of us have been acting like school-yard fillies." Dusk nodded his head as he couldn't put it in any other way possible. Okay, he could, but wasn't going to for the sake of moving things along. "We also wanted to come here to see if you could...train us how to really fight."

'Well, well now…' Dusk and the others were taken back by the alicorn's request as they didn't think that they would take such drastic steps so quickly. "Um, princess, I'm not sure that's a good idea." Twilight raised an eyebrow towards Dusk's words as well the others, minus Fluttershy who was too busy staring at Arctic to pay any attention to the conversation.

"Why's that," Twilight asked, having being forced to take self-defense classes while she was studying under Celestia back in Canterlot. Dusk took a glance back towards his mares and Arctic, who all were watching tv, or nose deep in a sketchbook.

"See, here's why."

Dusk leaned in to whisper to the elements, closing the door a little while his mares and friend watched tv. "My father, trained me, my brothers, and my sisters in our respective fields of elemental-magic. By the age of fifteen, I had gotten into more fights than I can remember, and the only time I've ever lost is against my older siblings and my father. When I got to my second year in high school I had gotten in a fight with the entire rugby team at our school."

"So," Applejack started, only mildly shaken up by Dusk's long list of reasons not to ever piss him off. "Big Mac did ta same thing when he and ah went to school, what's the difference."

A wicked smile came of Dusk's face as he started to slowly nod his head. "The difference is, the whole team was taking illegal muscle enhancers during the time, and not a single one of them can look at a kitten without flinching."

"Okay, tah's bad," Applejack whispered to herself and taking a step back from the halfbreed.

"Yeah, broke my left shoulder and had severe head concussion, but you should have saw them," Dusk continued in a dark tone with an equally dark chuckle at the memory. "So," he paused to look into each of their eyes. "you mares still want to train with me, or do I need to call your ma's."

Twilight looked back towards the others to see if they were still full on with the plan. Admittedly, she saw doubt and hesitation in their eyes as she had some herself, but she also saw the determination for when they needed to do something for their friends.

Dusk, who saw the same thing Twilight did, started to grow impatient with waiting for them to give an answer. "Still waiting for answer, princess." Twilight turned around to met Dusk in his powerful purple eyes, having the same effect as Celestia's eyes would when she was asking a question.

"We'll do it." Those three short fiery words could have the power to raise armies, call for control of a situation, or have the power to take down any threat to her friends or her home. A part of Dusk was mildly impressed with the alicorn, most ponies would run from him at the first thought of fighting him, but here she is with four of her five friends willing to do just that.

'Five out of six huh?' However, another part of him was harshly laughing at the mere thought while another wanted to congratulate them for making the correct steps to growth. Although, he was still mildly unimpressed by them, and needed more proof of what they could do.

But, his mares didn't slave over a hot stove just for him to let the food get cold. "Kay sure, bye," Dusk said, closing the door in their faces, and walking way back to his seat with an amused look on his face.

Dusk sat back down to a giggling Jinx and a stone-faced Sketchy while he went back to finishing his meal. As he was enjoying his mares' cooking, Dusk could feel Sketchy's stares, and knew that they weren't going to go away until he acknowledge them.

"Yes Sketchy, my love," he asked in the fake romantic voice to mock some of the 'books' Sketchy reads in her spare time. "Is there anything I can do for you, 'cus you know I'll travel to the ends of the earth just to make the both of you smile," Dusk finished, expanding his wings out around both Jinx and Sketchy, and pulling them close to the fire in his chest.

Jinx blushed from Dusk's sudden move but soon started nuzzled at the close contact with her halfbreed, especially after last night. Sketchy, on the other hand, rolled her eyes and snorted at him with a blush of her own. "Yeah, right." Dusk started to laugh at the flat tone in Sketchy's voice, only making her that P/O'ed about his mocking. "Dick."

Both Jinx and Dusk busted in laughter at Sketchy while she stole the last of his hash-brown. Arctic, who already finished eating the well-made breakfast, looked up from the book to the smiles on all three, and started to smile herself. Although, hollowly.

She was happy for her friends to find something that a lot go without, but she just wished that she had the chance to share moments like that with Dusk; only with Dusk.

Arctic shook those thoughts out of her head so she could go back to her drawing of a bare-chested male diamond dog-dragon halfbreed holding a barely dressed pegasus mare in his arms. The only color of the whole thing was the purple highlights in the halfbreed's eyes and the sky-blue highlights in the pegasus's eyes.

"Hey, earth to Arctic." Dusk's voice finally broke through the daydream Arctic was having about the drawing, forcing her to look towards the alpha drake. "You alright," Dusk asked in concern after calling out to the mare several times before she reacted to his voice. "I called your name out like five times."

Arctic started to blush as it was because of the halfbreed that she was in that state but kept it hidden with her face behind her mane. "Y-yeah I'm fine," she quickly started, standing up, and closing the sketchbook without letting anyone see what was in it. "I'll be in the shower." Before Jinx could further question, or even try to bath with her friend again, Arctic ended it with a slightly sharper leer than she attended with one eye.

"Alone, I'm not the same filly from two years guys." Jinx flinched from the sudden cold tone in Arctic's voice while Dusk and Sketchy frowned. "Sorry," Arctic sighed, knowing where the sudden coldness came from, but never want to deal with it.

"It's okay Arctic," Dusk started after pulling Jinx closer with his wing. "We know you're not the same from two years ago," he continued, talking about her past suicidal tendencies she had due to the incident in Nebula. "Go on, a grown mare knows how to take care of herself."

Arctic, hiding behind her mane, and feeling bad for how she reacted to her friend's concerns, nodded her head as she turned to the stairs, and started to make her way up them. Dusk and his mares watched at she made her way towards her room to grab clothes for the day. However, right before she could close the door, Arctic heard Jinx muttering apologizes to her.

Arctic took another look down to find both Jinx and Sketchy still looking up to her with concern looks while Dusk had his head turned before she closed the door and got ready to grab some clothes.

'Way to go filly,' she shouted to herself in her head as she grabbed a pair of blue jeans and a sky-blue shirt with a pair of black lace panties and some white shocks. 'You doing just the best job at proving to your friends that you don't want to kill yourself any more. No, just keep doing what you're doing, and you're sure not to be forced to take those nightmare damned pills again…'

"No." Arctic took in a slow breath to calm her nerves, she promised her mom that she wouldn't fall down that path again, and she didn't want her friends thinking the same thing. "I'm not going to do that. This is a new start, I'm a new mare," she recited before grabbing a towel from the closet and stepping into the guest bedroom.

Arctic toss her clothes on top of the hamper in the corner and started to strip out of her father's large T-shirt and her old gym-shorts before stepping in the shower. Once she had the water at the right temperature, Arctic started to move her hands over her body to work out the aches that came with flying from Baltimare to Ponyville, but was unable to reach the knot in the base of her wings.

However, the hot water did provide her some aid in healing the slight aches and pains she had in several parts of her body, but could only do so much. While her hands moved over to her breasts, Arctic wished she had someone to help cure of of the pressing tight pains in her wings.

Someone strong, kind, and caring. Someone like Dusk…

"No Arctic," she shouted at herself, stopping her hands from moving down to her marehood, and taking them off her body altogether. "No, I-I can't. He already have both Jinx and Sketchy, I don't need to ruin what they have. I have no right…" Moving to Equestria with Dusk and the others were to have two meanings. One, to prove to her friends that she was over the past, and two, to be closer to the only ones she trusted.

The one she secretly loved, and shamefully, lusted over.

"Maybe...a little quickie couldn't hurt," Arctic started, letting her hands move down to her marehood, and hoping that she'll have enough time. "Foreplay can suck it for now," she said, sticking two of her fingers in her marehood, starting to pump away, and imaging a certain halfbreed being in the shower with her.

This isn't the first time she's ever played with herself, nor was it the first time she thought about Dusk being the one to do it. Oh, just thinking about him walking in on her one day while she was doing this, and then claiming her as one of his mares, made her find even more pleasure in it.

And, as this not being her first time playing with herself, Arctic knew all of her own weak points, and had to merciless attack them. She even had to use the back wall as a brace so she don't fall to her knees.

In her mind, she had image Dusk sneaking his way into the bathroom without her knowing, and have him 'taking care' of the grown mare. In reality, she had managed to stick a third finger in her marehood while the other hand moved to her average sized C-cup breasts to twist harden nipples. However, in her state she couldn't tell which was dream and which was real, and she didn't want to.

Just as she was reaching a peak, the sound of someone knocking on the door started her, but she didn't, couldn't, stop masturbating to Dusk breaking the last bit of her innocence. "Hey Artie." The sound of Jinx's high-pitched voice, usually carrying enough energy to light a house, called out to Arctic as her body was forced forwards. "Me and the others will be waiting for you outside if you need us."

"O-okay," Arctic cried out, doing her best not to make it sound like a moan. Just two more minutes, that's all she needed. Just two more short minutes of her fantasy of Dusk, that's all she needs.

Hell, if just thinking about the halfbreed was more joy than the anti-depressant pills she was forced to take, then she'll gladly lock herself in her room just to do just that. However, it seemed that she'll won't have such luck. "Alright, and remember we got to get you registered as an Equestrian citizen so you can get a job."

"F-fine...t-thanks Jinx," Arctic again cried out as her thumb rubbed over her swollen cliterous, pushing her closer towards the edge. She needed a way to hurry up and finish before the others become too suspicious of what she was doing.

After fighting back another moan, Arctic took her left hand off of her breasts, and moved it down to her clit to take it in two of her fingers. Suddenly, a mind-ripping shock went through her spine, and forced her wings to flare out. "Artie, are you okay?" Arctic's eyes shot open wide as a blissful climax overtook her body, forcing her to let out a satisfied moan, and lay her head back against the wall.

"Yes…" Jinx faintly heard Arctic through the falling water before Sketchy called out to her. With the mare gone, Arctic was able to fully bask in the glow of her longed dream, and gave her a moment to fully enjoy it.

Even if she never truly have it.

/ Ch. 26: Stop Taking Things to Heart/-/

High Moon Ch. 26:  
Stop Taking Things to Heart

Soon, after everyone have taken their showers, the four friends walked down the streets of Ponyville to head towards the temporary town-hall while the real one was closed off due to the suit of armor Dusk melted to the wall.

On their way, they past the sight of the three researchers still looking for any traces of the mysterious pony, this time, with more high-tech looking equipment, and a another small band of researches with them. Dusk took the time to speak with Obsidian as he was overseeing the operations and to apologize for the way he acted towards the elements last night.

However, not that much to Dusk's surprise, Obsidian waved it off saying that he and Celestia had figured out that he was testing the elements, and that he wasn't in any kind of trouble. For last night or for fusing the suit of armor to the wall.

The bit of news was a small weight off of Dusk's shoulders as he thanked the guard-dog and wished him luck in locating the unicorn. After saying their goodbyes, Dusk walked over to his mares and friend to let Obsidian get back to work, and to continue further down the path to another large building that being used as the new town-hall.

On the way there, Dusk caught the sight of the elements heading towards them, and took off from the mares to finish something that he started. Sketchy was hesitant at first, however, with his new role as the element of resolve, she thought that it was time to give the elements something to strive for.

Dusk chuckled at the mare's dislike of the image the elements had in the republics as she, and himself, was very fond of the joke about them. As he was speaking with the elements, Arctic again caught a glance of Fluttershy, and took a moment to take in her beauty. Long slender legs that leaded up towards wide hips trapped in a light-brown pants and a tone toso with a modest chest hiding away from the world behind a green turtleneck shirt.

Arctic may had a secret crush on Dusk but Fluttershy, as far as she could tell, was a free item, and she couldn't keep fantasizing about the halfbreed forever. However, her thoughts were ripped apart by Jinx pulling her into the building so they could being the long process that's required for her to get a legal job in Equestria.

While they did this, Dusk lead the elements down the street, promising that he'll help them become stronger, but they have to do all the work themselves. However, he refused to tell them anything until they reached the destination that he was leading them to. Which was a back alleyway to the general store.

"Alright," Twilight started after Dusk reached a bricked dead-end, placing her hands on her hips, and wearing a confident smile. "What's first teach?" Dusk started to double over laughing at the mare's poor attempt to act tough around him, getting Twilight to start blushing when Pinkie joined in.

Suddenly, Dusk ended the laughter, and whipped around to the elements. "Two things," he started in a deadly cold tone of voice. "One: Don't call me 'teach.'" Again, Twilight started to blush in embarrassment, but still nodded her head. "And two: exactly what I was saying last night. You all are starting from square one."

Twilight was going to question what he meant by this when a sudden strong wind started to circulate in the alleyway. The gust of wind was so powerful that it kicked up a large cloud of dust that forced the element to shield their eyes. Once they regained the ability of sight again, Dusk had disappeared from sight, and was nowhere to be found. But that's not the only thing that was gone.

"Hey, over here." Dusk's voice sounded out from behind Fluttershy, who was taking the back of the group, and caused her to jump up in Applejack's arms as everyone turned around to see Dusk standing behind them. Twilight felt something different, like something was missing from her, but couldn't figure it out until Dusk revealed the golden necklace with a purple starburst in his right hand. "You fillies dropped something?"

All of the elements felt around their necks to only confirm that Dusk did in fact somehow steal all of their necklaces straight off their necks. "How in tarnation ya did tah'?"

"That's a halfbreed's trick straight from the family," Dusk half-mocked, picking up on some of his younger sister's ability to move and do things without making a single sound. Thought, she don't need a massive gust of wind-magic to do it, and he still haven't understand how she does it. "You all want these back? Then take them, if you can do that by nightfall, then you'll earn my respect."

Suddenly, Dusk's body vanished into a bright flash of purple lightning, and left the elements dumbfounded by what he just did. Twilight quickly snapped out of her daze and started to make a plan to get the elements back from Dusk. She knew that catching someone like Dusk was going to be tough, but if they wanted to continued to call themselves elements, then they were going to have to do something fast.

Right as they were going to started the wild-goose chase for the halfbreed, the sound of something cutting through the air interrupted their search as a small black-steel star slammed into the wall behind the store. Fluttershy was able to identify the star as a 'fisher's shuriken,' a tool that's used in the republics for fishermen to ward off sharks and other large sea-predators from schools of fish.

When questioned about this, she said that her family had taken her to the republics to visit other relatives during the summer of her high-school years before she came to Ponyville. Upon examining the deadly looking weapon, Fluttershy read a note that Dusk seemed to have pre-made; which read:

Dear elements of harmony,

If you're reading this right now, then everything had went according to plan for me. Like I most likely have already said, the only way for you to get your elements back is by taking them. From me. By force. To add to this, you'll only have until sunset to do so, or I'll just hand it back to you, and let you fillies cry yourselves to sleep all you want.

Ya'll may think I'm 'mean' for treating you all like this but let me point out something to you... YOU'RE OLDER THAN ME! So start acting like grown mares instead of little fillies. I didn't mean-much-harm about last night, so get over yourselves. You may be the elements of harmony, the glowing symbol in Equestria's history, but that don't mean everyone have to bend over for you all.

Once you all realize this, only then will you'll be able to see the true difference between me and all of you. Also, stop taking everything to heart. Well ya?

After Fluttershy had finished reading the note, Twilight asked if there was something more to it like something that told them where they could start looking, but luck seemed to be not on their sides. However, another shuriken embedding into the wall next the first one caught their attentions, and this time Applejack's eyes danced over the skies for any signs for the halfbreed.

Though by the time she looked up, the only think in the skies was the clear white clouds, and no trails of the halfbreed. Twilight kept her attention onto the new note that was delivered to them by, no doubt, Dusk.

This time, the note seemed to be a copy of his to-do-list for the day, and seemed to be in order:

Just cause I don't want all for you complaining that I didn't give you a chance to find me, here's a list of things that you all can use to track me:

1\. Pick up custom-made heavy string bass guitar from Vinyl's shop.  
around town while messing around with new guitar 3. Head to Miss Rose Luck's shop to place an order for major date tomorrow.  
4\. Met up with Sketchy and Jinx at Sugarcube Corner for lunch with Arctic while we find her a job.  
5\. Just in case Sketchy don't like the new guitar, make up a cheesy song to get her and Jinx laughing. 6. Stall the elements with a pointless list that I only have vague plans of following...looks like I can check that one off.

Suddenly, Twilight facepalmed when she finally realized that Dusk was using the list to prolong them standing in the alleyway, and that their wasn't much time before he would already be leaving Vinyl's shop.

So to save time, Twilight started to split everyone up. Pinkie and Applejack was sent to Vinyl's music shop while Rarity and Fluttershy were sent to steak out Rose Luck's flower shop and she'll take the job of searching around town if that didn't work.

With their jobs assigned, each element ran off to reached their destinations, and it wasn't long before Applejack and Pinkie found themselves outside of Vinyl's shop. "Now keep ya eyes open Pinks," Applejack started entering the shop with a wary step while Pinkie joyfully hopped in. "Dusk is a slippery drake...dog, dog-drake, and he could be any-"

"Okay Dusk." Applejack heard the stretchy voice of the owner of the shop, forcing her to turn to the back room where she saw both Dusk and Vinyl walking out. "That guitar is the heaviest strings I could make."

Dusk nodded his head examining the blue and purple bass, finely crafted, nice weight to it, and the most important thing of all; "Nice, these strings are as thick as a baby's arm," he said, moving his left claws up the long neck of the bass guitar. "And don't worry Miss Scratch, I'll hold up my end of the deal."

"You better," Vinyl started, slapping Dusk on the back, but not causing much reaction from him. "I put a lot of work into this thing and-"

"Hey!" Both Vinyl and Dusk turned their heads towards Applejack and Pinkie as they walked towards them. Vinyl questioned the farm-mare's appearance since she said that she don't like her music while the bright smile on Pinkie's face was a welcome surprise. However, Dusk knew why both mares were here, and got ready to see what his new guitar could really do.

"Alright, we caught ya fair and square, so hand us our elements," she demanded with a slightly angry tone of voice while Pinkie eyed the guitar. It was oddly longer than any other guitar she seen Vinyl sell to someone and something told her the purple decals lines moving around to the head of the neck had some more purpose than for show.

Then again, Vinyl was knew for fancy lights, and for pulling out all the stops when she needs to.

"Actually," Dusk started walking around the counter to line the two mares up with the still open doors. "You haven't 'caught' me just yet but you have caught this baby's first performance." Dusk, using his claws as guitar picks, started to strum out a low D'note. "You girls want to know what's cool about wind-magic?" Dusk's hands started to move faster, and the low note became louder along with the lights on the purple decal started to shine brighter.

Suddenly, a strong wind started to circulate around Dusk as the note started to pick up in sound, and causing Applejack to start to worry. Just as they thought something would happen, Dusk ended the sting of D'notes, and smiled.

"Force-manipulation."

Just as Applejack, who had enough of the halfbreed's talking, started to charge at him to grab the elements from him, Dusk let his wind-magic mixed with the notes he was playing, and created a massive shock-wave that sent both Applejack and Pinkie straight out the door.

Luck would have the two that there was a cart carrying a full pile of soft, yet pointy, haystacks. In comparcance with the ground, both mares would easily pick the haystack. Back in the shop, Vinyl marveled at her handy work while Dusk was in shock at how the bass guitar handled his dragon-magic.

"Wow Vinyl, this alloy really is the stuff," Dusk started, amazed that the guitar didn't fall apart under his dragon-magic, never seeing anything like it before, and grateful that Vinyl was willing to let him have it as long he repays her with a favor.

"Hey," Vinyl started, again patting him on the back again as she was equally thrilled that the guitar didn't fall apart in his hands. "That's magic-struc alloy for you. Now you better get going before they get up." Dusk looked over to the two fallen mares as Applejack was starting to get up only for Pinkie to accidentally pull her down from her trying to get up. "So, finally making them into real mares?"

Dusk started to chuckle at the mare's joke as he had joked around with her a few times about the elements. "That's the idea," he started, placing the guitar's straps around his shoulder, and making sure it didn't wrap over his wings. "See ya in Canterlot in a few days." Vinyl nodded towards the halfbreed, sure that with his dragon-magic, they'll blow the roof off of Canterlot in her next show.

Dusk returned the nod and started out the of Vinyl's shop only to stop in front of the two fallen mares. "Sorry," Dusk fakely apologized when he caught the fire burning in Applejack's eyes. "But, you seriously can't expect it to be that easy, right?"

Before Applejack could throw an insult to the halfbreed, Dusk flared open his wings, and started to fly off towards some other part of town. Applejack, finally getting Pinkie off of her pack, looked up to the sky to see that Dusk was already on the other side of town.

"Come on, Pinks," she started, helping Pinkie out of the haystack, and to her feet. "Let's head to Sugarcube, we'll cut him off there." While, the two mares ran off to Sugarcube Corner to wait for Dusk to show up, the halfbreed himself landed back on the ground a few blocks away from his next destination, and started to play around with his new bass guitar.

While coming up with an old tune from a favorite band of his in the republics, Twilight spotted him through a crowd of ponies, and started to make her way through. It seemed the closer the got the faster Dusk would play the song until she got right in front of him where she was able to hear the words to the song.

I'm reaching my limits I getting scared And you should be too

I'm a monster under your bed I'm a demon in your head I'm a child of nightmare

Twilight didn't think much of the highly energetic rhythm to the song or the slightly violent words that Dusk was singing in a low dark tone. All she needed to worry about was getting the elements back from him.

Right as she started to think of a spell to tackle the halfbreed, the tempo of the song started to increase, and the purple decals on them started to shine even brighter. That's when Twilight recognized what the guitar was made out of when she felt the wave of magic coming from him and it.

It was like...Dusk was a walking amp for the guitar.

This is crazy The music made me Stereo is blastin'

I'm a monster under your bed I'm a demon in your head I'm a child of nightmare

Twilight couldn't lie, Dusk wasn't that bad, but she had to stay focus if she wanted to get the elements back from him. However, a incline in the natural magical pressure around her told her that Dusk was already preparing for her to attack.

"It's now or never Sparkle," she whispered to herself over the rushing winds and guitar riff Dusk was performing for Ponyville. Remembering that Dusk placed the elements into his sleeveless black jacket's pockets, she thought to grabbing them with her telekinesis.

However, Dusk had other plans.

Enjoy the thrill of the hunt Feed off of the music Then I'll bring it to ya

I'm a monster under your bed I'm a demon in your head I'm a child of nightmare

Suddenly, there was a shock-wave of pure wind launched out from Dusk when he reached this verse, and it was enough to break Twilight's consideration. While she rethought on how to get the elements back from him, ponies outside stopped their daily business to see what the noise was about, and were treated to the display of Dusk's creativity with his elemental magic.

Fiery sparks started to come off of Dusk's body and created images of three purple wolves with pure white eyes. Twilight didn't have time to understand how he was controlling the images before one of the lightning-wolves started to rush down to her with the other two followed close behind.

She tired to fight them off with bolts of magic but only got them to be absorbed by the wolves. Twilight started to take to the skies to outfly the wolves, only to be cashed by them, and have them circle around her. The notes from the bass started to slow down, forcing Twilight to believe that the song was coming to an end, but all hopes were dashed when Dusk continued the song.

I am,

Beast of nightmares Demon you should fear Monster inside you head

That's me!

Suddenly, the long low notes turned into hyperactive short one as Dusk reached the peak of the song, and the wolves the peak of their movements. However, as they caught up to her, none of the wolves made a move to attack Twilight as they rotated around her in a spiral.

Still, Twilight didn't want them being too close so she tried her best to out fly them, but again failed to do so as the song's peak reached a new summit while Dusk started to repeat the first verse of the song.

I'm reaching my limits I getting scared And you should be too

I'm a monster under your bed I'm a demon in your head I'm a child of nightmare

Thankfully, by the mercy of Dusk having other things to do for the day, the song came to an end with one final note that sounded like an explosion went off, and the wolves started to discharge into the air.

Twilight stopped her flight to turn around only to find that Dusk was nowhere to be seen in the cheering crowd. Sighing in humiliating defeat, Twilight started to fly to Sugarcube Corner to possibly met up with Applejack and Pinkie and to cut Dusk off.

While she flew away from the scene, Dusk peared around from a small alleyway between two houses. "Learn to ride the music, princess filly. Learn to ride the music," Dusk muttered to himself before teleporting to where he knew Rose Luck's flower shop was and being greeted by the sight of both Fluttershy and Rarity standing outside waiting for him.

Dusk started to chuckle to himself while he scratched the back of his head, walking towards the two mares. "So, you fillies enjoyed the show," he joked, knowing over half of Ponyville saw the performance he put on with Twilight's 'assistance.' "You know, right now isn't the best time for me to deal with ya. See, there's this very, very, very, very important date that I've got to have set up by tomorrow, and I need to place an order for some flowers."

Both Rarity and Fluttershy, who've are somewhat close to Sketchy due to her job helping Rarity with designs, knew that whatever he had plan for his mares was far more important than dealing with them right now.

So, after much thought the two simply started to walk off to Sugarcube, and did this for three reasons. One: they didn't want to fight Dusk. Two: they didn't know how to fight Dusk. Three: he had more important things to do than holding their hands all day.

Dusk turned around to see them calmly walking off towards Sugarcube Corner and started to shake his head. "Thank you, mares," he joked to himself in a whisper before heading into the store to order some flowers for his mares in a calm manner.

Like a normal guy would.

Sugarcube Corner

Finally after filling out a massive stacks of paperwork, Arctic, Jinx, and Sketchy made it to the Sugarcube Corner to have some lunch while they waited for Dusk to show up. However, their wait was short-lived as Dusk suddenly appeared in a bright purple flash with his new guitar held in his hands.

After hearing Dusk's 'show' not to long ago, Sketchy told Arctic to head inside, and start ordering something without them while she and Jinx chatted about the performance that had the town abuzz.

Arctic did as the mare asked-rather told-her to do, knowing that Dusk was going to be chewed out for his crazy secams with the elements and the deal he made with the local deejay. Once inside, she spotted Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and more importantly Fluttershy all sitting around in the same booth. The group's eyes briefly locked with the mare's, both still knowing oh so little about each other, but Arctic ended the stare with a turn of her head.

Walking up to the counter, she met the last of the five elements standing behind the counter. "Hiya, you're Dusk's friend right," Pinkie asked, not sore about what happened in Vinyl's shop as riding the shock-wave was somewhat a new fun experience for her.

Arctic jumped slightly from the mare's loud voice but was able to nod her head. "Y-yeah, I'm Arctic Winds," she said with a slight nerve in her voice, fearing that the elements had some kind of grudge with Dusk. "I'm sorry if Dusk is being mean to you guys. He has a...way about dealing with things."

For a moment, the memory of Dusk taking on the entire rugby team for her flashed through her head, but she was able to shake it off. "Oh don't worry about that," Pinkie started, waving a finger in Arctic's face, and exaggerating a head shake. "Dusk already told us not to take to it to heart and it has been fun! So what can I get you?"

"Oh um…" Arctic looked up at the menu to look for something to drink while she waited on Dusk and the others. Soon, she saw something on the menu that peaked her interest. "Could I have the frozen-blueberry soda?"

"Ohhh," Pinkie started in cheerful surprise, "Nopony have gotten that in a while," she continued, writing the order down on a notepad that appeared from nowhere, and pointed to an empty booth near the window. "I'll go get it for you in a sec, you don't mind waiting do you?"

Arctic shook her head, causing her white and sky-blue mane to move out of place, and cover over one of her eyes. "N-no, I'm fine with waiting. How much will that be?"

"Five bits please," Pinkie asked with a smiling face and holding out her hand. Arctic reached into her pant's pockets to pull out the bits that Pinkie's hand was asking for. "Thank you, I'll have it with you in a second."

Arctic nodded her head and took the seat in the empty booth. By the time she had sat down, the elements went back to talking among themselves again, but Arctic was able to steal some of Fluttershy's attention.

Which didn't go unnoticed by her friends. "Come on Shy," Applejack started, after catching Fluttershy staring at the unknown mare several times today, and knowing what that look in her eyes were for. "If ya so interested in the mare, go talk to her."

"B-but I…" Fluttershy's face started to blush, sure she was interested in Arctic, but was it so much to were a mare like Applejack could notice? Fluttershy again looked back to Arctic, who had her nose buried into her sketchbook, and was drawing something in a furious pace.

She couldn't lie, Arctic was a fairly attractive mare, and Fluttershy was looking for a special somepony. "N-no, she properly just waiting on her friends, a-and besides we were talking about getting the elements from Dusk."

"Flutter dear," Rarity started, also knowing the look in Fluttershy's eyes, and didn't want her shyness to get in the way of her feelings like they always do. "Applejack is right, you should at least talk to her. It couldn't hurt."

"I have to agree Shy," Twilight added in, knowing that everyone have been poking fun of the elements for being single, and of the joke that they all were dating each other. "You never know, she could be a very nice mare."

Even with the gentle push from her friends, Fluttershy was still hesitant about meeting Arctic, but a sudden voice in her head told her otherwise. 'What's the matter filly?' Fluttershy, no longer hearing her friends talking to her, hid behind her mane at the sound of the 'other' Fluttershy crawling in her head.

'See, this is why I should be in control all the time,' the voice, which came after Twilight had failed to fully expel all of the vampire-fruit bat instincts out of her, continued with its usual mocking that actually got Fluttershy's blood-boiling. 'Here, we have the chance to get with a mare like her, and you're just going to sit here with your fillyfriends.'

While Pinkie walked over to Arctic to hand her the tall soda-glass of frozen-blueberry drink, Fluttershy thought about what the voice was saying to her, and how it some what sounded like Dusk last night. Mean, cold, blunt, but honest.

She had to admit that sometimes she did use her friends as shields to keep her from having her heart broken by a pony rejecting her love but she couldn't keep doing this; and neither could her friends.

"Fine," Fluttershy sighed in defeat, dropping her head, and standing up from her seat. However, was stopped by Twilight grabbing onto her hand, and forcing her to look her in the eyes. "Um, yes Twilight?"

"Fluttershy you don't have to if you're not ready yet," Twilight answered, not wanting to force something onto her friend when she wasn't ready to do so, and neither did the others. "Relationships are a tricky thing and we don't want to see you get hurt."

Fluttershy smiled towards her friends, glad that they cared for her, but still willing to talk with the new mare in town. "It's fine Twilight," she started, slipping her head out of the alicorn's. "We can't run forever." Her friends watched at Fluttershy took those first few awkward steps towards Arctic, feeling proud of her stepping out of her shell.

However, those steps were hard to make after the last. The closer Fluttershy got the more her heart felt like it was going to claw its way out of her chest. It felt like she was going to break out in tears just from the mere thought of Arctic not paying her any kind of attention. What if Arctic wasn't really interested in her? What if she was looking at one of her other friends?

These were all the doubts that was running around Fluttershy's head. All of them were making it harder to walk, let alone speak, but she had to do it. "Um...e-excuse me." Arctic turned towards Fluttershy, immediately blushing a little when she saw the mare up close, and caught a look at the large wings on her back. "I-is this seat taken?"

'No way,' Arctic thought to herself, not believing the mare was trying to sit with her. She would have happily opened a seat for the mare but then she remembered that Dusk and the others would want to sit with her. "Um, kind of," she started, not really wanting to say the words, but not having much of a choice in the manner. "My friends should be-"

Upon universal command, Jinx, carrying Dusk's new guitar in her hands, walked in with Sketchy pulling Dusk by the ear with a angered look. Once they reached the counter, Sketchy said something to Pinkie Pie, and again pulled on Dusk's ear.

With a huff of black smoke, Dusk reached into his pocket, and handed Pinkie her necklace. It wasn't two seconds before Sketchy pulled Dusk over to the other elements to hand them their elements back and then over to Fluttershy to hand her element to her.

"Dusk," Sketchy started with a P/O'ed tone of voice that got Fluttershy worried about the halfbreed. "Is there something you would like to say to miss Fluttershy?" At first the halfbreed didn't say anything, but another sharp tug from Sketchy forced him to look the mare in the eyes.

"Sorry for...taking your elements," Dusk mumbled, handing back Fluttershy her butterfly element, and sighing when he still felt Sketchy's hand around his ear. "And for making you all run around all day."

Smiling in satisfaction, Sketchy let Dusk's ear go with a kiss on the side of his cheek. That's when Fluttershy remembered about the challenge that she and her friends were forced to agree to and quickly placed the necklace around her neck. "O-oh, it's not trouble really," she waved off the forced apology while Jinx happily skipped over to Dusk to wrap her arm around his back.

Fluttershy looked at the two mares showing their affection for the halfbreed in their own way and softly smiled as she hoped that she'll get to have the chance to do the same with Arctic one day.

"It's like you've said," Fluttershy started, gaining the attention of Dusk and his mares while Arctic continued to look up towards the mare with a faint blush on her white cheeks. "We should stop taking things to the heart." /-/  
/ Ch. 27: Lost/-/

High Moon Ch. 27:  
Lost

Meanwhile, Dusk was forcing the elements to learn what a real bond was, Isis had already woken by the time the sun had started its daily path across the skies. As she walked through the broken streets of the city ruins, faint flashes of the past would appear before her.

Images of ponies of the past, ghosts long since faded from the living world, walking as though they belonged, and walking into the destroyed buildings carrying out daily business. Priest unicorns moving about to heal the sick, blacksmiths hammering away at heated plates of metal, soldiers keeping the peace and tending to any that needed their aid.

Isis became frozen to the ground as she continued to watch the images move about and started to heavily breath when the image of a little unicorn foal ran right through her. She closed her eyes to calm her breathing and pull herself back into the here and now. However, the images felt real to Isis, they were all she knew all he had to hold on from the past, but she had a new responsibility in the future.

No longer were there priests healing the sick, no longer were there blacksmiths creating useful tools, and no longer were there soldiers defending the lands. None, not a single soul that she once knew remained alive, none but the alicorn sisters. The past was gone, buried by time, and now had a new owner to call it home.

Wolf. He and his small pack, once barely started out as three, was now seven strong. That may not be a big change, but for what its worth, it was to them. Besides, kingdoms, empires, and whole packs weren't formed in one lifetime.

They'll grow, not just in size or number, but in heart. Each day all of them grow closer towards each other and each day they all become something Isis dreamed of; a family. And that family needed her mind to say in the present, not the past.

Taking one more breath, Isis snapped her eyes open, and she continued down the empty streets. She again started to take slight note of anything broken, of what Wolf had started to repair on his own, and what was in dire need of immediate repairs.

Soon, Isis started to get a sense of what and where she and Frost would be starting, and also started to think of new ways to reuse what there. Satisfied that she had enough information for now, Isis opened her massive wings and flew back to the mansion ruins. Of course, she could have simply used her magic to teleport back to the large twin door entrance, but Isis enjoyed the rush of fresh morning air against her fur.

Once back on the ground, Isis pushed open the stone doors, and started for her room. As she climbed the stairs to the room she had picked out for herself last night, Isis noticed movement in the corner of her eyes, and turned towards the support-beams to find the phoenixes waking.

"Oh good morning fire-hawks," Isis called out to the from the stairs as she leaned against the rails. Both Cinder and Peewee looked over to the sphinx's direction and let out a small screech as a yawn. "I trust that the both of you slept well?" Cinder nodded her head with a small hint of a blush on her feathers after she and Peewee flew closer towards the sphinx. "Ah look at you two," she started while she scratched the bottom of Cinder's beak. "Still so young and still growing."

Isis knew it will be a long time before either bird reaches an age where their time would be growing short but to see them growing in front of her was something else. "Well sadly, I must bid you farewell for right now," Isis broke out, resuming walking back up the stairs, and leaving the birds to their own while she finished a few things. Once in the safety of closed doors again, Isis closed her eyes, and held out her hands.

Soon, golden and blue light started to gather above her hands, taking the shape of an orb, and slowly starting to show an image. Isis opened her eyes to the image before her as it showed a purple teenage diamond dog with black hair crossed with a dragon's blood sitting in a large room with two mares wrapped his his wings while another sat next to them.

A smile slowly started to form on Isis face as she continued to watch the younger dog speak something to the others in the room. 'So much time is left, much more needs to be done before, and he will be the start.'

After allowing the image to fade, Isis again begin to track the mysterious magic she had picked up on not too long ago. However, the image took slightly longer for it to come into clear, but soon the slight of a small filly balled up in a dirty alleyway started to show. Isis truly felt sorry for the joyous life that was stolen from the filly by faith and the upbringing of the past. She didn't deserve to be alone the way she was but it wasn't in Isis's place to meddle with destiny.

Sighing, Isis prayed for the filly's well being before allowing the image to fade away. Isis then turned back around to leave her room to meet up with Lily and Spike before they headed to the temple. Once she was down the hall and to the stairs again, Isis spotted the two talking among themselves in front of the doors leading back to the temple.

"I apologize if I kept you two waiting for too long," Isis spoke, walking down the stairs, and getting both Spike and Lily to look towards her.

Lily shook her head towards the sphinx as she and Spike had just started moving around themselves. "No need, we just got up ourselves, and didn't wait for much long." Isis nodded her head, glad that she didn't make the others wait on her. "So are you ready to head to the temple?"

"Yes," Isis answered with another nod of her head. Lily returned the nod and started out the mansion doors with Spike, Isis, and the phoenixes close behind. All of them had a long day ahead of them in their home, much needed to be done in such a short time, but as long as they continued to trust each other, they were sure to get it done.

Meanwhile in High Moon temple

"Don't forget to get the plates made into fur coats for everyone," Blaze remained Wolf as she was getting dressed for her day of exploration and refill of ingredients. Wolf rolled his eyes at the mare as she was using her magic to tie her hair back into a long ponytail that almost reached the floor. "Also see if you can grab more cookbooks for Spike and Frost to use and-"

"Blaze please," Wolf begged, knowing she was only acting worked up because of her own habits passed down from her youth living in a tribe, and was glad that she was so worried. But everyone has their limits. "This isn't the first time I've went to White Tail to get some stuff. Now would you calm down?" Blaze started to blush and looked away from Wolf in slight bashfulness.

Wolf dropped his head and sighed before standing up from the bed and walking around to wrap Blaze in a strong embrace. "Blaze," he started in a low whisper while his body rocked side to side. "I know you're worried something will happen but don't. Okay? If anything, I should be the one worried about you."

Blaze turned around in Wolf's embrace and looked to the assured gleam in his dull-green eyes. She knew worrying about him doing something he had been doing for eight years was silly. Wolf was more capable of surviving in more conditions than any of them in High Moon but she couldn't help having a bad feeling when he ventured far out from the temple.

However, Wolf was smart, smarter than he leads on to be, and could handle himself if anything does happens. He also had the twins and Frost to help him out as well. So there wasn't anything for her to worry about.

"Okay," Blaze started before she planted a quick kiss on Wolf's lips. "I know, just be careful out there." Wolf returned the gesture with a much more passionate kiss. Blaze felt like melting in Wolf's arms just from the kiss alone. She could feel her knees growing numb just from brushing her tongue across his canines.

However, the kiss ended much sooner than Blaze would have liked, but she still happily stood in Wolf's embrace. "Blaze, do me a favor, and stop worrying so much okay? It will be in and out, we'll be back in like two hours, but you be careful out there."

"Hey Wolf!" Wolf and Blaze turned their heads to the closed door at Quill's voice called out from it. "Spike and the others are here and everyone is ready to head out."

"Alright Quill, go on and wait for me outside, I'll be out in a sec." Wolf turned back to Blaze and planted another kiss on her lips. "See you in two hours," he whispered into her ear, getting a firm nod from his lover. "Alright you be safe out there, don't push yourself too hard, and make sure you get something to eat and-"

"Now who is the one worrying too much," Blaze giggled, forcing a chuckle out of Wolf when he saw how the roles eventually switched. "We'll be fine, I have most of what I need anyways, but I do need that plant again...fun."

Wolf chuckled at Blaze's dejection of the main ingredient of the plant growth potion as the leaves have a highly volatile reaction to her magic. Wolf placed a kiss on her horn, only making her more bitter about the plant. "Well, maybe this time, you won't eat it, and you'll let Lily or Isis get close to it?"

"Fine, go on mister funny guy, you got fur coats to get made for the winter." Wolf again chuckled along with Blaze before letting her out of his embrace and walking towards the door. However, was stopped by Blaze grabbing onto his tail. Wolf had looked back to see Blaze with her hand over her stomach. "Please be careful Wolf, for the both of us."

"I will, you just be careful." Blaze nodded her head and let Wolf's tail go so he could meet up with the dragons and changeling waiting on him outside while she grabbed her brown hooded cloak from the wooden closet. "And watch out for centipedes," Wolf called out from the door, getting Blaze's body to tense up in disgust. She was going to turn around to blast the dog in the face with magic but he was already gone by this point.

"I'm going to get you for that Wolf," Blaze whispered to herself before closing the closet and heading out to meet up with Lily and Isis. "You worried about us? Well," she continued with a wide smile spreading across her lips while her hands were placed on her stomach. "I'll make sure we'll become stronger...isn't that right, my child?" Blaze started to darkly giggle at a plan forming in her head. And all it will take is an little extra trip in Everfree.

While Blaze got a few more things together to leave with Lily and Isis, Spike followed Wolf towards White Tail with his sister and her marefriend, and even Peewee so he could help guide them back to High Moon if something does in fact go wrong. During the walk, Wolf told them that the stack of animal plates were for making fur coats for the winter months, and that they also needed to make a quick bit somehow so they stock up on supplies.

As expected, Frost and Quill walked fairly close together with Quill's wing around Frost's body. Spike was happy for his sister, she found something that everyone wanted at some point of their lives, but every time he caught a glance of the couple, he could hear his heart cracking a little.

Heck, even seeing Wolf and Blaze so close together over the last two months was mild torture, but he kept these feelings to himself so no one would have to change the way they showed their love.

It wasn't their fault that they had found someone to love, so they didn't have to change anything about that. Besides, all good things come to those who wait...right? Spike sure hoped, this being single thing wasn't really working for him, but he didn't want a repeat of the CMC's.

"Spike," Wolf started, dragging Spike out of his thoughts. It wasn't until Wolf shook the drake's shoulder before he looked towards the dog. "You heard what I just told you right?" Spike opened his mouth to answer Wolf but no words could be processed in the drake's mind.

"Uh…"

Wolf growled in irritation and flicked the top of Spike's nose, causing the drake to take a few steps back while he held his nose in stinging pain of Wolf's sharp claws breaching the soft sensory scales on Spike's nose. "Pay attention Spike," Wolf started while they continued the trek through Everfree. "Since you're the more...convincing type, I want you to go speak with the librarian near the edge of White Tail. See if you can get her to lean you a few books on construction and cooking."

"A librarian huh," Spike silently mused, thinking back to Twilight and the Golden Oak library, and all the crazy adventures he had living with her. Spike wonder what she and the other elements were now doing now that they knew where Rainbow was. No doubt, as soon as they realized their mistake they all fled to Baltimare to find her and apologize for forgetting about their friend so easily.

Spike started to quietly chuckle at the sight of all five grown mares wrapping their arms around Rainbow in a tight hug while she was trying to get out of it. He knew the elements had a bond that would last even through his and Quill's absents, why wouldn't it? They had a friendship that made it through Nightmare Moon, the changeling army, Discord, and King Sombar.

Surely they could pull themselves out of the hole he and Quill had in their hearts. And hey, they may all just get off their flanks, and find a special somepony to love. At least, that's what Spike guessed.

However, in these thoughts, Spike failed to pay attention to where he was going or what was in front of him, and got his foot caught in a portending tree root. "Whoa," Spike managed to shout out before he fell face first into a small clear stream.

The moment he realized what happened to the drake, Wolf dropped his head, and sighed at the drake's surprising clumsiness while Quill nearly doubled over from laughing. It was only after getting a stern look from Frost did Quill straighten up enough to move to help her fallen brother.

"Yo-you okay Spike," Quill started as she reached out for the drake's hand, still having a smirk on her face. Once Spike took Quill hand, she started to pull him from the crystal clear water. "Here I always thought that training with Zecora made you all nimble and stuff," Quill mocked while Spike started to take off his wet gray shirt.

However, he didn't give time for Quill to have much victory of the joke. "Yeah, I distinctly remember you having to soak in the falls for hours after you fell in-" Spike's comeback was cut short by Quill sweeping her foot from his and pushing him back into the small stream.

"I told you to NEVER talk about that again," she roared with a fiery flame in her eyes. Even with the rest of his clothes soaking wet, Spike still chucked at the memory of Quill's first flying 'accident' in Everfree which landed her in something that was worse than a sulfur pit. "Jerk," Quill huffed from Spike's laughter and started back down the path but being stopped by Wolf grabbing her shoulder.

"See, that's why you're not going to talk to the librarian." Quill rolled her eyes and swatted away Wolf's hand to continue down the path. Wolf shook his head at Quill's temper but knew he couldn't expect more from the dragoness. "Spike," Wolf started turning back towards the drake, who had already gotten up. "Why you do that to yourself?"

Spike let out one last chuckle before using his water-magic to dry his blue-jean pants and gray shirt off. "Because it's funny," he pridefully answered before walking past Wolf to catch up with Quill to 'apologize' for the mean joke.

Frost walked up to Wolf while the both of them watched the two walk off to the nearby cleanse ahead. "I thought that Spike couldn't use his water-magic," Frost noted, remembering what Blaze said about the gems on Spike's wrists would do for his magic.

"I thought so too. Come on Frost, we better catch up with them before Quill rip him apart." Frost giggled at Wolf's half-joke and started to follow him up the path towards the cleanse where he promised their first break will be so they could eat some breakfast.

Once the two were able to see from behind the bushes, they saw Quill playing around with Peewee while Spike ran around the tall stocks of green grass, and cheered his bird on. Both Frost and Wolf started to laugh at the sight of the small bird chasing Quill only to be thrown off course by Quill taking a steep dive and going into a low sweep on the ground, nearly taking Spike's head with it.

Wolf led Frost through the green blades of grass and to a shady tree to sit and rest while the twins let lose some pent up energy. The two soon started to eat the lunch that was packed in Quill's book-bag, which was mainly just fruits and vegetables. While she was eating, Frost looked over to her lover flying high in the air, and then down to her twin brother.

'Now or never Frost,' she thought to herself before turning to the alpha dog sitting next to her. "Wolf, I have a question for you," Frost started while Wolf was munching down on an apple. The dog made an sound of acknowledgement for Frost to continue on with what she had to ask. "What's your end game? I mean, where are you going with all this? Training the twins, rebuilding High Moon, what's is your goal?"

A few moments went by as Wolf continued to munch on the apple. For those moments, Frost was confused by the sudden change in Wolf's emotions. Going from calm to a bit worked up then back to calm as he swallowed the chewed bits of apple.

"Blaze," Wolf started, confusing Frost before he continued on. "Everything I've done so far has been for her and my cub. I trained the twins so they could one day grow strong enough to protect High Moon on their own. I'm focusing on rebuilding High Moon so that my cub may wander about it without fear of it falling apart."

Wolf laid his head against the tree to look up at Quill's determined face as she soared higher into the sky. "The fact that they will learn more about their heritage or that we'll be able to use High Moon to its fullest, is only a bonus."

Frost didn't question Wolf's reasons as she could only sense his honesty and love for Blaze, not only that, but the compassion he has for the twins. Wolf cared for all of them, he wanted to help all of them, but he had his own troubles to worry about first.

Something every true leader must face.

"I understand, and you should understand that you're not alone." Wolf turned his head towards Frost to look into her blue eyes. "I know I just got to High Moon but I promise I'll do whatever I can to protect it."

Wolf stared into Frost's eyes, seeing the same look Lily had a few years back when they first met. "Why," he started turning his head back around to the tall grass. "Why would you want to do that? Risking your life for not only High Moon, but for the rest of us. Are you really willing to stand when we can't?"

"Yes." Wolf smiled when he heard the firm tone in Frost's voice, showing no signs of hesitation. "Wolf you may not know it, but in this very short time, you all have been more of a family to me than my actual one. You all have given me trust that can only be earned when I haven't done anything yet. And for that, I want to return it in full."

Wolf nodded his head, more than glad that the changeling had more sense of honor than the rest of her race did. "Then Frost, I would like to welcome you to the High Moon pack," Wolf finally said as he waved his hand over the twins and Peewee. Frost smiled when she was able to finally know what it truly meant to be a part of something larger than just herself. To belong to someone else. "Come on, we better keep moving if we're going to be done on time."

"Right." Both started to get up from the ground as Wolf called the twins over so they could resume making their way to White Tail. At the rate they were going they should be back before high noon, which was great because Wolf stat had things he wanted to get done for the day.

Meanwhile…

"Blaze would you slow down," Lily asked as Blaze continued to march through Everfree like a mare on a mission. For the last half-hour, all Blaze had done since leaving High Moon was mumble something about Wolf, but both Lily and Isis were unable to hear it over the sounds of the natural world around them.

While her lover ventured forth to White Tail to prepare for the coming winter months, Blaze lead Lily and Isis down a grass covered path to the only spot in Everfree she knew hold the tools for her 'revenge' against Wolf's joke this morning.

The damned dog knows that she had a major fear about centipedes and he also knew not to mess with her about it. So if he thought it was funny to mess with her, she was going to mess with him right back, and knew of the right brew to do so.

And luckily for her, it was right in the same general area they needed to be. So not much time would be added to their trip and they were already coming up on their first stop. "Come on, we're not that far from it. Just...pick up your feet," Blaze half-commanded, not sure how she felt about taking the role as leader.

Well she had the right to, Wolf was the head of the pack, and everyone followed any order he had. But still, Blaze wasn't the type to bark commands at anyone. Not like Wolf does that but still.

"Blaze, that's the problem," Lily started, looking past Blaze's attempt to commanding her to do something. "With nothing covering our feet, they kind of hurt, and I know yours do too." Blaze was going to retort to the flutterpony, and turned to speak her mind, but no reason she could think of would allow her to win that argument. "Blaze, I know you want to help just as much as the rest of us, but there isn't a need to push yourself too hard. You got more than High Moon to think about."

"Miss Lily is right mistress," Isis started, knowing about Blaze's pregnancy, and didn't want anything happening to the one Wolf cares for the most. "Of all of us, you are the only one bearing life, and it would be unwise to push your body any more than we have to. The sun is still out and will be for quite some time."

"Fine," Blaze sighed, not thinking of questioning why Isis just called her 'mistress,' and admittedly could use a break herself. "There should be a empty field that we can rest in just over this stream." The two ponies, sphinx, and phoenix turned their attentions towards the small stream, cutting through Everfree, and leading towards the Rainbow Falls before jetting off into one of the natural great lakes of the forest.

Lily, Isis, and Cinder used their wings to fly over the stream while Blaze nimbly skipped across. They soon resumed walking towards their first stop, which was on of Blaze's destinations anyways. The scenery around them started to change from being predominantly trees to a more grassy plane, a sign that they were getting closer to the empty fields.

Just as the forest foreshadowed, the explorers came into a short grass field with a few purple and pink wild-flowers growing near the center, and all rested their feet at a tall oak tree. While Lily was grabbing out their small breakfast of apples and berries, Blaze asked Cinder to go pick several of the flowers, careful not to damage the petals on them.

Not seeing a reason not to, Cinder flew off of the oak tree's branch and went to circle around the small area of flowers, and swoop down to pick some of them. Blaze then turned her attention to the oak tree and knocked on the wood several times.

"Blaze what are you doing," Lily asked the mare as she continued to scoot around the tree.

"Shh." Blaze closed her eyes, sure that she heard the right tone she wanted, but Lily's voice threw her off at the last bit. She then again knocked on the wood and started to smile. "This should do," Blaze started, placing her hand on the tree, sparking her horn its crimson shine, and focusing her magic on the amber trapped inside.

Soon, Blaze started to pull her dull-blue hand away from tree with a golden-brown gob seeping out of the wood in her blood-red aurora. Lily's eyes widened as she never had know how Blaze had gotten the amber out from trees before while Isis was given another reason why Wolf and Blaze were her masters.

"That's step one done," Blaze mildly cheered as Cinder landed on her shoulder with several of the wild-flowers in her mouth. "Ahh, Fuchsia, and that's the second step. Thank you Cinder," Blaze said taking the flowers from the phoenix's beak. Blaze placed the flowers carefully in an empty pouch on her side and used her magic to crystallize the liquid amber to place it in another empty pouch.

Lily reached into the Spike's book-bag, which she borrowed with his permission, and pulled out an apple to start eating. "Steps one and two of what may I ask," Lily questioned before taking a bite of an apple while Isis was already half way done with her's.

However, Blaze didn't answer Lily's question as she used her magic to grab tow apples from the green book-bag, and sliced one of them with her magic so she could feed it to Cinder. "A...'surprise' for Wolf, it is sure to blow his mind." Blaze giggled at her own joke as she couldn't wait for tonight's surprise payback for Wolf's joke this morning.

Oh yes, she was going to remain Wolf not to scorn a mare that had high knowledge of the many potions that could insure her victory over him in any situation. All she had to do was wait.

Everfree; White Tail Valley

'Finally, that took for-freaking-ever,' Spike sighed as he left the library in White Tail. Once he and the others had made it to the small town, Wolf had assigned everyone jobs to do before they headed back to the temple.

Frost and Quill were to see what they could find around town that they could later use. Wolf took Peewee to the dressmaker of the town, of which he knew from past arrangements. Spike, of course, was left with the task of getting a few new books from the librarian.

However, the unfortunately lavender pegasus mare HAD to know everything about him, and couldn't stay focus on the task at hand long enough before she was again questioning Spike about every little thing. But thankfully, Spike was able to get her to finally find the books he was looking for.

Spike was grateful for the mare just letting him have the books, though, he could have sworn that he heard she saying 'no one visits anyways' before leaving, but Spike played it off as a trick of the mind. Apart of him said that he wasn't doing the right thing by just leaving the mare to the dusty library on her own; the same way he did to Twilight.

Spike quickly shook those thoughts out of his head so he could focus on more important matters. Now all he had to do was find town-square and wait on the others to get back. Then, he is sure that Wolf had planned for him to start fishing for fish in the stream near the city ruins.

'Oh man, I can't wait.' Spike remembered how good fish tasted when he ate some during the camping trip with the CMC's, Dusk, and his mares. 'Ah...I can almost smell that...burning wood?' Spike opened his eyes to the scent of burning wood, a lot of wood, but couldn't find any fires nearby on the street he was on.

So his eyes turned to the skies in hopes of finding any smoke sticking out from the clear blue skies. It wasn't long before his eyes picked up on the faint trails of smoke coming from a hill, and by the size of it, wasn't just some random campfire.

'That can't be good, so...why isn't anypony here doing anything?' Spike turned his head towards the citizens, who continued to move about as if there wasn't anything wrong with the towering smoke, but Spike knew that there had to be something up.

Not taking another moment to think about it, Spike started to dash off towards the green hill where the smoke was coming from, and used the flowing stream as a guide. He soon found himself running to the bare outskirts of the town, yet still not a single soul was seen going to the fire.

By the time Spike made it up the hill, the smell of burning wood was almost unbearable, and flashes of him and Quill torching half of Ponyville. However, the flashes of bury memories didn't compare to seeing it in person.

A house, a two-story house, and someone's home was on fire. Spike's breathing started to pick up when a wave of memories flashed through his head from his greed-growth and the nightmares he had about fire. Ponies running for their lives, crying foals being separated from their parents, and the agonizing screams of those trapped in the fire's body.

And at the center of it all was him, smiling, eyes so wide he was able to see all of the fire's glory consuming everything he's known. Another wave of noxious sickness feel over to Spike, forcing him to his knees as his breath became labor, and being unable to stop his shaking.

"This is all your fault!" Spike snapped his attention to the sound of a gruff female voice shouting over the crackling of the burning home. Spike turned his view away from from the lush green grass to a gray female diamond dog, barely dressed in a white tank-top and tight black shorts, with her hands around a much smaller white and blue dragoness, more dressed in a soft pink dress that went to her knees, and who was crying and trying to apologize to the dog.

The only thing saving the dragoness from the hound's sharp claws where her white scales but Spike could tell that she still felt them pressing down. "Veil I-I…sorry, p-please stop yelling," the dragoness pleaded her pink eyes barely able to see the hound's snarling face through the tears. "I-I can fix it...I promise." Even Spike could hear the doubt in the dragoness's tone of voice. However, hound didn't let her go just yet as he glare deeply into eyes, but soon allowed her to stand on her own.

"I'm sorry," Veil breath out in a tired sigh and turned her head away from the dragoness. "Cyclone, just...just do what you can." Cyclone nodded her head and ran towards the stream and stepped in the cool liquid. She closed her eyes and started to bend the water to her will.

Spike stood up in awe at the sight of the dragoness using water-magic to guide the water to the fire, and from the looks, was going to put it out. However, she was only able to reach half way before she fell to her knees.

"Oh-no Cyclone!" The hound ran to the dragoness's side to see what was wrong with her. When she got to the dragoness, she was already in tears about her latest failure, and begged Veil for her forgiveness. Spike watched as the hound wrapped her arms around the dragoness, not doubt whispering soothing words into her ears.

Another flash of his nightmare came to his mind and it only made him feel that more bad or the two's misfortune. 'Come on, come on. They need your help.' Pushing past any doubts in his head, Spike ran over to the stream, and caught the attention of the two females. "Who are you?"

"Not now," Spike said, focusing on only gathering enough of his own internal dragon-magic, but was stopped by the limiters on his wrists. 'No, no, no, not now!' Spike tried again, only for the same result to happen. Every time he tried, all he got was a small stream to shot up from the water only for it to barely miss the house. He refused to let his nightmare become the two's reality and continued to try to get something done about the fire. "Rah, this doesn't make any sense, I was able to use my magic this morning so work!"

Veil was going to going to tell Spike to stop trying when three columns of water shot out from around them and onto the fire. "Yeah! Drake, whatever you're doing, keep doing it," Veil cheered on Spike, not knowing he wasn't the one forming the columns of water, and reed her head back when Spike dropped his hands to his sides. "What are you-"

"It's not me," Spike cut in, dropping his head in defeat, and knowing who really was the one bending the water. Spike turned around to the sky, only to confirm his guess. "It's her." Veil followed Spike's eyes to see a bright blue and darker purple dragoness hovering in the air, holding her hands out towards the house, and paying them no mind as she focused on getting the fire under control.

Before Veil could question the new dragoness, another one came blasting down from the sky, and was able to knock back some of the flames some before landing in front of Spike. "Yo Spike, me and Frost will deal with this fire. You help her," Quill said as she directed a hand towards the fallen dragoness.

Spike nodded his head and turned toward Cyclone. However, before Spike could use his heal-water technique on her, Veil pulled her away from him. "Please," Spike started, dipping his hand in the water, and gather up what little magic he could to encase his and in a spare of pure water and magic. "My sister and Frost can handle the fire, but I need to look at her." Veil started to defensively growl while she pulled Cyclone but Spike refused to allow himself to fail twice in one day. "I'm not going to hurt her, please, I couldn't help save your house, but let me do this much."

Veil again refused to listen to Spike's gentle voice as her growl turn into a deep snarl that showed all of her sharp serrated teeth. However, Cyclone was able to see the good Spike was trying to do, and pushed out of Veil's protective grip.

"It's okay Veil," she softly said before the hound could do anything to stop her. Cyclone's smile was enough to get the hound to finally listen to her. Cyclone turned her back to Spike and slipped her pink dress off her shoulders just enough to where Spike could start working. Right before Spike could begin catching on Cyclone's dragon's soul, she turned her head around to meet him in the eyes. "Th-this isn't going to hurt right? That's what you said."

Spike saw the worry and fear in Cyclone's soft pink eyes, forcing another flash of his nightmare to come before his eyes again, but pushed through. "I-I can't promise it will be completely painless, but if something isn't done, you'll be in a lot more pain than without."

Cyclone closed her eyes and gave a slight nod of her head, right now she was scared, hurt, and confused, but Spike was willing to help. And if it could help get...whatever have caused this whole mess under control, then she was willing to let him help. "Okay...okay do what you got to."

Spike nodded his head and placed his hands on Cyclone's white back. "Could you try easing up a bit, I need to look in you dragon's soul." Cyclone tried to listen to Spike's command but the sounds of her and Veil's house burning down played a consent remainder of it being her fault. "Try breathing, slowly, in and out. One, two, three."

Soon, the dragoness was able to block out all the distracting sounds around her, and closed her eyes to focus solely on her breathing. Spike soon followed suit and started to form the same expansive lake dwelling in his mind.

When he opened his eyes, all he could see was the crystal blue lake, but still took a moment to look around for any of the ghost heart that infested him. After being satisfied that he saw none, Spike turned his attention to a small pink gem floating in a blue and white aurora. The gem was something he had never seen before, then again, so was Dusk's.

The white aurora was enhanced by the blue runes flowing around the gem and it was something Spike had never dreamed of before. Beautiful, bright, and worth protecting. Something about this gem had sparked a fire in Spike's chest as he slowly started to walk towards it with a hungry look in his eyes.

Suddenly, the faint sound of the dragoness crying was able to snap Spike out of his trance, and bring his focus back to the task at hand. Spike raised both of his hands around the gem and begin the same motions as he did on Dusk a few days back.

While Spike dealt with whatever problem that infested Cyclone, Quill and Frost soon started to get the flames under control, but couldn't move any closer to finish off what was left. Veil was left to watch everything she's ever know go up into flames.

Suddenly, the hound made a loud gasp as she remembered that something very important was left in the house. "No, no, no!" She started to run towards the front door, which had flames spewing out of it. Even being two feet away was enough for her to feel the heat coming off of it and she would have made it if it wasn't for a diamond dog popping up from the ground and grabbing her waist. "Let. Me. GO!"

"Not a chance in hell, hound," Wolf said in a strong voice while the younger beta hound thrashed about trying to get away from his vice grip. "Whatever is in that house, isn't worth your life." Veil continued to fight against Wolf's hold but she wasn't lucky enough to be an alpha hound, so she only had half of his strength.

While Wolf held back Veil, Spike continued his work on Cyclone's dragon's soul, and the situation went bad to worse when he discovered a large chunk of it was missing. Spike did whatever he could think of doing but that would only get the dragoness so far.

Spiked sighed as he knew there wasn't anything he could do besides tell Cyclone the bad news. "Y-you're missing pieces of your dragon's soul," Spike informed with a grim tone as he knew a dragon's soul was the key for any dragon using magic. "There isn't anything else I can do for you, I'm so sorry."

Not only has he failed the two twice in a few short minutes, also revealed a grim truth to the dragoness, and couldn't do anything to help her. In fact, all he could do was sit back and watch Frost and Quill handle the fire, but that wasn't enough. If he didn't have on the limiters, he could have helped more, he could have-

"It's okay…" Spike was pulled out of his sadness by Cyclone's soft voice, however, he refused to look at her in fear of seeing the disappointment or sadness on her face. "Please," Cyclone started again, taking Spike's cheeks in her hands, and raising his head to face her. "You and your clan did your best, you shouldn't beat yourself up. Besides...i-its my fault anyways."

The look in the dragoness's eyes quickly reminded Spike of what happened in Canterlot two months ago and he couldn't stand to see her suffer under the ghost heart like he did. "No." Spike took Cyclone's hands and slowly placed them in her lap. "No, don't do that. I was in the same spot you are right now. For your shake, don't blame yourself."

"B-but-"

"I said let go of me!" Both dragons turned their attention towards Wolf, who was still holding onto Veil's waist, and taking any punches she could give. Falling support beams just added to Veil's tears that were streaming down her face like the stream being used to fight the fire. "Please!" She finally broke down, falling to her knees, and opening crying; something Cyclone have never seen her do before. "L-let me...let m-me back in...I need to find it."

Wolf knelt down to touch Veil's shoulder, only for her to smack it away. "Hound, whatever you 'need' to find it isn't worth your fur being cooked alive," Wolf said, knowing the pain the hound was going through, but didn't want her to make any foolish choices.

"No! Y-you don't understand...Cyclone she-"

"Veil," Cyclone started with the softest, yet firmest, voices she could muster despite her condition. She knelt down to pull Veil into a tight hug to get her to spot shaking. "Please you don't have to risk your life over it for me."

"No, Cyclone, your necklace..." While Cyclone did her best to calm Veil down, Spike look towards the fire as it was no mostly under control, and quickly made up his mind. Veil maybe unable to go into the fire but Spike was a dragon. A dragon that had fireproof scales, he hoped.

'Now or never.' Spike took one last deep breath before changing into the dying inferno. Wolf, who was thinking of a way to end the fire for good, was caught off-guard by the drake's sudden charge, and was only just barely able to stop him.

Wolf grabbed onto Spike's shoulder and pulled him away from the burning front door, which was now unusable. "Spike what in Cerberus's name do you think you're doing?"

"Wolf please, I messed up twice today let me do this one thing." Wolf glared into Spike's eyes, telling him that he had no intentions of letting him do something so foolish. "I can do it, my scales will protect me." No matter what Spike had to say, Wolf wasn't going to let him go and risk his life for something as trivial as a necklace. "Wolf, let me help them, they're going to lose everything, but let me save at least one thing."

Wolf looked straight into Spike's eyes, speaking only of determination and assurance, but yet have a small sense of fear. "Fine, two minutes. You got two minutes to grab whatever they are talking about. Think you can manage that?"

"Two minutes is a minute more than I need," Spike said with confidence that was able to fool even himself. Wolf nodded his head, trusting Spike to keep his word, and letting his shoulder go. "Thanks Wolf."

"Get moving, you only have a minute and thirty seconds left." Spike nodded his head and started for the house. With the front door blocked by the fire and fallen support beams, Spike climbed the side wall to reach the second floor window, and hopped into a window where the fire was at it's weakest.

Once inside, Spike's vision was clouded with black smoke and blue and white embers of the fire. Fighting through the smoke, and keeping his head down low, Spike looked around the burning room to find that it had to be the bedroom.

Spike strained his eyes to find anything that looked like a necklace, and luck would have it, it was sitting right on the dresser across the room. 'Too easy,' he thought as he started to make his way towards the dresser but was stopped by a burning beam falling in front of him and on the bed.

Embers being thrown up to his face caused Spike to hold up his hands and take a step back from the burning beam. 'That's not going to stop me.' Backing up to the window, Spike ran towards the burning beam of wood, and jumped over it. However, he didn't fully made the leap as the tip of his foot got caught, and sent him tumbling nose-first into the dresser.

The blow caused a dull throbbing pain to shot from Spike's nose to the back of his head, but lucky didn't draw any blood. What was even more lucky was the sudden impact with the dresser knocked the necklace off the dresser where it caught itself on one of Spike's head-spines. Reaching for the locket, Spike was able to quickly recognize the gem locked inside of the heart shaped necklace. A soft pink, with a blue and white shine to it; Cyclone's dragon soul.

"I got to get this to her," Spike said, pushing through the throbbing pain in his head to stand up from the ground as he placed the necklace in his pocket. Just as he was going to jump over the burning beam again, a blast of freezing cold water shot through the window, and was able to clear a path for him. "Thank you Frost."

Backing to the dresser, Spike ran to the beam, and not only jumped it but manage to clear the window altogether. Which was bad. Spike had forgotten that he was on the second floor and was now faced with a with a big drop.

However, Quill was able to swoop in, and prevent him from falling to the hard ground. Though, she wasn't please with his 'heroic' choice. "Quill you wouldn't-" Spike wasn't allowed to finish his thought before Quill dropped him into the stream below and landed mere feet away. "What was that for," Spike shouted after he gotten out of the water and walked towards his sister.

"You fucking idiot!" Suddenly, Quill spun around and brought a fist down to Spike's face, throwing him to the ground. Thankfully, adrenaline was still pumping through Spike's veins so he didn't feel much of the punch, but still looked up to Quill in confusion. "Do you know that you could have died in there!"

Upon seeing the small signs of tears in his sister's eyes, Spike quickly overlooked her for slagging him in the jaw, and started to stand on his feet again. "I know Quill, I know, but I had to do something."

"And I hope that something was worth it," Wolf said, walking over to the drake, and slagging him in the gut. Spike had never been in a fight with Wolf, so being nailed in the gut by his fist was a new pain that hurt worse than Quill's fist. "Spike," Wolf started, making Spike look up from the ground and towards him. "Why you do this to yourself?"

Spike then turned his head towards Veil and Cyclone as they were walking over to him with Frost right behind and smiled. "Because I couldn't let them lose everything," he said standing up from the ground with his own strength and walking towards the two females. Once he was standing right in front of Cyclone, Spike pulled the necklace from his pocket, handed to her. "I believe this belongs to you milady," Spike said with his head bowed to the two females.

Cyclone took the necklace from Spike and held it close to her heart. "Thank you, thank you," she repeated over and over again while tears streamed down her face. Spike raised his head and smiled, he was able to save one piece of their life, and that's what mattered.

Suddenly, the fire still raging on in the house stole their attentions again, and Veil sighed in pure defeat. The house was a total lost, nothing would save it even if the fire was put out, but at least Cyclone was safe. Frost sensed the defeat, yet small joy, coming from the hound, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

Veil soon realize that she was trying to get her attention and slowly turned her head towards the changeling in disguise. "I can end the fire but, I can't guarantee that your house will survive." Veil turned towards the house again, the very same she called home for most of her live, and held all of her memories. Then he turned towards Cyclone, the dragoness that found her way into her lonely life, and what was most important to her.

"Okay, okay...do what you have to." Grief, lost, bitterness, and sorrow was some of the many emotions coming from the hound, and the feeling of them made Frost sick to her stomach. But she pushed past the weighting emotions and walked toward the stream. As soon as she stepped in, Frost started to gather threads of the stream to freeze it and form a frozen halberd.

Taking aim towards the window Spike jumped through, Frost threw the frozen weapon into the bedroom, and landed a direct hit on the beam that nearly crushed Spike. "Hiems spiritus." Frost snapped her fingers, causing the buildup of magic in the halberd to react with the natural magic in the very air, and encased the entire house in ice.

Frost took a deep breath to calm her nerves before collapsing down into the small river. "Frost," Quill shouted, running to her lover, and helping her to her feet. "Frost, are you alright?"

"Yes, yes," Frost started, slightly out of breath, and used Quill to support much of her weight. "I'm just a little tired from using too much magic and…" Frost lean further into Quill's ear and took a quick nibble. "I'm a little hungry is all," she whispered into Quill's ear, causing the dragoness to shake a little and blush when she caught the real meaning.

"Later Frost, you know, when we're alone." Even though she heard Quill words, that didn't stop Frost from biting on her ear, and slipping her hand into her shirt. "Um...hey Wolf I'm um, taking Frost back to High Moon." One look towards the two, Wolf quickly knew what was happening, and waved them off after telling Peewee to guide them back to the temple.

Peewee nodded his head and flew off Spike's shoulder to guide Quill and Frost back to High Moon. Everyone watched the three fly off before Wolf turned his attention back to Cyclone and Veil. "Alright, I know that this is sort of sudden, but I think I can help you two out."

"Yeah, how," Veil falsely laughed, biting back more tears before Wolf could continue.

"Listen, hound, I can give you guys a place to stay while you figure something out." Veil still was skeptical of of Wolf's offer, but with nothing else, it couldn't hurt to hear him out. "You'll have to work for your own food but at least you'll be somewhere safe."

Veil turned her head towards the ground, she couldn't believe it. Right after her house was burnt down, here comes some unknown alpha dog offering her and Cyclone a place to stay whilst they work something out; it was way too good to be true.

"What's the catch?"

Wolf sighed, knowing that dealing with the hound is going to be a problem if she continues to act this way. "The only thing is, you'll have to help out with a few things. Now isn't that fair? A roof over your heads, food in your stomachs, and all you have to do is help with a few things."

Veil started to nod her head, seeing no other immediate option than to take Wolf's offer to live in High Moon. "Fine, not like we got much other choice." Cyclone dropped her head slightly, knowing all of this was her fault no matter the way she looked at it, and could only hope that Veil could ever forgive her. "By the way, the name's Veilstone, but Veil is fine with me."  
"Wolf, just Wolf," the dog returned the introduction and waving his hand over to Spike, who was rubbing his cheek as Quill's punch was now catching up with him. "This is Spike Dragul and the two that flew off were his sister, Quill Dragul, and her marefriend Frost."

"Whoa wait," Veil started before pausing to think back to when she first saw Frost. "What do you mean 'marefriend?' That totally was a dragoness...right?"

Wolf started to chuckle as he shook his head. "I'll explain it on the way, come on." Wolf started to walk down the hill with Spike following close behind. Veil and Cyclone took a moment to watch the two before shortly following them.

They may have lost a house but they'll soon see, they gained a family.

/-/  
/ Ch. 28: From the Ashes/-/

High Moon Ch. 28: From the Ashes

Veil and Cyclone continued to follow Wolf and Spike back to High Moon. During the trek, Wolf explained everything to the two. About his rules concerning living in city ruins, the ones they had to listen to, and the roles that they would have to fill if they were going to continue to live in High Moon.

Veil was hesitant at first, but without any other choice, she couldn't refuse anything Wolf said. Cyclone herself was more or less willing to do anything she could to help out. After that Wolf started to nod his head, thinking of whatever roles a diamond hound and dragoness could do for High Moon-regardless how long they decided to stay-if at all. Spike then brought Wolf's attention to the fact that the necklace around Veil's neck was a large fragment of Cyclone's dragon's soul, and that without it, she wouldn't be able to use much of her magic.

When Wolf asked what could be done to restore the fragment, Spike was at a loss, and said the only way he could think of doing that was Cyclone eating it. However, the dragoness refused to do so as the necklace was a birthday present for Veil a few years ago, and claimed that she was alright.

Veil didn't allow her friend to lie to herself like that and said that it was okay if it would get her feeling better. Again, Cyclone refused to reclaim her dragon's soul, begging for another way.

Spike then started to wonder if Dusk would know of a way to help in this situation and asked Wolf if he could go visit the half-breed tomorrow. Wolf agreed to Spike's plan, since he only had a limited knowledge about dragons, but told him to talk to Blaze first to see if she could do anything.

Now with all that settled, Wolf thought it was best to get to the bottom of why their house caught on fire to begin with. "Look, I know it's still touchy, but just why are you saying it was your fault for the house burning down," Wolf asked Cyclone as she been constantly blaming herself for the house catching on fire.

Cyclone took in a deep breath and let out a small blue and white flame in a slow sigh. "Because it is…"

Two Hours ago

Today started out as any other normal day for the blue and white dragoness named Cyclone as she was downstairs fixing up lunch for her and the hound that let her live with her for the last six years.

Even after her greed-growth, which she was able to be pulled out of by the very same hound five years ago during the hound's birthday, she had given her a place to call home, but the town was quick to abandon the two to define on their own. In hindsight, she shouldn't have worried so much about not getting her something good enough for her, but after letting her stay with her for a whole year; she had to do something.

However, luck would have it that soon after she had reverted back to her normal size, she coughed up a pink gem, and had it quickly made into a necklace for her. Which she had to do on her own as large portions of the town were now afraid of her and wouldn't even look at her.

It took her time but she soon learned how to live with it. Strangely enough, as long as she was still friends with the hound, Cyclone couldn't care less.

"Oh Veil~ Lunch is ready," Cyclone called out to the gray diamond hound from the kitchen on the bottom floor. Veil slowly lurched out of the shared bedroom and down the stairs with her black and white hair a mess over her eyes. "Really Veil," Cyclone teased upon seeing the hound in the disheveled state. Veil took her normal seat at the table and was muttering something underneath her breath. "How are we going to find someone to take care of us if you keep looking like that?"

Veil ran her hands through the mess she call hair to fix it out some before looking towards the dragoness. "Look, would you get off my back about that already? Besides, we don't need some half-life 'taking care' of us," she snarled, tired of the dragoness' attempt to be in a pack with her. "I think we're perfectly fine on our own."

Cyclone rolled her eyes at the hound's statement as she handed a plate of cooked pork and slices of oranges on the side. "Really because if last night was anything," Cyclone started, getting Veil to brightly blush at the memory of last night's early wake-up call. "I say we're due for one."

"Hey, you were the one groping me in your sleep again," Veil retorted in a defensive tone while Cyclone continued to giggle at the the memory. "Why you keep doing that anyways? It's annoying."

Instead of giving a straight answer, Cyclone shrugged her shoulders, just confused about it as Veil. "I dunno, could have something with be being a dragoness, or it could have something to do with the hot piece of tail next to me." Cyclone started to laugh when Veil almost coughed on piece of orange but quickly handed her a glass of water.

The hound snatched the glass of water from a laughing Cyclone's hands and started to quickly down most of it in one go. Cyclone herself couldn't stop her laughing at the sight of the hound gasping for air with a wild look in her eyes.

Once Veil was finally able to get control over her breath again, she looked up to see Cyclone wiping a tear away from her eyes. "Y-you're fucking evil," Veil finally said before going back to eating, this time more careful not to choke on her own food.

Cyclone rolled her eyes and waved a dismissive hand towards Veil before walking over towards the table. "Oh lighten up will...ya…"

Suddenly, the world around Cyclone started to spin as well becoming blurry, and forced her to use the table to keep herself from falling to the ground. Veil shot up from her seat and immediately went to the dragoness' side. However, Cyclone couldn't hear any of Veil's words as her vision began to darken, and a constricting weight was felt all over her body.

The weight moved around like an army of snakes coiling around her body, all using every single one of their muscles to constrict around her. Cyclone started to wrap her arms around her body, trying to find some way to be rid of this unrelenting pain, but she had no such luck. Slowly, causing agonizing pain as they moved about, the army of snakes moved to her chest, and made her feel as if there was a volcano about to erupt over her heart.

Tears started to burn lines down Cyclone's face as she begged for the pain to come to an end. Her begging was answered in a way neither she nor Veil was expecting. Suddenly, Cyclone felt something forcing its way from her chest and to her mouth, causing it to open wide and released a massive torrent of blue and white flames. The sprawl of fire quickly engulfed the kitchen and moved to the rest of the house.

Initially, Veil was scared off the dragoness as she continued to spew more of the flames in a painful manner, but she soon snapped out of the daze. She managed to grab Cyclone's arm as she was coughing up black smoke and pulled her from the rapidly clawing inferno.

Once outside, Veil helplessly watched as her house was being claimed by the blue and white flames while Cyclone continued to hack up more black smoke, but soon realized the obvious truth. It was her fault. "V-Veil please I'm so sorry...I-I did-"

"Cyclone," Veil started looking at the inferno taking the house she called home since she was a mere cub. Cyclone's body froze at the sound of Veil's hollow voice as she knew the hound was beyond angry with her. Veil turning around only added to the dragoness' fears as her pale gray eyes shone with the embers from the fire behind her. "This is all your fault!"

White Tail outskirts; Everfree edge

Cyclone finished the story with a lone tear falling from her face as Veil wrapped her arms around the small dragoness. Wolf and Spike stared at the two with the look of pure disbelief, both of them quickly started to have an idea of what happened to the dragoness, but weren't entirely sure yet.

"Veil...I-I'm so-"

"Stop it Cyclone," Veil broke in before the dragoness could place any more blame on herself than she already had. "It wasn't your fault, I was just mad and scared is all. Okay?" Cyclone couldn't answer her but still nodded her head. Veil felt awful for putting any blame on the dragoness since it wasn't really her fault. "So...Wolf? You really think that your marefriend will know what to do?"

Wolf nodded his head, sure that Blaze would have some knowledge about the dragoness' condition, and if not the half-blood would. "I'm sure of it, now let's keep moving before it gets too late to do anything about it," Wolf said with a slight smile before starting off again towards the path back to High Moon. He wasn't sure of it but something told Wolf that things were going to get interesting around Everfree.

Whether that was good or not remained to be seen.

Everfree Forest

Further ahead of Wolf and the others, Quill fought to stay in the air as Frost-who couldn't sustain her dragoness form any more-had given up on waiting until they were at High Moon before she started to 'feed' on her, and now was trailing too far behind Peewee.

Now on her lover's back, Frost took her time toying with Quill before taking small bites around her neck, and danced her fingers all along Quill's body. It was hard enough before to keep the changeling in the air with her laying on her back, but now with her playing around and taking small bites, just flying was near impossible.

"Frost...quit it, j-just wait until we reach the temple," Quill moaned, growing accustomed to the biting, and oddly finding pleasure in them. However, Quill's plea wasn't answered as Frost moved her tongue over the back of Quill's ear, and took it in her teeth. "Frost!"

Frost moaned around Quill's ear and let it go just to breath her hot breath over it. "Shh...my powerful dragoness lover, let us go somewhere more quiet." Suddenly, Frost wrapped she arms around Quill's waist and expanded her wings outwards to twice their size, and gave a mighty flap.

Quill wasn't able to fight against Frost's enhanced wingspan and was dragged up higher to large cloud where Frost pinned her down. She didn't waste a single moment before she started to lick all along Quill's neck again and bring her hand to Quill's smaller breasts.

"Fucking damnit," Quill moaned unable to fight against the changeling's lust after the numerous venom infused bites she received during the strenuous flight. She soon gave up, knowing that it would be easier if she just went along with it anyway.

However, Peewee noticed the lack of fliers behind him, and turned around to see what was up. Quill caught the phoenix in the corner of her eye and quickly thought of a way to get him to leave. "Peewee...g-go back t-to-Frost stop it for a second-Spike, tell him we'll meet up at High Moon." The bird looked at the scene with a curious eyes and made Quill blush from being watched by her brother's bird. "Go bird."

Peewee duck under the small stream of fire Quill spit out from her mouth and started to fly off towards Spike, leaving Frost to do as she pleased. Frost pulled Quill's shirt over her small breasts to gaze at them before diving down on them.

Finally alone, Quill didn't-and couldn't-fight off any more moans as Frost's serpent tongue circled around Quill's nipples while one hand moved to her wing-base and the other to remove her shorts so she could play with her dragonesshood, which was becoming increasingly wet.

Quill's moans became a shout when Frost sinking her fangs around the harden nipples. "Mmm…" Frost moaned, getting a dose of Quill's lust, and regaining some of her magic from it. The desire to have more, Frost stuck two of her fingers inside of Quill's tight dragonesshood, and slowly started to rub it. Even being hit with another dose of of love and lust from her dragoness, Frost wanted more, no, she needed more. But, she wanted Quill to pound her love into her, and begin to use the shaft-growth spell again.

"F-Frost...t-take it easy," Quill begged, not sure if she liked being the submissive one, but in this situation didn't have much choice. The power of emotions Frost was feasting on quickly changed into magic for the spell and made Quill feel like she was on fire.

The last time, it was nothing but a soft tingle that sent pleasure flowing through her whole body, but now it was a crawling inferno that threatened to push her over the edge. Suddenly, it felt as if a warm gentle fire was burning in Quill's chest, and it served to coax her closer to the edge.

Frost's eyes snapped opened when she felt the same insistent wave from last night coming from Quill and doubled her efforts on the spell. Frost removed herself from her dragoness' breasts to look in the pleasure written on her face as well as the fire in her eyes. "Yes, yes! Show me your power, claim me as your mare!" Quill let out a savage roar that came in the form of a tall purple and black flame as her body tensed up from the spell and a climax as they reached their peaks.

Frost back away from Quill's body as she calmed down from the mind-numbing climax. She licked her lips at the meaty rod standing tall in between Quill's legs, the barbed sides looking more rigid, and the shaft looking bigger, than the last time.

Just looking at the shaft was enough to light a flame in Frost's marehood and force her to discard her green shorts. "Oh my love," Frost called out to Quill, who was mumbling something unintelligible, and breathing out small puffs of gray smoke. Soon, Quill turned her head towards Frost to see her spreading her marehood with lustful lick of her lips. "It isn't nice to keep your mare waiting."

A low savage growl came from Quill when she heard Frost's mocking tone. Suddenly, her body whipped around, and pinned Frost to the cloud floor. Before Frost could even let out a single sound, her lips were already sealed by Quill's, and their tongues were already wrestling for dominance. It wasn't long before Frost found her tongue being circled by Quill's.

The shaft started to brush up against Frost's marehood, threatening to split her apart. Again, Frost was bombarded by the intense feeling coming from Quill and moaned in the kiss for more of it.

Quill, who was having trouble controlling her instincts, gave her mare what she wanted, and drove the shaft deep within her marehood. Quill broke away from the kiss so she could hear every single second of Frost's joyful screams, making Quill thrust even hearer.

Frost mind became blank, not only from Quill pounding her lust inside of her, but from the intense wave growing as she quickly reached her peak. Wanting to hear the mare scream some more, Quill sat up on the cloud, dug her claws into Frost's flanks, and started to lift her up.

Frost's body started to tense up around the shaft in the new position as Quill lifted her up and down the barbed sides. She was even forced to wrap her arms around Quill's neck for support while low, needy moans were being forced straight out of her mouth.

Quill used her fanged teeth to rip the black shirt to shreds so she could latch onto both of Frost's harden nipples with her fangs, making Frost screams louder. "Ahh, y-yes," Frost squealed with a fiery moan of approval. "M-more...show me more."

Quill was happy to do so by using her claws to spread Frost's flanks out, stretching her marehood around the barbed shaft, and pushing them close together to get her marehood to tightened around her. Quill continued to do this, quickly being able to find a solid rhythm to it, and sending Frost over the edge.

The mare started to sink her fangs into the side of Quill's neck, only adding to the pleasure she was feeling, and started to shake violently. However, Quill's rough thrusting didn't end as she continued to lift Frost up and down the throbbing shaft, and growling when she felt her own climax building rapidly on her.

Deep gray smoke seeped from Quill's nose as Frost was just coming down from her first mind-shaking climax and was building quickly into another one. Frost removed herself from Quill's neck, only barely having the strength to wrap her arms around her neck, and allowed Quill to have her way. "Y-yes my...love," she managed to moan out through Quill's thrusting as she felt the shaft throb heavily inside of her marehood, just waiting to burst forth. "C-claim me...fill me with your seed," Frost moved to Quill's ear to take it in her teeth before continuing in a much darker tone, "Make me queen."

Quill removed her mouth away from Frost's breasts, turned her head up to the sky, and let out another savage roar with a much brighter flame than before following after as her shaft erupted and filled Frost with her hot cum. The sudden volcanic eruption inside of her marehood forced Frost to be overtaken by another, much more powerful, climax.

Quill forced a few more thrusts into Frost, filling her up with more of her cum before collapsing to her side, taking Frost down with her, and instinctively wrapping her in her wings. A smile was widely plastered on her face as the world around started to fade into blackness.

A few minutes later…

Quill slowly opened her eyes as it felt like a storm was dying down in her throbbing head. As soon as she caught the sight of Frost's nude body, waves of her 'feeding' flashed through her head, but she could only remember small parts of it.

As usual, it felt awesome to her despite the pain numbing her pelvis, and the soreness of her throat. Not wanting to ruin the sight in front of her, Quill laid her head back down onto the soft cloud bed to gaze at her sleeping lover.

However as time started to push on, one memory started to become more prominent. "Make me queen." The words echoed in Quill's mind, taking priority over the cloudiness in her head.

Quill started to think of anything that would explain the dark sound of Frost's voice when she'd said that. It could have been her instinct, as Frost had used a lot of magic trying to save that house in White Tail, which usually lead to her changeling instincts overpowering her control. But there still was a part of her that questioned it.

"Mmm...Quill?" Frost finally started to open her eyes, expecting the blissful smile of her lover, but was met with the worried frown. That's when Frost felt the sickly wave of worry coming from her dragoness, only making Frost even more concerned that she did something horrible while her instincts took control. "Quill, Quill sweetie is thing wrong?"

Quill snapped out of her thoughts and was met with the only one that could truthfully answer her questions. Suddenly, Quill wrapped her arms around Frost's waist, and rolled over to her back.

Frost didn't have time to question the sudden move before Quill sealed her lips in a forced kiss. Again, Frost was hit by the intense wave of...feeling from Quill, and started to moan in the kiss. However, this only lasted for that moment as Quill removed her lips from Frost's, and stared into her changeling's eyes.

Frost's eyes fluttered opened to the purple shine in her lover's. "What was that for," she asked, still taken back by the sudden kiss, and momentarily forgetting the worry that was coming from Quill.

"Just making sure my 'queen' is all better." Frost started to giggle as she lean down into Quill's face when she realize that Quill wasn't trying to make a joke and sat back up wide-eyed. "Yes, you did," Quill quickly answered the mare's questioning look. Frost looked way from Quill and did her best to hide her face in her mane. "Frost, I think its time we talked about it. What do you really have planned?"

Frost peered with one eye through her mane at Quill, one look down at the resolved-filled purple eyes told her that she wasn't going to be able to get out of this one, and sighed in defeat. "Alright...r-remember when I said that my mother is queen of the entire changeling race in Everfree?" Quill nodded her head in affirmation, not seeing where Frost was going with it. "And how I wanted to prove her wrong about things?" Another nod came from her dragoness, this time, she could feel Quill making some connection in her head. "Well, part of that was taking her crown."

"Frost," Quill sighed, knowing what Frost was trying to do, and having a feeling that it was going to end bad if something went wrong.

"I know Quill, I know," Frost cut in before Quill could continue that thought. "It's just a dream anyways, there's no way I can take on my mother at the power level I am now, and I don't want the others to be dragged in it as well. Just...just forget about it."

"No," Quill said in a firm voice as she sat up from the cloud-floor and took Frost's hands in her own. "No Frost, that's not just some dream, its your goal, and your goals are mine." Frost took in a sharp breath from the unexpected reaction Quill had to her-rather-selfish dreams. "Frost I love you and I would do anything to see you smile, even if I had to charge through an army of changelings, just to see you smile."

Small tears started to flow down Frost's face as she couldn't believe Quill would do so much for her. "Quill," Frost started, biting back more tears, and gripping Quill's hands. "Y-you don't have to do that for me," she said with a shake of her head as her hands gripped Quill's tighter. "I'm happy just being with you."

"Yeah, well guess what princess," Quill started with a cocky grin as she flared out her wings and removed her hands from Frost's to pull her closer by the hips. Frost, taken back by her dragoness' sudden move, blushed as they were now nose to nose. "I have a queen to take care of and I plan to do just that."

"Oh Quill," Frost started, wrapping her arms around neck, and placing a kiss on her lips. Frost started to giggle when Quill flicked her tongue underneath Frost's before parting ways. "Thank you for loving me."

Quill fell to her back and dragged Frost down with her, smiling the whole way down. "Thank you for giving me something to live for."

Everfree Forest; Arcane Fields

At long last, Blaze and the other three had finally made it to their final destination. A place where nature and magic met, a place where the natural magic of the world is at its peak, a place where any can witness the greatest prowess of Mother Nature's fury, and a place that is home to many of Everfree's magical plants: the Arcane Fields.

It is here that sunflowers can grow to three times their size, where fly-traps eat more than just flies, and where the rarest of plants dwell. It is here that Blaze and the others will find the plant that is required for the plant growth potion.

"Alright everyone," Blaze started, knowing that the worst thing living in these fields are the very plants themselves. "Be on the look out for a large tree with yellow star shape fruits growing out of it. We're here for the leaves on that tree, and some of that fruit couldn't hurt either," she informed, licking her lips at the thought of the juicy star fruit.

"Blaze are you sure you should get near that tree," Lily queried with a slightly wary tone as she, Cinder, and Isis faithfully followed the mare. "The last time we were out here your magic had a rather volatile reaction to it."

A small, yet visible, shiver went down Blaze's spine at the memory of her losing brief control of her magic, and almost getting both Wolf and Zecora to have sex with her by a wayward attachment spell. The shiver was strong enough to get Blaze to stop dead in her track before she turned around to the others. "Let's not talk about that."

Only Lily was able to giggle at the memory while Cinder and Isis was left wondering what happened the last time. After shaking away the embarrassing feeling she always had of that memory, Blaze continued through the fields, and kept a watch out for the special tree. Thankfully, Isis was able to see it further down the path with her keen eye-sight.

The others strained their eyes to see an empty clearing with the tree sitting right in the center. Feeling bold, Cinder flew from Lily's shoulder, and dashed toward the tree. However, she didn't see the bright yellow eyes trailing her flight, and wasn't quick enough to dodge the small volley of large and sharp thorns being shot at her.

Blaze gasped when Cinder let out a pain filled screech as the thorns pierced her body and pinned it to an oak wood. "Cinder!" Blaze shouted, not believing what just happened right in front of her, and praying that the bird was okay. However, before they could make it to Cinder's body, a wooden wolf leaped from the brushes, and started to growl at the three.

It didn't take long before Blaze recognized the wolf as a thorn-fang, and from its size, was an alpha male. Thorn-fangs, were essentially the same as timberwolves, except they had larger upper bodies and a tail capable of hurling thorns at devastating speeds.

Lily and Isis were preparing to use their magic to fight off the beast, not knowing that it was slightly resistant to many forms of magic, and that the thorns in its tail were a highly poisonous neurotoxin.

"How dare you," Blaze started out in a low dark tone that gained the attention of both Lily and Isis. The two turned to see her horn and eyes glowing a blood-red as she took a step closer to the twisted wooden beast. "How dare you harm one of my friends!"

Blaze reached to the small set of toxin infused throwing knives at the side of her belt. Unknown to both Lily and Isis, Blaze's knives were infused with a toxin that destroyed the bloodstream of any creature and was a fast acting agent, especially when the target was moving. Right as the thorn-fang was going to leap at the mare, Blaze threw four of her set of ten with added force from her magic.

The thorn-fang was able to take the first two knives, landing on part of its back and right shoulder. However, when the last two knives followed suit of their brothers, they hit their marks on the wolf's legs. It jumped back a little from the pain, attempting to put most of its weight on its back legs, however failing at this.

Soon, the wooden beast fell over to its side with a howl of pain and discomfort as the poison from the knives reach its bloodstream. Again and again, it tried to get up, only for its strength to fail each time. The poor creature had no idea what was happening to its body. However, Blaze knew all too well. Each single cell flowing through the thorn-fang's body was now swelling like balloons until they eventually collapsed in on themselves.

Seeing that the creature couldn't do any further harm in the state that it was in, both Lily and Isis were sure that the beast was done for, but Blaze had further plans for the monster that dwelled in this dangerous part of Everfree Forest.

As she glared into the creature's fading eyes, an unwanted thought slowly crept into her head. One day, her child may face creatures such as this when they comes to this world. "I'm going to make sure you don't ever get the chance to harm another," she darkly said, walking toward the beast, and stopping a good distance away. Blaze pointed her left pointer finger at the thorn-fang's head and spoke in a dark, grim, tone, "Solis indignationem."

The beast's body suddenly sparked with blood-red and black flames, quickly becoming fully engulfed by the flames, and burned to the point not even ashes could escape Blaze's furious rage.

Lily and Isis, after getting over what Blaze did to the beast and how easily she did, walked over to her side and Lily placed hand on the trembling mare's shoulder. "Blaze are you alright," she asked, never having seen her act in such a manner before.

Suddenly, Blaze turned around to wrap her arms around Lily, and started to cry in the mare's chest. "W-why? Cinder was a good bird, so why?" Lily wrapped her arms around he crying mare, knowing that she was just as attached to Cinder as Quill was, and knowing the news was going to be as bad for her as it was for Blaze.

However, Isis simply walked over to the bird to examine the damages. Thorns were embedded straight through several parts of her wings, forcing cartilage to jet out, causing severe bleeding. Though it seemed that the more vital parts of the phoenix were spared.

"Mistress," Isis started, getting Blaze to look up from Lily's chest over at the sphinx. "May I be so bold as to remind you that Cinder is a phoenix?" Just as Isis finished those words, Cinder's body became engulfed in a purple fire and disintegrated into ashes, falling free from the thorns and tree bark. The pile of ash collected neatly at the base of the tree beside Isis's feet. A few moments passed before the pile of ash started to glow in a purple light, quickly erupting as Cinder came soaring out of the ashes with new vibrant life.

Blaze's mouth dropped when she saw the purple embers coming from Cinder's body but soon began frowning as she remembered that Cinder was in fact something that can't die from outside causes; a bloody phoenix. "Oh right," she muttered under her breath, pinning her anger mainly on her pregnancy even if she was just two months in.

Cinder landed on Blaze's shoulder and nuzzled against her head, even when hurt and pinned to the tree, she was still able to hear and see everything that was going on around her, and was overjoyed that the mare was that concerned for her.

"Oh Cinder," Blaze started tearing up as she returned the nuzzle. "Don't scare us like that again." Cinder seemed to blush, if it was possible for a phoenix to do so, and dipped her head slightly in acknowledgement while Isis continued down the path with Lily following behind.

Blaze soon ran to catch up to the sphinx as she kept her eyes locked firmly on the tree ahead of them. That's when Lily saw the blankness in the sphinx's eyes. "Isis, are you alright? You seem to be in deep thought."

"It is nothing miss Lily, just thinking of a saying revolving around phoenixes." They soon finally made it towards the clearance to the star-bearing tree. Tall, bright green grass was lit by the high noon sunlight. The sight of a single small yellow butterfly flying through the clearance in such a dangerous area of Everfree would have given any a sense of peace and hope.

Blaze chose to ignore it. "I would love to hear it," Blaze said, walking to the sphinx's side, and smiling with Cinder on her shoulder. Isis giggled a little at her mistress's silliness and sudden changes of emotions as it reminded her much of Luna when she was much younger.

"Very well mistress…"

From ashes they rise, from time they fall.

All one day succumb to time's unrelenting force, even those that claim immortal life. Kingdoms rise and fall with the push and pull of time, friendships are constantly tested, and love is placed on the line. Lives themselves are given way to time to one day fall and join all others. None can escape its everlasting crawl, ticking away faster than a clock's hand, and counting the very seconds of our lives.

They are no different, those fire-hawks.

Flying high above the lands with pride shining brighter than their own feathers and proving that even in death, they can rise. Becoming shining pillars of hope in the lives we claim as our own.

High Moon Temple

Quill and Frost, after getting washed up in a nearby stream and putting on what was left of their clothes, landed right outside of the temple doors. Even if Frost didn't think it was the best idea, Quill vowed to make her dreams of becoming queen true by any means, but both knew that it would be quite some time before she could do so.

As they entered the temple, they made a stop in Quill's room to grab some fresh clothes, and to replace the shirt Quill shredded with her teeth. Honestly, she didn't know what came over her when she did it, but it felt...good. Great even, ripping something apart, and taking what was hers.

Frost didn't tell her, but, that 'feeling' Quill got from doing something like that was really her more native dragon instincts finally taking hold. It wouldn't be long before more of them start making themselves known, and begin making her protective of her.

Yeah...that's not going to happen. Frost knew that Quill was already planning on a way to quickly get stronger to make her dream of being queen come true, and she knew she was planning to do it alone.

As much as she would disprove, Frost couldn't let Quill try to take on her mother without her, and vowed to do anything to help her. Even if she had to kill her own mother to do it.

Soon, after reaching Blaze's work area, they were met with Wolf asking what took them so long, and Quill quickly made an excuse saying that they saw a manticore moving towards the temple. For the sake of moving things on, Wolf let the obvious lie side for this one time, and began introducing both Veil and Cyclone.

It was then that Veil realized the dragoness that froze the fire was in fact the changeling mare standing right beside Quill. However, before any altercations could come up, Cyclone quickly ran to hug Frost, and gave words of praise for saving what was left of the house.

Veil was slightly taken back by the dragoness' quick move to praise the changeling. Sure, neither one really cared about what happened in Canterlot during the invasion, but after all the rumors they heard about changelings, Veil was always nervous about them.

However, she had little right to question it at all. Frost, whether or not a changeling, stopped the fire, while she may not have saved the entire house, she still gave them closer that would have been burnt away with the fire.

As Wolf got things moving along again, Blaze and the others came down the stairs, and were surprised by the new faces. "Oh, um...hello," Blaze started, looking at the two newcomers with a slightly questioning gaze, quickly turning it on Wolf.

"I'll tell you later, for now Blaze, Cyclone here," Wolf waved a hand towards the blue and white dragoness, who waved to the mare with a shy grin. "needs your help." Blaze cocked her head slightly before Wolf motioned to Spike to take her and Cyclone off somewhere so they could talk better in private.

Blaze nodded her head, realizing if it was bad enough to get Wolf to have even a remotely grim tone, then it was really bad for the dragoness. She led the two upstairs to her room, where she turned towards Spike and Cyclone, and began questioning them as to how she could help with whatever was happening.

While they did this, Wolf turned his attention to Veil to get a rough feel of her plans for the future, though even he wasn't sure how to go about helping them find a new house. High above their heads though, the phoenix pair watched them make arranges for the two newcomers, but Peewee noticed something different about his life-long companion.

The red fire-bird nuzzled against the taller purple phoenix to get her attention and to see what was wrong with his friend. However, Cinder didn't returned the nuzzle, keeping her eyes glued to the floor of their nest. Peewee didn't abandon the bird, instead wrapping a wing around her, finally eliciting a return nuzzle from Cinder.

Soon, the two became invested in the conversation below again, and wondered what was wrong with the shaking hound. "Alright so what's next?" Veil asked, holding onto her arm to keep it from shaking uncontrollably with a lost look in her eyes.

"Listen Veil," Wolf started, placing a hand on her shoulder, and trying to sound as convincing as he could. "I know this is a lot to take in, anyone would be just as lost as you, but until we know what's wrong with your friend, we can't take any chances." Veil forced herself to nod her head, obviously fighting back tears, and completely worried for Cyclone. "As for what's next, that can only be determined by Cyclone's health, but I'm sure that Blaze knows what to do."

"Okay… Thank you, for everything." Wolf nodded his head and patted Veil's shoulder before turning towards the four remaining in the room.

Wolf took another look back at the hound as she took a seat at the dinner table on the other side of the room and buried her head in her arms. No doubt finally letting more tears fall. Isis saw the distant look in her master's eyes and didn't enjoy seeing his mind so burdened by the heavy thoughts. "Master, is everything alright?" Wolf looked towards the sphinx's golden and blue eyes, only to see concern not only in her eyes, but in the others as well.

As much as he wanted to say everything was alright, he couldn't lie to the four. "No," he started in low voice, which only carried worry for the hound and dragoness. "No, it isn't. From what they told us, and from what Spike could gather, Cyclone went through a greed-growth five years back, and is missing a large chunk of her dragon's soul."

Quill's eyes widened from the knowledge that the small dragoness went through a greed-growth as well while Frost covered her mouth in shock. "It's not...'lost,' for a lack of better terms, but instead she gave it to Veil as the necklace around her neck." The four females look towards the hound, who was toying with the pink gem that was encase in a golden locket. "Cyclone refuses to take the gem away from Veil and now we're looking for a way for her to...'grow' more of her dragon's soul."

"Wolf," Frost started quickly coming to a conclusion of her own, and knowing what the small dragoness has to do to reclaim more dragon's soul. "There's very few things that she can do." Even with the changeling whispering, Veil was still able to pick up on their conversation. "The fastest way is to just take back what is lost, but from the sounds of things, that's not an option."

Wolf shook his head, seeing that being the last thing that's going to happen. "Nope, what're the other ways," he asked, willing to help the dragoness out in anyway possible, and so was everyone else.

"The other way is for her to train just as hard, if not, harder than the twins," Frost answered, knowing that Cyclone's body and magic would quickly adapt to the sudden change in her environment and lifestyle. "Her dragon's soul is sure to start growing again if she pushes herself."

"Right," Wolf started, slowly thinking of a way to work this around everything else that's going on with High Moon as far as everyone's roles. "Okay, since Spike is kind of in the same hole as Cyclone, they'll be training together, and I'll need someone else helping me watch over their training."

"I will," Lily quickly spoke up. "It would make more sense anyways since I was originally helping Spike with his water-magic." Wolf nodded his head, knowing that they couldn't just forget about Spike's magic either. "Frost, would you be kind enough to help me with this considering that you know more of its arts?"

"But of course," Frost said with a nod of her head, knowing that water-magic was the most difficult of the four elements to control. "However, I sensed another element from Cyclone, but I can't figure it out."

"Fire." Everyone turned their heads towards the arcane-doors to see Blaze standing with a harden expression with Spike and a slightly saddened Cyclone. "It's fire, her other element," she continued as she walked over to the group with Spike while Cyclone sat next to Veil. "Though I'm not sure how that's going to work."

Frost dropped her head with a slightly blank look and gaining the attention of the others. "It doesn't," she said, knowing other scorpios with conflicting elemental-magic, and remembering the tough time they had just getting a foothold on their magic. "Rarely have I seen a scorpio gain much control of their magic when they had opposite elements. It would be best for her to simply learn healing and small defensive spells."

"My thoughts exactly," Blaze started, wrapping her arms around Wolf, and nodding her head against his chest. Wolf didn't think much of the embrace as he knew Blaze's feet must be killing her from all the walking she did while carrying a cub inside of her. "Now what of her friend? We shouldn't let a diamond hound sit around idly, trust me, we really don't need that."

Wolf rolled his eyes, knowing what Blaze was referring to, and started to fakely laugh at the poor excuse of a joke. "Oh ah-ha," he stated while the others were slightly confused to what Blaze was talking about. "You're too funny Blaze, but you're right. Veil would go stir crazy being locked up somewhere, I know I would, so she'll be helping me with some odd tasks every now and again." Everyone took a moment to look back to the two, who were talking amongst themselves, and from the looks were trying to comfort one another. "Anything else will be dealt with only when it comes up."

"That seems fair enough," Blaze started with a nod of her head as the others did the same thing. "So, who wants some lunch?" Wolf shook his head at the mare's sudden change of subject but admittedly, with everything that been happening, he nor the others had a chance to eat just yet.

Spike and Frost quickly set out to fix up a small lunch for everyone before they had to resume their tasks for the day. All of them wanted to help the two, to show them that they weren't alone, but at this moment in their lives, too much was happening all at once. All of them had to prepare for their own futures that was shortly approaching.

Wolf hated to shove the two into a new environment without making sure they knew how to live with it, but at the moment, they would have to learn how to get stuff done on their own. He, nor the others, had any plans of abandoning them, but they would have to stand up.

From the ashes of their old lives.

/ Ch. 29: Newcomers/-/

High Moon Ch. 29: Newcomers

Once the quick lunch was finished, and all the dishes had been put away for later, Wolf and Lily confronted the two newcomers about their new lives and roles in High Moon. While he was busy with this, Isis took Frost to the city ruins to begin discussing plans for reconstruction. Quill tagged along with the two so she could help where she can. Blaze soon called Spike over to her worktable help her with the first few steps in making the plant-growth potion that they'd need for the coming winter.

"So Cyclone will start feeling better after all this 'training'?" Veil half-asked, not sure if she fully understood how pushing the weak dragoness' body would get her to become accustomed with her magic. But then again, she didn't know much about dragon magic to begin arguing about it.

Wolf nodded his head with an unreadable look on his face. "That's what I just got done telling you hound." Veil growled at Wolf for not using her name, she held her tongue for now since they wasn't wasn't in any position to be making any demands. Besides, the fact that Wolf was an alpha and she wasn't didn't help. "Lily here," Wolf motioned to the tall flutterpony, who smiled warmly at the two, "will be starting your," he paused again to point at Cyclone, "water-magic training, then Quill will show you a thing or two about your fire-magic. Got all that hatchling?"

Veil started to snarl at Wolf by this point, the way he was talking to them got her blood boiling, but Cyclone was able to speak up before her. "Yes sir." She said quickly and with respect, having a feeling that Wolf was only doing it as a test.

"Cyclone…" Veil stared into her friend's eyes, shocked that she'd be willing to change her life so easily, not knowing what else to say to the dragoness.

"Veil," Cyclone started, taking the hound's hand in her own, and giving her a determined smile, "I'll be fine. I got us into this mess and I promise I'll fix my own mistakes." Veil's mouth dropped from the dragoness' sudden determination and started to work it to find something to say. Cyclone giggled from Veil's dumbfounded look and turned back to Wolf. "When does my training start?"

"Now," the dog said with a chuckle before pushing away from the table, and waving over to Spike. After Blaze told him it was fine, Spike left her to finish the rest of the preparations on her own, and ran over to Wolf. Cyclone giggled when the drake came to a sliding halt and stood in attention in front of Wolf, who overlooked it since he was used to the drake's personality. "Spike you ready to go fishing?"

"Wait...fishing, oh right. You wanted me to start catching fish," Spike said with a slightly sheepish grin on his face, causing Wolf to roll his eyes while Lily giggled a little. "But um...what about those two?"

Veil snorted at the drake and turned her head away while Cyclone put up a bright friendly smile. "I'll tell ya on the way. Come on you three, we're burning daylight." Wolf said, walking away from the four towards the arcane doors to open them. Lily sighed a little before following with Spike trailing behind. Cyclone was going to follow them, but was stopped by Veil grabbing her tail with a slightly forceful grip.

She turned back to the hound, who was using her mess of a black and white hair to hide one eye behind. "Cyclone," she paused for a moment to take in another breath of air. "Cyclone, you...you be careful out there, and-"

"Veil," Cyclone cut in, hearing the worry in the hound's voice, and overjoyed that she was worried on her behalf. "I'll be fine, Wolf and the others, they're good souls, okay?" Veil lowered her face, burying her other eye in her hair and paused for a moment before nodding her head.

The hound soon let go of Cyclone's tail, which let Cyclone wrap her in a tight hug that caught her off-guard. "Okay, okay," Veil struggled against the dragoness' grip as her nose was buried into her breasts. Luckily, she was able to get the away from the dragoness' firm mounds, and chuckled a little at the goofy look on her face. "Okay, go on, don't want to anger Alpha Mutt."

"Be nice," Cyclone said, walking towards the arcane doors, and waving back to her friend. Veil awkwardly waved back to the dragoness before she disappeared from slight, leaving her with Wolf's marefriend.

Once the door closed, a slightly tense silence overtook the two as Veil didn't rightfully know what to do next while Blaze was busy with her work, but the silence had to come at an end at some point.

"Veil, could you come here?" Without second thought, Veil moved from her seat, and quickly walked over to Blaze's side. She didn't have any choice in the matter. As head-dog of the pack, Wolf-and by extension, Blaze-had absolute say-so in anything that they did. Even with his lenient rules, Veil didn't have an option to say no. Not to mention she didn't have a reason to say no.

So if she didn't have a reason to say no, then she didn't have a choice not to do what the mare asked, and Wolf knew this. "Yes, Alpha-Mother?" Veil asked, falling back into a pack mentality on instinct, having lived in an actual diamond dog den.

Blaze tilted her head slightly in confusion from what Veil just called her. "'Alpha-Mother,'" Veil started to worry that she had already messed up, but before she could apologize, Blaze soon understood what the term really meant. "Oh you must me this." she said, rubbing her slightly expanded stomach, and making the connection of her being Wolf's marefriend.

"Y-yeah, sorry if I offended you," Veil apologized, not sure if the mare was too keen on the term, and hoped that she wasn't upset. "I lived in a den until I was fifteen and that's most of what I got to go on."  
Blaze nodded her head, not upset with the term, and completely fine with it if that's what Veil was raised on. "It's fine, feel free to call me that. I can't change how you think," she said, waving off any of the hound's worries, and moving back to the task at hand. "Anyways, Veil could you help me with this potion? We're going to need it to be done before today ends."

"Sure, Alpha-Mother," Veil started, taking a look into the large chamber-pot to see a brownish-green liquid being boiled by a crimson fire. Veil had honestly never seen anything like it before, and if she had to guess, it looked like the aftermath of someone's bad meal. "So umm….what is it anyways?"

"It's a potion to make plants grow," Blaze answered, using her magic to lift the lid on top of the pot, and bring Veil's attention to a potion book. "How good are you at grinding things?" Veil looked toward the mare with a questioning gaze, not knowing the large amount of work that's going to be dropped on top of her head.

Everfree Forest, Rainbow Streams

While her friend was learning to get used to the new lives that the four makers had planned for them, Cyclone followed Wolf and the others to the nearby stream where Spike and Wolf would be fishing as she began her training. During the trip, Cyclone started to notably walk close to Spike, and several times had been caught staring by either Wolf or Lily. However, neither adult mentioned it as they knew that Spike was more than capable of dealing with it if, and when, it came up.

So, to keep her in the waking world, Lily started to ask Cyclone questions about her magic. Many pertaining how much she knew, which like the twins, turned out to be very limited. When questioned of this, the three learned that Cyclone was abandoned by her own clan shortly after her thirteenth birthday, and that she'd rather not go into it.

As much as they wanted to know more, Wolf and the other dropped the subject as they started to reach the riverside. Wolf began to describe the surrounding areas to the two young dragons, since they'd need to know all they could about their home.

"Alright listen up you two," Wolf started as he continued to lead Lily and the two dragons towards the stream. "I'm going to tell you something that pretty neat. If you follow the river downstream, you'll reach the Rainbow Falls." As Wolf said this, he pointed his finger down the stream, and drew the dragons attention to the pure white clouds in the horizon.

"If you go up the stream, you'll be going towards the elder dragon's territory." He then turned his hand towards a mountainside where a small line of black smoke could be seen coming from the distance. "There's also a shortcut that way," he paused to point right across the stream to the other side of the river. "I'll show you and the others it later. I do have some business there that I need to finish soon."

With the quick geography lesson over, and after telling Spike not to grab too many, Wolf and Spike removed their shirts and dove the river to catch the pack's next few meals. While the males went to work, Lily begin instructing Cyclone the same way she did with Spike, and even used him as an example several times.

Cyclone quickly became deeply impressed with the drake's commitment as Lily made the training he went through sound tough and it was. Everyday for two months, Spike had woken up before the sun to sit and focus his magic for hours on end, following which he studied a wide variety of potions, and still had the time to study whatever dragon reading material that was in the archives.

It was readily obvious to Cyclone that he was hardworking and respectful. To think, he only wanted to better himself to protect everyone? That was something else entirely. After everything that had happened to her, she'd been understandably resentful towards her own kind for their greed and malice. Now that she'd seen what a real drake was supposed to be, though, Cyclone began revisiting her opinion about all dragons.

"Incredible," Cyclone started after Lily finished telling her about Spike's old training routine. It certainly had her looking at the younger drake in a new light. At the very least, she knew he was selfless-he had dived into the blazing inferno her house had turn into just for the necklace of some strangers he'd just met, after all. Maybe, just maybe, there was something more to him than she first thought. "You mean that Spike did this 'Zen meditation' everyday for two months for hours on end?"

"Indeed," Lily answered in a calm voice, though, her curiosity was piqued when she started to show more interest into Spike. "He is a very disciplined drake, though sarcastic at times. Spike has a good heart."

Cyclone took note of this as she continued to smile towards the pony. "I see," she whispered underneath her breath before continuing in a much more notable voice. "So, does that mean I have to do that Zen meditation? From the way it sounds, it seems hard, and my tail isn't as strong as it looks," Cyclone admitted, holding up her round tipped tail as if to emphasize.

Lily's eyes quickly scanned over the dragoness' tail; the small round pink spines, and the rounded tip at the end. "No, I don't think you have to, but you still have to create a landscape in your mind." Cyclone cocked her head at the flutterpony, telling her that she didn't understand her meaning. "You see, I've found the best way to tackle this with Spike was through his meditation. However, you're not trying to achieve the same power as him, correct?"

"Well I don't think so," Cyclone said with a slight nervous voice, thinking back to what Blaze told her before she came out here. "Clan-Mother said that it would be best for me just to focus on healing and other small spells for now."

'Clan-Mother?' She must be referring to Blaze,' Lily quickly thought to herself, knowing that Cyclone would revert back to her years of living in a dragon clan, and would be using those terms. 'All part of being in a diverse pack,' she figured before continuing onwards. "Yes, Blaze had told me of this, and so I don't think that Zen meditation is very necessary here. However, the best way to focus is by meditation," Lily said, straightening her body out, hinting for Cyclone to do the same, and began the dragoness' training.

It was going to be hard for Cyclone's body to adapt to the new changes to her life, as much as it was for the twins. However, just like the pack was there to support the twins, they would be there to help guide Cyclone along this difficult path as well.

High Moon, city ruins

While Isis instructed Quill on where to heat a plate of scrap metal they found while walking through the ruins, Frost took the time to fully take in her new home. The ruins had to have been older than most, if not all of Equestria, however she knew that changelings had always played a hidden role in the kingdom's history.

Taking the form of many high nobles of the past, changelings quickly had a death-hold on Equestrian politics, and still did even today. Major events, battles, wars even, were started mainly because of a changeling taking some noble's shape.

Even walking throughout the ruins, Frost was able to point out several changeling-related symbols at first glance, and didn't know whether to look at them with admiration, or resentment.

In those times, and until recently when her sister royally messed up, changelings were the shadowy hand that moved Equestria's history. They were the true driving force that pushed Equestria to be what it is today. For even Frost knew one could never get anything done in peace, and if Equestria ever became stagnant, it would spell doom for the numerous hives in Everfree.

Though changelings lived to feed off the love of another, that love became stale after awhile, and soon was useless to changelings in a mass number. Frost didn't have to about this, however. Her one true love was Quill, and as long as she never stop trying to better herself, their love would never grow old.

Neither would the ways they made love…

'Guh, stay focused Frost, and stop thinking about Quill's toned ass already. No matter how hard and round and...' Frost shook her head to get those thoughts out of her head in order to refocus on the task of surveying the lands so they wouldn't waste their time trying to rebuild something they didn't need.

Throughout, Frost saw points were Wolf had started to rebuild. Where the wooden scaffolding stopped, the wooden beams and other debris blocking off buildings that looked like they were going to fall, along with entrances to underground tunnels.

Isis had already told her that the tunnels were a priority to start with, however, not to go down in alone as some of them were as unstable as Wolf feared. Even through the ruins, Frost still saw a few buildings that had a chance to be something worth looking at. She may not have the skill to rebuild all of this by herself, but then she wasn't alone.

Frost started to walk back to where she last saw Quill and Isis working on that plate of metal, only to find that they were still doing the same thing, and that the sheet of metal looked warped by excessive heat.

"Heh, maybe I over did it," Quill said with a sheepish grin while Isis inspected the warped metal. "I'm guessing that I'm not cut out for this blacksmithing thing, huh Isis?"

The sphinx's eyes moved from the golden orb that encased the still heated metal to look into the embarrassed eyes of the young dragoness that her master trusted as solo hunter. If Wolf trusted her enough to handle the dangers of the Everfree on her own, and at such a young age, then Quill must have some massive amount power lying dormant within her. "Do not worry Quill, it isn't your fault for having too much heat dwelling in your soul," she started in a motherly tone that reminded her of Celestia, unfortunately. "Blacksmithing is very tricky and fickle skill that few have."

Quill placed her hand on her chin in thought, knowing that if they could craft things out of metal, then it would be a huge benefit towards High Moon. After a moment passed, Quill's ear-fills peaked up when a thought came to her. "What about Spike?" Isis turned her attention away from the warped sheet of metal, and towards the young dragoness. "He's always been better at stuff like this than me and it could help with his new weight training."

"Um...that could work, Spike does show the necessary discipline to learn the trade, and with time could become a highly skilled blacksmith." Isis continued to think about all the things she had seen and heard the drake doing in High Moon and though of how that could be applied to this skill.

While the two thought on this, Frost decided to land so she could give her opinion on the matter. Both females were pulled out of their thoughts by the sound of Frost landing on the tall grassy ground and walking towards them. "Ah Frost, maybe you can add some input on this," Isis started, knowing of the changeling's ability to sense and record others emotions. "We're trying to figure out if Spike would make a good candidate for a blacksmith."

"Hm, that is quite the thought," Frost openly mused while she came to a stop next to her lover and gave Isis the chance to noticed the height difference between the two young lovers. Not counting Quill's head-spines, Frost was the taller one with Quill coming to her full chest that was restrained beneath Quill's white T-shirt. "However," Frost again started, pulling Isis out of her observation, and regaining her attention. "I don't think that he'll make a very effective one at the present moment."

While Isis thought of what Frost had said, Quill was left confused as she was unable to think of anyone else to fit the role. "How ya figure that Frost?"

"Well, with the responsibilities he already has now, on top of his training, I don't think that adding a new role on him would be a good idea." Soon, both Isis and Quill started to see what Frost was talking about, and how she was right. Spike already had far too much on his plate as is, and until he managed to get the ghost heart under control, adding anything else would be almost too much for him. "However, I think I know of a better substitute."

Isis nodded her head knowing who Frost was talking about while Quill tilted her head in confusion but slowly started to catch on. "What, you mean Cyclone," she asked the two, getting nods as her answer. "Well...that does make sense given that she has both water and fire, but do you really think she'll be up for the task?"

"With a little encouragement, yes I do," Frost answered, knowing Wolf was still trying to find something for the dragoness to do, and at this moment it seemed to be blacksmithing. "I know she can't use much magic but that seems to be what we need right."

"Right," Isis started, knowing what Frost was thinking, and having a feeling that it really could work. "Cyclone, due to having little magic, has a weak enough fire to heat metal without severely warping it, but we'll have to wait until she gets more control over her magic."

Frost nodded her head. Neither she or the others wanted to push the dragoness too hard, but she still need to be pushed nonetheless. "I understand," she said, knowing that it was really Cyclone's decision to make and not theirs. "So anyway, I've spotted the buildings that you said we'll be starting on, and I have several ideas that would greatly benefit us at this present moment."

"Great, care to discuss it as we go?" While Isis and Frost continued to make plans for future renovations, Quill followed the two in silence, amazed at how quick they became friends. At first, she wasn't sure what to make of the sphinx since she once knew Celestia, but it seemed that she had some bitterness towards the sun goddess as well. Also, while Quill still hadn't gotten a full answer as to why Isis calls Wolf and Blaze 'master and mistress,' she had a feeling that it had to do with Wolf being in charge of High Moon.

Then there was her love, Frost. The mare had a secret dream of overthrowing her mother and changing the way Equestria saw changelings. Quill had already vowed to make that dream come true. But if what Frost said was right, and she wasn't a match for her mother, then Quill would have to find a way to boost her power.

And fast.

Everfree Forest, Rainbow Streams

Back at the river, Wolf and Spike had finally stopped fishing for the day, and it was quite the haul. Between Wolf's fifteen, of which he could eat more than half by himself, and Spike's twelve, they had more than enough for tonight and the next morning.

So with that task done, Wolf left Spike in Lily's care while he head back to High Moon to get all the fish prepared for dinner. Lily didn't even have to tell the drake to start before he was already meditating and was far too gone to notice the dragoness taking glances at him.

Lily, after catching the dragoness staring at the drake several times, used her magic to create a solid wall spitting them off from each other. Spike didn't react to the wall of magic due to being so invested in his meditation, and continued to envision the expansive crystal clear lake. However, Cyclone was scolded for not staying focused on her meditation, and was told that this was the only way to get her magic under control.

"Sorry miss Winds," Cyclone muttered with an apologetic tone, her head dropping down. The last thing Cyclone wanted to do was be in the way of the others when they are trying to help her out, but there was something about Spike that kept distracting her.

Lily let out a small sigh before shaking her head. "No, no, it's alright." Cyclone snapped her head back up to see the warm motherly smile on Lily's face. She couldn't understand why Lily was being so nice to her while she was wasting her time, but she was grateful for her kindness nonetheless. "You've been through a lot in such a short time but do stay focus. Okay dear?"

"Yes ma'am," Cyclone answered quickly with a cheery smile that reflected Spike's.

Lily couldn't help but giggle a little at the dragoness before she got things moving onwards. "Okay, now try it again." Cyclone, sitting down on the ground with her legs crossed under her, straightened out her body ready to listen to any instructions Lily had for her. "Close your eyes and start breathing slowly."

Following the repeated instruction, Cyclone closed her eyes, and started to take in deep slow breaths. "Now, picture the calmest thing you can think of, and focus solely on that." Cyclone shifted through her thoughts to find something to focus on.

Soon, blackness gave way to the sight of a grassy field with a single stream cutting through it, and crystal blue skies above her head. She didn't know why, but she could tell that she was sitting on top of a grassy hill with the stream of water flowing up towards her only to circle around to the other side.

It was calm. Soft grass underneath her, a rushing stream passing right by, and a gentle warming breeze. She truly never felt this calm and peaceful before in her life. Cyclone didn't ever want this tranquillity to go, she wanted to hold it in her hands so she could fully marvel it, and she wanted to forever remain there.

It felt safe, it felt like...home.

Once Lily saw the smile on Cyclone's face, she knew that she had created her own world in her head, and was ready to move on. "Good, good, now I want you to let go. Forget all of your worries, your doubts, let it flow away from your mind, and set it free."

Sounds of burning wood and shouting filled the empty grass world as Cyclone imaged her old home burning down and Veil placing all blame on her. 'It's true...it was my fault the house burned down, but I won't let that hold me back.'

Cyclone took in a deep breath, causing the winds to cease their light push, forcing the sound of the lived nightmare to stop as well. Once she let that breath go, the house and the shouting were blown away, leaving only the grassy hill for Cyclone to enjoy.

Slowly, she started to open her eyes with the brightest of smiles, and was met with the maternal smile that Lily becoming known for. From the looks on Cyclone's face, Lily knew that the dragoness was able to create her own world within her mind, and let go of her worries. "Well, how was it?"

"It felt-" Cyclone wasn't able to finish her answer, being interrupted by a loud snoring coming from her right. Cyclone stood up from the ground and leaned against the wall to see Spike was fully asleep, but still standing on his tail. Cyclone had never seen anything like it before. The mere thought of how strong Spike's tail had to be to keep his full weight up while he was asleep was hard for her to imagine. "Does he...does he always do that?"

Lily shook her head, and knew that he wasted all of his energy trying to keep up with Wolf while they were fishing. "No, he's just doing weight training, and it seems that it caught up with him." Lily dropped the wall, causing Cyclone to bump heads with Spike before she fell on top of him.

The sudden headbutt from the dragoness destroyed all sense of the expansive lake. However, something kicked inside of him, and forced him to protect the lighter body that against him. So, quicker than he thought possible, Spike wrapped his arms around Cyclone's head to cuddle it while his tail slowed their fall.

Still though, the blow to Cyclone's head was enough to pull a pain-filled tear from her eyes. "Ow, ow, ow," Cyclone muttered to herself, rubbing over the spot where her head met Spike's, and placing her hands on top of Spike's chest. However, when she realized that her hands weren't in fact touching the hard ground, she opened her eyes to gaze into Spike's bright green eyes.

Cyclone remain on top of Spike, getting a close look into his eyes, and feeling a fire growing in her chest. Not the same fire she'd felt build up in her and destroy her old home, but a different, softer one that she couldn't understand. "Um...Cyclone," Spike started, breaking through Cyclone's daydream, and pulling her back into the real world. "Are you alright? Your face is all red and stuff. You're not running a fever are you?"

Cyclone started to blush even more when Spike reached a hand up to her cheek. "I-I'm fine," she quickly said, getting off of him even quicker. "Sorry," Cyclone apologized, not daring to look at Spike as he got up from the ground, and jumped when he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Heh, it's alright." Spike said, getting Cyclone to look at him with a wary tone in her eyes, but still flashing as bright of a smile he could. "I'm the one who fell asleep… Man, I've never been this tired before," Spike continued with another yawn while he tried to cover it with his hand.

That's when Lily noticed that the gems on his wrists were a bright blue in color. "Well," she started, walking over to Spike, and grabbing his hand. "It seems that your new training is the culprit behind it." When Spike got to look at it, he grinned broadly at the progress he'd been making. In less than a week, he'd been able to get the gems to change colors several times, and if they were following the pattern that he thought they were, then he'd be free of them in no time.

Spike suddenly started to jump in the air in excitement while the same wide smile was still plastered on his face. He, of course, was exhausted from swimming in the river to catch the fish, but his happiness of the results made him throw that out the window. "Ah-yeah! It won't be long now, finally I'll be able to surf on water again."

Cyclone stared at the blue gems with mixed disbelieve. Both she and Veil were slightly filled in on Spike's condition during the quick lunch before Wolf lead her out her. She, of course, felt sorry for the drake to be battling something like that, as she had seen ghost heart rip apart the minds of many other dragones much older and wiser than the twins.

She just couldn't see two mere gems being strong enough to restrict Spike's magic and body, regardless of how strong he was before. However, she didn't question it because she barely had been in High Moon for a few hours now, and didn't know the full story.

"Well," Lily again said, seeing progress in both dragons in their separate training, and that the sun was starting for the horizon. So, she thought that it would do everyone good if they did a little ingredient run. "How you two say calling it a day for meditation? We could use the rest of today to grab some ingredients for the many things we'll need."

"Oh yeah," Spike sparked with a light of an idea. "We could look for some spices that are growing around here." Due to the proximity of the river, the soil in the area was particularly enriched in nutrients. This allowed a variety of plants species to thrive, including quite a few that would work well as ingredients for their meals.

Lily nodded her head, knowing that Spike was an excellent cook when he has something to work with, and the thought of eating something besides soup was very appealing. "Very well, but let's stay in a close group. We only have a few short more moments before we need to head back to the temple." Both dragons nodded their heads and started to follow Lily along the riverside in search of plants that they could use in High Moon.

Everfree Forest; High Moon temple

Wolf walked towards the wooden entrance to the temple with the haul of fish wrapped in as many leaves and vines he and Spike could gather before he left him with Lily. During the walk back, he thought about the roles the two newcomers could fill, but still didn't know much about their skills to properly assign them jobs to do for High Moon.

What furthered hindered this task was the fact that Cyclone was being trained in her magic just like the twins. Only Cerberus knew how long it'd take before she could stand on her own, and by that time, the beta hound might have figured something out.

One thing was for sure, he needed to learn what their future intentions were if he was going to make any plans for them.

"Like this, Alpha-Mother?" Wolf blinked a couple of times at hearing the voice of the new hound in the pack. It wasn't hearing her, it was what she said. Looking over to Blaze's work table, Wolf saw Veil standing over the boiling pot with several leaves shredded up in her hands while Blaze was busy with reading up on the potion itself.

"Yes, Veil just like that," she said after rechecking over instructions again to see if Veil had tore up the leaves the way they needed to. "Go ahead and drop them in." Veil did as Blaze instructed, dropping the leaves in the iron-cast pot, stirring it with the wooden spoon. "Okay that should be enough for now dear, thank you. You can sit down now, all I have left is a quick potion that I want to whip up."

Wolf smiled as Veil and Blaze seemed to have grown close together in the short four hours of being alone. They may not stay for very long, but it was good to see that Veil was growing accustomed to living in High Moon in such a short amount of time.

"Okay, just shout if you need me, Alpha-Mother," Veil started, with a slight stretch before starting back to the table, only to be stopped by Wolf making his presence known to the two.

"Actually, hound," Wolf started, walking towards the two with the haul of fish still secured around his back. "We got fish to clean and store." Veil dropped her head, she was looking forwards to a short nap, but nodded her head anyways. "Quit your moping," Wolf said, walking over to the smoke chamber which had been greatly improved now that he had the time to do so, and carefully set the fish down.

Veil followed the alpha towards the roundish brick dome with a wooden door covering it and a small hole at the top. Wolf motioned towards a nearby section of bricks and stone that seemed to have been melted together to hold a small pool of water. "It'll be easy, just got to use fresh water."  
Soon, the two started the mundane task of cleaning the fish for tonight's dinner, and used rock-salts to preserve what Wolf knew wouldn't be eaten. While they did this, Blaze got to work on her 'revenge' for Wolf's joke earlier that morning, but was making a few changes. Remembering the attack that Cinder suffered today and of a darker part of her magic taking hold of her as well, Blaze wanted to make sure that her child didn't have to deal with the same problems.

However, to do this, she'd have to...'embrace' more of her other magic before she could allow her child to come into this world. Though, this still would be fun nonetheless, and she knew Wolf would enjoy it as well. She knew it was kind of petty to hold it against Wolf, especially with the two newcomers and their misfortune, but the thought of what the plan entailed was too good to pass up.

She even started to drool a little just thinking about it, but managed to keep her focus for now. Though, she glance over towards the two, getting herself caught in a little daydream about their cub learning the same things Veil and the other new(ish) arrivers of High Moon were.

Whether it was pup or hound, she knew Wolf would teach it to hunt just like he did with Quill, and also how to make things like Spike. Blaze was actually very surprised with Wolf. After the twins had grown used to High Moon, she thought that Wolf would start going back to normal, but he'd proved her wrong.

Blaze thought that Quill would copy Wolf to a 'T' and being drifting away from Spike, as Wolf had with Lily. However, the exact opposite seems to be the case. Instead of going back to what he knew, Wolf had reached a hand out towards Lily, and she'd taken it without second thought.

Before, Wolf couldn't go two seconds without growing tired of the mare being around, but now he was willing to explore more of Everfree with her. That meant he held a trust in Lily that he didn't with the others. It wasn't that Wolf didn't trust Frost, Isis, or the twins, but she knew he figured they'd do more good staying behind than going with him.

And even if that didn't end up happening today, it would soon, and she was anxious for it to happen. After seeing what happened to Cinder while they were in the Arcane Fields made Blaze that much more wary of what was really lurking around in Everfree. However, if they kept growing at the rate they were, then Wolf would soon be forced to turn his attention more towards reconstruction.

That's when a thought rang in Blaze's head, one she hadn't thought of until now. "Hey Wolf," Blaze started while Veil was getting the hang off cleaning the fish. Wolf, already knelt down to his knees, turned around to Blaze with a questioning look. "Are there any more rooms left in the mansion ruins?"

"Um…" Veil's ear perked up towards this, not once having thought about just where she and Cyclone would be sleeping, and she quickly became worried that they were out of another home. "Yeah, yeah there should be at least another, oh I don't know...three, four rooms left."

Veil silently let out a breath of air in relief, she didn't know how much more bad news she could take in one day alone, and was glad to see that Cerberus haven't fully forsaken her. "You don't have to worry about us taking too much space," Veil started, getting the ruling couple to look towards her. "Cyclone and I are used to sleeping in the same bed, so we'll only need one room."

Wolf looked back towards the hound and nodded his head with a smile. "Alright, that's good, and that's enough fish for now hound." Veil, again, sighed a breath of relief of being done with a task, looking forward to having the chance to rest before anything happens. However, she didn't have that much luck.

Just a few seconds apart, both Lily's and Isis' group walked through the arcane doors, and both had things to report back to Wolf which would affect the two newcomers. While the four adults spoke amongst themselves, Cyclone told Veil all the things she did with Lily and Spike as he and Frost got dinner ready.

Quill floated over to her marefriend, lending aid when she could, but really to let the two speak to each other in private. Quill still didn't know what to make of either newcomer. All she knew about Cyclone was that she was a weak dragoness that had difficulties controlling her magic, yet had a bigger heart than she did. She knew even less about Veil.

However, the same could be said about Isis. It was only until today that she had the chance to talk with the sphinx about stuff, mainly about the past. Most of what they'd talked about concerned the dragon-hunters, and how they'd made life difficult for dragons living in Equestria in the past. What shocked Quill the most was the fact that it was Luna, not Celestia, that pushed for the practice to be forbidden.

At first, Quill thought of flying straight for Spike to tell him the truth, but something stopped her. Something that said Spike couldn't take any more of lies being uncovered about his old life. That said, Quill made sure to not forget this fact the next time she saw Celestia.

"Quill," Frost started while the fish was roasting in an open fire in the smoke chamber, which Isis had enchanted so as not to emit any harmful fumes. Quill was broken out of her thoughts by her lover's soft voice, forcing her to look into her changeling's icy-blue eyes. "Are you alright? I'm sensing focused anger coming from you, and that's not good."

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," Quill quickly answered, having forgotten about her lover's ability to sense other's emotions. "I'm just wondering, what's going to happen with those two?" Both Quill and Frost looked over to the two newcomers, only to see them talking to each other, with slight smiles on their faces.

Frost sensed joy coming from the both of them, this was a good thing, yet she also sensed worry and anxiety from the both of them as well. "I don't know yet Quill, all I can tell as long as they have each other, then they'll be fine."

Over on another pot, fixing egg salad for the plant eaters of the pack, Spike overheard what Frost said about Cyclone and Veil as he looked over to them. He felt bad for what happened to them, especially since it wasn't really their fault, but something was telling him that they'd be okay.

Just like him and his sister...everyone will be okay.

Soon, the fish and salads were served out, and it was yet another time for a pack meeting before anyone went to bed. "Alright," Wolf started shortly after making plans with the three other adults and continued when he got the younger members attentions. "Now, due to recent...events, we have to 'change' a few things around here. Firstly, we need resources, like chairs." Wolf waved his hand over to Isis and Lily, who had to stand to get their meals, and also Frost and Quill as Frost sat in Quill's lap. "Plates and other things like that. So, Frost, Quill either of you know of a way to make a quick bit?"

Frost paused for a moment while Quill placed finger on her chin, suddenly, both of them remembered that they did see something in White Tail that could bring in a quick bit. "Yes, in fact, there was this farmer offering for a job as farm hands, and the pay seemed good too."

Wolf nodded his head, not minding a little hard labor if it meant they could get the things that they needed, and already having an idea of two that could do the job. "Yeah, also there was this flying tournament," Quill started, remembering the poster calling for all flyers to gather in another cloud-city called Stormfront for a small tournament. "I bet if we win some of the grand-prizes, then that'll definitely bring in a 'quick bit.'"

"Tournament huh," Wolf asked, not thinking about something like that, but the idea was appealing. As far as Wolf could tell, Quill was the fastest flyer they had in High Moon, and he knew that she could easily outfly any pegasi. "Umm...alright, when, and where is it?"

"A cloud-city called Stormfront in two weeks," Quill answered, only getting Wolf to deadpan at her. "What that's a no go?"

"Um, yeah that's a no go," Wolf quickly answered with a flat tone while he shook his head. "Quill, we can't wait two weeks for the possibility of getting what we need," Quill snorted towards this, she really wanted to see the looks on those ponies faces when she showed up to take the gold, and the faces of Celestia and the elements when they would-no doubt-be there. "But, that is an idea…for later. Right now, we need to get that farm-hand work thing settled. So any volunteers?"

"I'll do it," Veil quickly started, knowing the farmer that was offering the job, and knowing that she'd need to do something to help out more in High Moon. "Cyclone and I know the farmer's family and we're the only ones that know every nook and cranny of that town."

Wolf briefly flashed a smile as he nodded his head. "Alright, hound," he started walking back to Blaze's table and leaning back on it. "I'm trusting you to do that. We'll head back there tomorrow, I still need to check up on a few things." Veil nodded her head, it'd be awkward to go back to the town almost right after being forced to leave, but she needed to to it. For Cyclone.

Soon, Wolf continued the meeting with other minor changes to things, and letting the two know about what's going on. After getting the two fitted in the roles that needed to be filled in High Moon, Wolf finally asked the two what their plans were for the future. From the sound of things, it seemed that Veil and Cyclone were going to be a part of his pack for quite some time, at least until Cyclone got a hold on her magic, and when Veil was able to find and afford a new house.

Wolf and the others showed their support as well as their sympathy for the two of them; to lose everything they had, and to have to change to an new environment in a short time is a challenge for any. However, Veil was strong and Cyclone was a quick thinker, they had each other, and all of High Moon to help them out.

After the meeting had ended, everyone left Blaze's work area to head towards their own sleeping spaces. Once in the mansion ruins, Veil and Cyclone were lead by Spike, who was asked to show the two to an empty room on the bottom floor. Once at the faded brown door, Spike wished the two a good night, and told them that if they ever needed anything that he'll be right down the hall.

However, before he could leave, Cyclone stopped to give him a kiss on the cheek, and to thank him for all that he did for them. Spike's mind was blown apart by a small nuke at the slight sting of Cyclone's lips on his cheek. One, because of it still being tender from Quill's fist, and two… Well, he couldn't quite put his claw on it. All he could say for sure was that there was a small spark, much hotter than both Rarity and Sweetie Belle. Both of which he still failed to confront.

"Night Spike," Cyclone said in a low voice, after removing her lips from his cheek and feeling that same spark from the drake. She turned to the open door and stepped in to rest after a long day of grief, loss, and hardships. She made her way towards the bed, but turned back to see Veil still standing in front of Spike. "Veil you coming?"

The hound looked towards her friend and reached out to the rusty golden doorknob. "One sec," she said before closing the door and ending Spike's view of the suddenly affectionate dragoness. "Let me tell you something, Drake," Veil growled threateningly becoming the only thing Spike could see as she easily filled his view. He hadn't noticed it before now, but she was a lot taller than both him and Quill. "If you make a move on Cyclone and she ends up hurt because of it…" She started to lean in towards Spike's ear before continuing in a low snarl, "I'll rip you apart. Scale by scale, you hear me?"

Spike took a step back from the diamond hound, only vaguely having an idea what she was talking about. "Um...yeah?" Before leaving to the room, Veil flicked Spike's nose with her middle claw which she kept sharp out of habit, and snorted in annoyance towards Spike.

"Night, Drake." Again, Spike's eyes became transfixed on the closed door, but this time it was in both shock and attraction.

Beyond confused by the conflicting feelings about both females, Spike turned to walk back to his room so he could sort these feelings out himself before a certain changeling mare picked up on them. In Spike's mind, one thing was for sure for sure: things were about to get interesting for everyone in High Moon.

For better or worse.

/-/  
/ Ch. 30: Devotion/-/

High Moon Ch. 30:  
Devotion

Whilst the two newcomers got settled into their new home, Wolf got ready for bed as another, longer day was ahead of him tomorrow, not knowing that Blaze had other plans for the night. As Wolf was getting some things ready for tomorrow, Blaze slipped off her cloak, and concealed a small bright yellow vial in her left hand.

Inside was the concentrated juice from the star shape fruit, pulsing with the natural magic that the tree passively gathered. Blaze knew all too well what would happen if she even drank a single drop. The first time she encountered the fruit with Zecora and Wolf, that 'accidental' spell wasn't so accidental.

She loved Wolf, she loved making love with him, and she also loved Zecora as a close friend. While Blaze was younger, she had dreamt of what it would be like to have sex with the both of them, and they had just happened to reach the tree when she was in heat.

So, she may have 'accidentally' used her magic to make one of her lustful dreams come true, but right before it could happen, the magic started to wear off. She was quick to say that the spell was an accident and the two bought it.

Of course, she felt bad for lying to not only a mare she could call sister, but also to her lover. However, the she didn't know what either would say if she told the truth. Back then, Blaze and Wolf were both young, younger than the twins are now. She was too afraid of breaking the trust that she worked so hard to build with the both of them that she'd done her best to make it up to the both of them. After making a trip back to the Arcane Fields, Blaze gave Zecora a rare plant for a potion that would permanently negate the effects of the Poison Joke flower.

She then traveled back to High Moon in the cover of the night to give Wolf the much needed 'relief' that he would starve himself of. It wasn't until after the discovery of the archives that Blaze was able to understand just why the magic had dissipated so easily.

Apparently, the magical core in her horn couldn't convert the natural magic in the star fruit, and as an act of evolutionary defense, it discharged the excess magic. Now, however, she was much more experienced with her magic, and had learned a few new tricks to help her better control the influences of the fruit. So now was the time to enjoy the fruits' of her labor, so to speak.

"Oh Wolfie," Blaze started, walking up behind Wolf with a sway of her hips, and wrapping her arms around his waist. Wolf turned his head downwards to look into his mare's slightly shining eyes. Before Wolf could question the radiating orbs of pure crimson, Blaze stood up on the tips of her toes to reach her mouth to his ear. "I'm still 'hungry,'" she whispered into his ear with a low seductive voice.

Wolf chuckled a little, knowing that she was acting like this partially because she was carrying a cub, but also because the pack was growing. Every time a new face joined High Moon, Blaze's maternal instincts kicked up in gear, especially if the new face was younger than both of them.

At first, when it was just Lily and them, Wolf had only barely noticed this quirk, but it became more apparent when the twins started to live here as well. It started as a more affectionate kiss than needed, or a hug that turned into a long snuggle, but quickly became her needing attention every other night.

When the twins had left for the camping trip, Wolf had a hard time just stepping foot outside of the temple, let alone getting anything done. And that wasn't the end of it. Blaze also started to become more profound with her emotions, even more so than she would usually do.

All of these traits Wolf was glad she had. They'd need every last one of them if they were going to protect their cub until it was ready to do so on its own.

"And I know what I want," Blaze continued with the same seductive tone that Wolf loved. Despite her being a walking inferno, when Blaze spoke like this it felt like a gentle stream was rushing down Wolf's spine, reaching all the way to his tail. When she was screaming his name, though, it felt as if a bright and passionate fire was being lit in his chest, and and it always left him craving more.

Suddenly, Wolf's thoughts of enjoying the mixture of fire and ice that was Blaze's voice were broken by her raising a vial with a round bottom using her magic. Wolf's eyes intensely inspected the bottle. As a diamond dog, he couldn't use magic, and while diamond dogs weren't normally known for being able to sense magic, years spent around Blaze's had given him an almost sixth-sense about these things. It wasn't always just around the mare. For as long as he could remember, even as a cub, Wolf seemed to have a...connection with the natural magic around the world, but he could never harness it.

However, he didn't need to be able to use magic to tell that this bottle was giving off a large amount of magic, enough for even Wolf to pick up on, and his mind flicked to one answer. "Blaze," Wolf started, turning around to wrap his mare in his arms, and to look her straight in the eyes. "Now you know that's not a smart idea. Last time, me and Zecora could have really hurt you, and we don't know what it'll do to the cub."

Blaze kissed the underside of Wolf's jaw, taking that moment to nibble and lick alongside it, and rubbing her hands over his solid, bare chest. "But I do," she continued in that same voice, this time, speaking in a slightly darker tone that Wolf knew was in her.

There was a price to all the power Blaze carried, her ability to read dragon language, and use their magic. It wasn't because she was a well-adapted unicorn, though that was an important part of it, but no...there was another reason.

"Blaze, we should get you away from that stuff," Wolf started, rubbing his hands over her bare back, and skipping over the straps to the cloths that were straining to cover her chest. "It's making that dragon-blood in you come out more than your pregnancy is."

Even with his warning, Blaze still didn't listen, and instead only giggled acting like innocent filly. However, Wolf knew better than to believe the act. He knew of his mare's...coming of age when she lived in the foreign country of Zebraican. In that country, cutie marks held little to no meaning to the few ponies that were there, and it was only through feats of prowess that a foal would be considered fully grown.

Blaze's feat was claiming the magic of a dragon as her own, as well as mastering her own unicorn magic. She had told him a few years ago how she found an elder dragon near her village, and through some means of engagement, earned the dragon's respect as well as her dragon's soul. When Wolf asked her why an elder dragon would do something so unbelievable, she told him that the dragon was dying before she even got to her, and that she'd wanted to give Blaze her soul since she failed to produce any hatchlings of her own.

Every time Blaze told Wolf that story, she began crying. She would forever feel sorry for that dying dragoness, who in the last hours of her very long, lonely, and selfish life gave something dragons hold closer than any treasure they could ever collect.

"Mm...I know you like it," Blaze moaned into Wolf's ear as his hands subconsciously moved towards her flanks while she pressed her body up closer to his. "You can't say you don't enjoy it, knowing how powerful I am, then turning me around, and making me your mare."

Wolf started to chuckle in a low dark growl, allowing his canine instincts, and alpha dog instinctual desire for a powerful mate take control as he started to return the mare's nibbles. Blaze's moans only grow slightly in volume as she lit her horn to create a soundproof barrier, which Lily had recently shown her how to do, around the door so neither Quill nor Frost would hear their darkish lovers talk.

"Besides," she started again, rubbing her hand down Wolf's abdomen, to the hem of his black shorts. Blaze reached out for his growing shaft, and was rewarded by another deep growl from her dog as his claws scratching at her flanks. Blaze didn't suppress any more moans, knowing that the barrier was going to last a whole eight or nine hours, and was plenty of time for her to get what she needed done. "This will actually help our cub grow stronger, but we'll have to...'expel' some of the excess magic out."

Wolf moved from Blaze's ear to look her in her glowing red eyes, screaming with magic and power that she kept hidden from the others. "Oh yeah love, and just how's something like that," he paused for a moment, waving a hand at the still floating bottle. Blaze's normally solid blood-red aurora was now pulsing with pent-up magic as more of the dragon's soul began infusing her own unicorn magic-core with its own stronger brand of of power. "going to make our cub stronger?"

"Well," Blaze started with a low moan, pushing off Wolf's chest and lowering her eyes as they still pulsed with magic. "For one, a good portion of the natural magic will feed into my dragon's soul, and the other part will go our cub."

Wolf started to growl even louder when Blaze began stroking his shaft, using her thumb to play with his swollen head. However, even with the stroking and his instincts attempting to fog his mind, Wolf was able to retain some mental focus. "And that's not going to hurt her, how?"

Another, more seductive, giggle came from Blaze as she leaned back into Wolf's chest, and started to work her way up his jaw line. "That is what these are for," she started, reaching out with her magic to a small wooden chest in the far corner of the room to open it, pulling out five dull-red stones. Wolf recognized them as inactive fire-stones the moment he saw the first one pulled out. "And also," Blaze started, standing on her tip-toes to whisper into Wolf's ear while she leaned into him enough to make him have to hold her entire weight. "I have a few spells that I want to use for tonight."

Suddenly, a roaring growl came from Wolf as Blaze started to use her magic on the hardened shaft, making the dog lose himself further to his instincts. Without warning, Wolf picked Blaze up, held her close to his chest, and carried her over to the bed, biting on her neck the whole way.

Blaze let out a quick shout of surprise that quickly became moans of approval as she too was lost in the draconic instincts that had been given to her by the elder dragoness from her youth. Her moans turned into another quick giggling shout when Wolf dropped her on top of the bed, which was softer than she remembered, but she wasn't given any time to think about it before Wolf was on top of her.

She ran her fingers through Wolf's shaggy hair while his teeth chewed at her neck and his clawed hands were on top of her slightly bigger breasts. It wasn't long before the cloth wrapped around them was removed so Wolf could directly grope the large mounds. Blaze let out long and appreciative moans from Wolf's claws tugging at her sensitive breasts and started to buck her hips into him to relieve the inferno growing in her core.

As much as Blaze was enjoying her lover's touch, she still needed to actually drink some of the star fruit juice. Reluctantly, Blaze pulled Wolf's canine's off her collarbone. Wolf, after following her silent plea, growled slightly at her in mild annoyance. "Don't worry my love," Blaze started, sitting up in the bed, and rubbing the sides of his ears to tame the savage alpha threatening to rip free of its mental restraints. "We'll get to that, but first things first," she continued in an eeriy calm tone that was nearly the polar opposite of her normal speaking voice.

Slowly, Blaze floated the glowing bottle towards her, and reached out her hands from Wolf's head to take it from her magical grip. Just holding it in her hands was enough for her to feel it throbbing with pure magic.

It was maddening.

To feel the immense power coming from the bottle, to know that that power would be hers, as well as her cub's... Blaze couldn't suppress a jittery giggle from escaping her lips before she ripped off the cork off the bottle and tossed it somewhere far in the room. With one last look into Wolf's shining green eyes, Blaze widely smiled saying, "To our cub." before downing the bottle in all of its entirety.

The effects were nearly instantaneous. Blaze's horn and eyes started to burn in an intensely bright red that spread like a bright fire over the entire room. As the red light started to crawl over to the rest of her eyes, black dragon-markings started to form from the tip of her horn, moving down to the rest of her body.

Blaze trailed her hands down her body as she felt a flame crawling over every inch, lighting up all of her senses, and bringing unimaginable joy to her. The dragon-markings reached over her large chest, where her hands gripped her harden nipples, and moved down to her pregnant belly. The markings crawled into a spiral around all sides until they reached the center to form a dragon's skull.  
Wolf's alpha senses, which he use to judge the strength of another, was being driven wild at the display of Blaze's fully unleashed magic, and it was all he could do to stop himself from just jumping on top of her and re-instilling his dominance. Every inch of the mare screamed with a power that was unrivaled by anything he'd seen before. From her lustful moans, her dark giggles, the fury and destruction that her magic held, and her ability to adapt to any situation that is in front of her...

All of these would make Blaze a desirable mate for any alpha dog, and that wasn't even including her physical attributes. Slender shoulders leading to substantial breasts and a well-toned body with wide hips with powerful legs. All of these along with a quick and decisive mind made Blaze a goddess in Wolf's eyes.

And she was his.

Reaching his hands out to her thighs, Wolf spread Blaze's legs apart so he could gaze at her marehood as it was covered by the black markings, and was leaking her sweet juices. However, that only made it more alluring to Wolf as he dove straight in, and adding to the mare's already lustful gasps.

Blaze's fingers subconsciously reached around Wolf's ears to rub them and encourage him to push his tongue inside of her. Wolf didn't disappoint his mare as his strong wide tongue breached her tight walls and started to lap up at every drop of juice that was there. The gentle rubs on Wolf's ears turned into rough pulling, though Wolf hardly noticed. As long as he got to hear the mare's cries of passion, then that was enough for him. While Blaze's walls were under attack by her lover, more of the dragon-blood in her veins began to take control of her mind and body. Her already sharp nails became sharper talons, her fur, mane, and tail became sharper like a dragon's scales and spines, even her pupils turned into slits.

A roar came from Blaze's mouth, severing the final straw that kept Wolf from being taken over by his own canine instincts. Adding his canine teeth to the mix, Wolf brought Blaze closer to the edge, and accelerated her transformation.

Still having some control of her mind, Blaze willed her magic to bring the inactive fire-stones over to them. They began to slowly rotate around the couple, their purpose for this night being to absorb any excess magic that was discharged The stones also served as a means to keep some of the magic trapped in the space around them. That way, nothing would go to waste.

Blaze started to buck her hips into Wolf's face as she felt a climax quickly approaching. "Ahh...m-more," she demanded of her alpha, both too lost in their instincts to think past this moment of time. "I want more!"

Taking the mare's demands as a challenge, Wolf suddenly sat up on the bed, and forced Blaze to her back so he could continue to eat away at her marehood. Now with Blaze's legs held up in the air, Wolf reached out to his mare's slightly swelled mounds to take them in his claws.

Blaze's marehood was again under assault by the relentless tongue, but this time, she couldn't do anything to aid in the manner. So, Wolf was free to do as he pleased with the mare, and quickly reasserted his dominance over her.

Wolf's sharp claws twisted and pulled on Blaze's hard red nipples while her talons gripped at the bed. In this slightly odd position, Blaze could somehow feel more of Wolf's tongue in her clenching marehood, but it wasn't enough; she wanted more, she needed more.

"M-more," Blaze roared in a moan while Wolf's canines trapped her marehood in between. "Give me...more!" Growling, Wolf pulled himself from her marehood, only to focus on her swollen clitoris, and was rewarded with incoherent shouts from her.

As Blaze began to reach a climax, her horn sparked off small red and white bolts of magic, and was pulled in the fire-stones. Each one started to shine in a bright crimson light, their rotation speeding up around the amorous couple.

Right before her climax, Blaze caught the magical sight above her, and the only thing she could think of calling the ring of fire was: "Beautiful," she whispered in her normal voice before her mind was ripped apart by an overwhelming climax. Blaze's hands shot down to Wolf's head to keep him trapped on her marehood as copious amounts of her juices gushed forth.

Wolf happily drank every drop of her warm cum, even pushing his tongue back in to grab more, but soon released the mare's legs. Taking a moment to gaze at his handy work, Wolf took pride in the sweaty mass that was his mare. Her chest quickly rose and fell trying to get in as much air to her lungs as possible, a small stream of a mixture of Wolf's silva and her still warm cum stained her marehood, but the look her eyes told him there was more to this night.

"Mmm…" Blaze rolled over and started to stick her large flanks in the air, swaying her spike-like tail back over her marehood, and knowing that it would force Wolf to lose more control over himself. However, he didn't get the chance to claim the mare again as she whipped her body around, and knocked him to his back.

The two fell back into a heated kiss, both looking for some means of control, but it was obvious to Blaze that she just couldn't get that edge over Wolf. So she used that time to lick his canine teeth, and was reminded where they've been.

She loved it.

There would be moments where Wolf was just coming back from hunting, she would feel the need to lick the blood of his prey off his teeth with her tongue. She got a...thrill from tasting the iron on his canines. Later, Blaze realized that it was the dragon-blood running through her veins, mixing further into her normal pony blood.

And she loved it.

"Mmm-more," Blaze moaned through the battle for control of the kiss, pulling on Wolf's ears while his hands gripped on her flanks. "I-I want more, give me more." As Blaze continued to fall in her dragon-blood, her horn again started to spark off bolts of magic, but became trapped in the ring of fire-stones forming a ring of pure red light above their heads.

The light-show above their heads went unnoticed by the dark lovers as they continued their battle of tongue and teeth. While her fingers locked themselves in his hair, Wolf's claws dug into the sharper fur on Blaze's flanks, and soon began rubbing at her marehood.

Blaze pulled away from the kiss, giving up on taking control in that area, and starting to move down Wolf's body. Every inch of the dog was of pure muscle and power, she wanted it, and she wanted more of it. Once she reached the hem of Wolf's black pants, Blaze sat up slightly, and took the offending fabric off of her desired prize.

Wolf's shaft stood mighty and proud in the air with a small clear line of pre-cum going down the throbbing sides. For another brief moment, Blaze's eyes flashed brighter than they already were, and another spark came from her horn, shooting into the fire halo above their heads.

Licking her lips, Blaze encased much of the shaft in her breasts, leaving the throbbing tip to ooze out more pre-cum before her lips sealed around the swollen head. While Blaze was moaning around the shaft's head, Wolf, who had already sat up, grabbed her ears to encourage her to continue the skilled slurping, and started to growl deeply when she answered his unspoken commands. To aid in her task, Blaze started to lift her heavy breasts up and down the shaft, and moaned when she tasted more of his pre-cum.

Wolf started to move his hips in time with Blaze's breasts, adding to the pleasure he was getting, and the amount of pre-cum Blaze was tasting. Dragging her tongue on the underside of his shaft's head, Blaze pulled herself off the shaft only so she could look into her lover's eyes while she circled her tongue around it.

"More, I want more," she repeated as she started to move her breasts over the entire shaft in a faster pace. All Wolf was able to do was growl at the fast massage with the somehow fluffy mound, forcing more pre-cum to leak out around the shaft.

Suddenly, a bolt of pure concentrated magic shot out of the ring of fire and to Blaze's horn, and caused the mare's body to be filled again with the heightened magic. As more of the magic flowed into Blaze's horn, the dragon-markings on her body started to glow bright-red, and so too her eyes.

"More!" Quicker that she should have been able to do, Blaze shot up from the bed, and aimed her tight rosebud on the tip of Wolf's shaft. The two dark lover held another battle of tongue and teeth while the stream of magic slowly started to end by discharging back into the ring, but again the two didn't notice.

Wolf pulled away from the kissing war to bite alongside Blaze's neck while his claws trailed over the mare's sides before reaching down to her flanks and spreading them wide. "M-more, give me...more," Blaze moaned as the tip of Wolf's shaft threatened to breach her tight wall.

Blaze, her fingers already entangled in Wolf's hair, pulled him off of her neck to lock gazes with him. Her normally bright crimson eyes, shining with a small passionate flame was now a burning blood-red, blazing with a passionate, starving inferno of greed and lust. However, Wolf couldn't care as his instincts clouded every inch of his mind, and forced him to act on impulse.

"Give me all of it!"

High Moon, city ruins

Suddenly, Isis shot up from the bed, a chilling heat moving throughout her entire body. Visible beads of sweat matted down her ebony-black fur as well as the bed, her breathing was coming in short, sharp gasps, her wings constantly twitched behind her, and her eyes couldn't stay focused on anything.

Her mind raced to understand what this...this feeling. Isis was sure she'd felt this before, however, she couldn't gather her wits enough to fully remember what it was.

Slowly, she closed her eyes to get her breathing back under control, but even that was a difficult task due to this feeling. Even a for a being such as herself, it was a trail just to regain some of her composure. She didn't fully understand it or what it held, but she had a job to protect all that lived in High Moon, and she was going to do as such.

After a few more breaths, Isis got out of the bed, clad only in a pair of pants that were tied by her ankles by white cloth, or as her mistress deemed to call them, her 'puffy' pants, and started to search for the cause of the 'feeling,' for a lack of better terms.

Her initial impression was that the two newcomers could be the answer to this dilemma. So, after leaving her room, and checking to see if the phoenixes were alright, Isis walked down the stairs to Veil and Cyclone's room.

However, when she peeked behind the closed door, all she saw was the two wrapped in each other's arms. Even seeing them like this, Isis still failed to understand what the two were to one another. However, from the looks of things, they were closer than mere friends.

She knew that losing their home, while not entirely their own fault, was still hard for the two, but as long as they had each other, then they should be fine. After wishing the two safe dreams, Isis closed the door, and left to check up on Lily and Spike.

Once at his door, Isis pushed the wooden frame open to see Spike sprawled across the bed fully asleep with a noticeable line of drool down his cheeks, she took a brief moment to giggle at the drake. As far as she could tell about him, he was nice gentledrake that was hardworking to a fault, and in time would grow into a very powerful dragon.

Isis closed the door, wishing Spike luck with the seed of doubt in his heart, and moved to Lily's room. However, Isis could barely see the flutterpony through the mess of her long snow-white mane, looking like long streams of winter's fruit, and in comparison with her brown blanket, was the fore-telling signs of winter's coming. Though this was to be expected of the tall equine, as Isis knew that flutterponies lived off the light from the sun, and when it was gone, underwent a major decline in every part of the body and mind.

With the last of the ones dwelling in the mansion ruins checked on, Isis closed the door and teleported straight to the final pair to check up on. However, once she got to the temple, she was hit with another wave of that…feeling, and this time it was much stronger than the last.

The wave was strong enough to bring her to her knees while her wings wrapped around her body to fight of the chilling coldness around her, but only added to the heat she was feeling in her core. It was like...something calling to her, telling her that she should be there instead of where she was now, and the closer she got the stronger that feeling became. Isis forced herself to stand from the bottom stairs leading to the couple pair's rooms. Even as she ascended the stairs to the two couples of High Moon, she still had her wings wrapped around her body, and paced herself as the feeling grew in fever.

It soon got to the point to where she had to lean against the wall to even stay standing. "N-no, I-I won't fall, not yet," she muttered to herself as she started to reach Quill's and Frost's room. Though the closer she got, the more her vision would blur, and the more she could feel her magic being drawn to something.

Once at the two dragonic-lovers' room, Isis opened the door to faintly see Frost laying on top of Quill. Suddenly, her nose and wings started to flare at the scent lingering in the air, and she had to fight off centuries of pent up lust from not charging in the room. Quicker than was needed, Isis closed the door, and slid down the nearby wall.

She slowly started to understand what's going on, this feeling, the chilling heat, and the weakness in her keens. "I-I'm in heat." Isis forced herself to come to a conclusion, mentally scolding herself for not recognizing the signs, and thinking of the quickest way to get it over with. However, her mind was still too curious at to what was pulling onto her magic, and was left with one possible answer.

"M-master...m-mistress," Isis started, pushing herself up from the ground, and onto shaky feet. "I need to check on them," she continued, forcing her body to move towards the owners of the valley lands, but each step was harder to make than the last. However, she still was able to make it to the door, where the feeling was at its strongest, and where she could feel her magic being pulled towards.

By this time, Isis' breath was already labored as if she was fighting a great wind pushing her away from the door, but at the same time fighting against another wind pushing her towards the door.

It was madding!

The feeling of being pushed and pulled by the same force, how her knees would almost give out on her, and how she felt something...forewarning about the force. But what made it worst was the fact that the force was somehow comforting. Like...like a gentle cooling stream on a burning hot summer day.

However, Isis didn't know of the soundproof barrier that Blaze placed on the room, and her magical biology didn't disturbed the magic in the barrier. Also, she couldn't actually sense the barrier because of the overwhelming feeling that drowned out all of her other senses, but at the same time heightened them.

Right as she placed her hand on the door, her normally golden and blue eyes flashed a bright crimson before she pushed the door open. Her eyes immediately widened at the sight of Wolf, holding Blaze's flanks high in the air, and repeatedly slamming his shaft inside.

Isis barely had time to understand why her masters look slightly different before Wolf let out a massive ear-shattering roar that forced both hers and Blaze's ears to flatten against their heads. After his uncounted climax, Wolf allowed the mare's flanks to fall down further around his shaft, and gave her a moment to breath.

However, the only words that came out of the mare's mouth was: "M-more, give...me m-more…" Isis didn't know what to do at this point, there was no doubt that the feeling, and her sudden heat was connected towards the ring of fire above the two.

As Blaze laid on the bed, Isis continued to eye her more dragon-like appearance, and confirmed a feeling she had about the mare and her magic. The markings all over her body, her mane and tail representing the spines of a dragon, and even her cheerful voice was full of a dragon's greed and lust.

Then her eyes turned towards Wolf, his fur a pale white with only small tones of his normal dull-blue, and the form made him appear to be more frightening than a ghost. She remembered this look of his as the form he would take during the winter months as an adaptation of his canine heritage.

Without conscious reason, Isis stepped closer into the lover's dark den that had a halo of fire severing as their sinful sun, and dared to make her presence known to the unholy looking couple. "M-master, m-mistress?" Slowly, Blaze's head turned towards Isis, who was now standing in front of the closed door. More of Isis' theories were proven correct when Blaze started to wickedly smile, showing off two armor-piercing fangs shining brightly against her normal pony teeth. "Y-you called for me?"

Isis didn't know what she was saying, or why she was even thinking this, but it felt...right. Both of the lovers were her new masters, both promised to take care of not only her, but all of the others with her. And the only thing Isis could give in return, was herself.

"Isis," Blaze started, sitting up off the bed into Wolf's lap where she was nearly immediately encased in his arms as he teeth chewed on her ear. "Come here." Isis followed her mistress's command as she started to take small steps towards her and Wolf while she continued to transfix her eyes onto Blaze's. Every second Isis gazed into the pure blood-red glow in them, the more she could feel her body being pulled towards the lovers.

"Now," Blaze started again once Isis made it towards the edge of the bed. "I was hoping you'd pick up on my magic and I'm glad that you are here." Blaze reached out a hand towards the sphinx, inviting her to climb on top of the bed with her talons. Again, Isis did as her mistress commanded her to do as she climbed on the bed on her hands and knees.

Once she was right in front of her masters, Blaze traced her talons on Isis' furred cheeks before she took them in her hands, and raised her head up higher. All that was in Isis' sight was both of her masters sitting underneath the fire ring halo.

Of all the languages she could cite, of the vast vocabulary that she worked to build over the many centuries, and of the numerous ways she could think to describe the sight above her, only one thought came to her mind: 'Beautiful.'

Blaze smile only grew when she saw the small tone of crimson separating the golden and blue in her eyes. "Ah Isis, you can feel it can't you," she started, getting the sphinx to finch a little at the low dark raspy sound of her voice, and somehow, getting her overly neglected flower to feel hotter. "The magic flowing around us right now; the scent of power. That's what drew you here isn't it?"

"Y-yes...m-mistress," Isis struggled to say through the pleasurable heat flowing around her. It was hard to tell whether it was from the burning halo above her head or was it the pure essence of power from her masters. "I-it awakened me…"

A sharp moan came from Blaze when Wolf secretly moved his claws around her legs to toy with her marehood. "O-oh I see," she continued with a giggle following right after, which turned into another giggle as Wolf took her clitoris into two of his claws. "G-good...very good, t-that was me calling out to you, Isis."

Isis soon understood her purpose of being summoned to the couple's room. "Yes my m-mistress," she started with another move towards her mistress and was now mere inches away from Blaze's face. "Is there any wish that you would like me to fulfill?"

Blaze didn't answer the question as she moved her talons towards the sphinx's black mane and pulled her ear towards her mouth. "Not at all, in fact, I want to give you a little...'reward' for all you've done," Blaze said, finishing with biting on Isis' ear, and rubbing the other one in between two talons. "But first," she continued, lowering Isis' head down her body, and continuing to rub her ears. "I need you to prove your devotion."

Isis didn't waste a moment pondering what Blaze was asking her to do, or even stop the sudden flush of her own feline instincts from taking control, before her tongue danced over the spiky fur on Blaze's body, and was allowed a moment to lick her thin flat tongue over Blaze's large mounds.

The sounds of her mistress's moans encouraged Isis to take the harden nipples into her mouth and started to suck on them. Seeing the sphinx's move, Wolf started to rub the outside of his mare's walls with his clawed hands while his teeth pulled and nibbled on her ear, but that wasn't it. Moving his other hand towards her horn, Wolf took the sensitive bone is his claws, and started to run his fingers through the deep grooves spiraling down.

Blaze threw her head back to Wolf's chest, allowing him to further toy with her horn, and causing a spark to shoot out of it into the red halo above. Again, for an uncounted time, Blaze was hit with the magic that was discharged into the gems, causing another rush of her dragon-blood to boil over the surface.

"Yes, more!" Suddenly, Isis found herself being pushed off her mistress' more than plentiful breasts, and down to her marehood. Waves of heavy scent filled Isis' nose, forcing her wings to flare outwards, pushing her further into the lover's dark embrace. After taking a short moment to marvel and memorize her mistress' scent, Isis dove into the leaking marehood, and licked any juices she could.

The taste was something that couldn't even be rightfully compared to anything and it was too good to give up. Isis was even given a better taste by Wolf, still having two fingers on his mare's marehood, speared the walls wide so Isis could drink the streams of mare-cum from Blaze.

"I-I want…more," Blaze moaned, now trapped between the two, and could feel a climax building from her last one. She started to move her hips into Wolf's shaft after he moved his hand away from her horn to the underside of her jaw. Both Isis and Wolf soon found a rhythm to the mare's movement, and started to work in tandem with each other.

Blaze moved her hands away from Isis' head after she had gotten used to her movement, and trailed her talons in her eagle-wings. The sharp claws dug into the feathery appendages and down to the muscles hidden underneath, causing her sphinx to moan around her marehood, and bring her closer to the edge.

Picking up on his mare's moans, Wolf moved both his hands to the mare's thighs, and started to pick her up with his thrusts. Isis was forced to adapt to her masters' movements, and placed her hands around her mistress' hips also sitting up more on her knees.

Blaze's eyes started to roll to the back of her head, now stuck dealing with the dual pleasure she was getting from both Wolf and Isis. The throbbing of Wolf's thick shaft deep in her rosebud, Isis' flat tongue dancing all over her marehood, and periodic bolts of magic from the red halo above their heads.

It still wasn't enough.

"G-give me more!" A mind-numbing climax overtook Blaze's body, forcing her body to tense up around her two lovers, and making her shout on the top of her lungs. Wolf's shaft buried deep in her tight rosebud, filling it with thick streams of cum, still thrusting into her. Isis was drowned in a small torrent of her mistress' cum, forcing her to work double time to lick all of the preish cum, but didn't stop when she started to only taste fur.

Soon, Wolf and Isis allowed the mare to calm down as Wolf let go of her tights and Isis removed herself from her marehood, and allowed her to fall against Wolf's chest. It wasn't long before the dog had his arms around the mare again and his hands on her breasts.

While Blaze laid her her head and hands on Wolf's chest, Isis continued to pant heavily, feeling the many decades of heat boiled over to a nigh unbearable point, and started to feel the many years of sexual neglect take its hold with the sight in front of her.

Hearing the sphinx's panting, Blaze turned her to see that Isis was running her hands over her breasts with a hungry look in her eyes, but refused to properly deal with the bothersome problem.

"Isis," Blaze started, only faintly looking the sphinx's way with one glowing eye through the red mass that was her mane, and getting the sphinx's body to tense up. "I think it's time to get your reward." Blaze started to get up from Wolf's shaft but was stopped by her dog as he growled in disapproval. "Don't worry my love," she again started, placing a kiss on his cheek, and rubbing her hand on his ears. "I promise you'll enjoy this."

With another growl, Wolf let Blaze go so she could remove herself from his shaft, and did so with an audible poping sound. Blaze's body shivered when excess of Wolf's cum started to leak out of her rosebud and onto his shaft.

"Oh Isis, come here, and do leave your pants there." Isis quickly did as Blaze command, she removed the brown pants faster than she thought about, and quickly moved closer to her masters. "Come now," Blaze continued, seeing Isis eye the still strong shaft with a wary look. "It isn't going to kill you and I promise…" Blaze moved closer to Isis' ear and whispered, "he only bites, a lot."

Even with the painful sounding warning, Isis still moved towards the shaft, and lined her moisten flower over the throbbing shaft. Just as she was going to ease her way down, Wolf grabbed on Isis' large haunches, and impaled her in one quick motion.

Isis' eyes shot wide open along with her wings, expanding over much of the bed, and flicking off a few loose feathers. Before she could even get used to the feeling of being filled by Wolf's thick shaft, the dog started to lift her up by her rear, and repeatedly slammed her back down to where their hips met.

Isis started to moan and purr at her master's touch, somehow growing used to the rough thrusting, and coming to want more. She felt incredible, having someone as physically powerful as Wolf thrusting his shaft in her, filling up her very tight walls...it was unimaginable. Isis soon learned that, if she met Wolf's thrusts with her own, then the pleasure they felt intensified. So, Isis wrapped her arms around Wolf's neck, and was pulled into a fierce kiss which Wolf claimed dominance over.

And she let him.

Wolf, in spite of being lost in his instincts, was still the same kind and caring dog, and she had nothing to fear. Even if he was far too gone, Isis couldn't lie that she wasn't enjoying the wild beast in her master's mind. To fully see what he was capable of, made her want to give more of herself to him.

While the two were going at it, by the literal definition, like a pair of wild animals, Blaze fed more magic into the ring of red light above them, and added more magic to the beast-mentality spell she used on Wolf. However, this time, it was directed towards Isis, and caused the sphinx to remove herself from the kiss, screaming in sudden joy.

Not skipping a beat, Blaze moved behind the sphinx, and wrapped her arms around her body to take her breasts in her hands. Isis' voice started to lose sound when she felt Blaze's talons pulling on her nipples and her sharpened teeth clamping down on her wings, close to her wing-base.

Blaze continued to toy with her sphinx's wings using her teeth, as well as twisting her nipples, and being rewarded with her moaning for more. That's when Blaze sparked her horn again, this time, allowing Isis to absorb some of the magic, making her shake violently.

"Yes, yes you can feel it now," Blaze whispered into Isis' ear while her talons continued to twist and pull on the sphinx's nipples. "That force driving you wild, making you want more and more and more of it inside of you. That force, that's my magic, my power." As her mistress continued to speak in her ear, the rough thrusting from her master forced something inside of her to start building to indescribable levels. "Beg for more Isis, do it."

Isis slightly turned her head towards Blaze's glowing red eyes as her own started to take the same shine. "M-mistress...please, l-let me know your power, l-let me...enjoy your strength. Let m-me know what I'm fighting for."

For a moment, Blaze was silent, sliding a hand from Isis breasts up to her jaw, and started to lick alongside her cheeks before moving back to her ear. "That's what I wanted to hear," she said slowly, sparking her horn, and pulling more magic from the ring of fire so Isis' body could absorb more of her magic.

Again, Isis' eyes started to shine a bright crimson, but this time, the gold in her eyes gave way to a bleeding red as a climax rocked her body. Isis tensed up around Wolf's shaft, letting a half-century's worth of lust flow out around his throbbing shaft.

Wave upon wave of blissful pleasure, the likes of which she'd never felt before, drowned Isis in a sea of euphoria. It was the single most releasing experience she had ever felt in her entire life, and she wanted more of it. Isis moved her hands towards Wolf's broad shoulders to use them as support so she could continue to move up and down his throbbing shaft to coax her master's climax.

"Mi-mistress," Isis moaned as her wings started to subconsciously flap while Blaze continued to prod her talons and sharpen teeth against the base of her wings. "I-I...I can't! Ma-master's is t-too large."

Blaze move up from the base of Isis' wings and sat up on her knees to reach up to the side of Isis' face. "Yes you can Isis," she started in a low whisper as Wolf forced Isis to tilt her head back when he began biting against her neck. "Granted that he is rough, Wolf does have his weak points. You just have to know where to hit them."

Isis lazily turned her head towards Blaze, giving her a sight that was most amusing. Isis' tongue was limply hanging free from her gaped mouth while lines of drool streamed down her mouth. Her glowing, and glazed over, eyes held the look of need and want in them. "Come on, let me show you what I mean." Blaze again sparked her horn, aiming her magic at Wolf swollen ball sack to aid Isis in getting the dog to reach a peak.

Suddenly, a loud, deep, and savage roar erupted from Wolf as his claws started to dig into Isis' haunches. The dog's thrusting rapidly increased in force and power, pushing all the way deep into Isis' leaking flower. "Mis-mistress! Ma-master is p-pushing de-deeper in me," Isis screamed on the top of her lungs as Wolf's shaft thrusted deeper within her and reached a spot that forced her whole body to uncontrollably shake.

To ease the slight pain that Blaze knew Isis was feeling, Blaze moved her hands towards the base of her wings, and hooked her talons over the joint-edges. This succeeded in getting Isis to loudly purr of gratitude before her voice was again lost in screams and shouts. "Mis-mistress...I-I no-not going to…"

"Shh, Isis," Blaze started after she had moved her mouth up towards Isis' face to lick away the small tear threatening to flow down her sphinx's cheek. "Just give into it, let it happen Isis."

Following her mistress' instructions, Isis started to ease her body up to allow Wolf to continue to take her. Soon, the spastic wing flapping started to become intentional as if her body was now subconsciously accepting, no, needing her master's girth within her. "See, isn't that much better?" Blaze asked in a slight teasing voice as she moved her hands up to Isis' shoulders. "Tell me Isis, how do it feel having Wolf deep inside of you, and I want to be able to picture it for myself."

"M-mistress, master...he, he feels incredible! I-I've never felt so close t-to someone be-before...Oh mistress," Isis shuttered, not sure how much longer she could keep Wolf's rough thrusting. However, from the deep throbbing feeling she was getting from her master, Isis could tell that Wolf too was close. "Mistress...master, he's throbbing."

"Mm...that must mean he is close," Blaze noted with a sly smile on her face that flashed her fangs off abit. "Well, let's help with that." Again, the mare added more magic to Wolf's aching ball sack, but only to coax him to release inside of Isis.

The building pressure inside of Isis started to again climb to unbearable levels, coupled with the throbbing from her master's shaft. Isis shakily reached her hands to Wolf's ears to gently start rubbing them in her fingers. "Ma-master, p-please...I-I beg of you, fill me with your seed."

His sphinx's words, and Blaze's magical influences, forced a savage roar to leave Wolf's mouth along with a torrent of steamy cum into Isis' clenching walls. Isis was quickly overcome by another, much more powerful climax from Wolf, burying his shaft deep inside of her.

Once more, Isis' body was drowned by crashing waves of bliss in the form of Wolf filling her walls with his thick seed. "Oh master!" Suddenly, Isis' wings flared out to their full span again as the excess of Wolf's cum leaked out around the sides of his pride.

After a few more thrusts, Isis collapsed against Wolf's chest as she slowly started to come down from the magnificent high while Wolf slowly moved his hands up towards the base of Isis' wings.

Isis began purring faintly as both her master and mistress' hands were on the bases of her wings, massaging any tightness that may have build up over the centuries. Isis never felt such blissful joy before, nor had she ever laid on something as soft and comforting as her master's fur chest.

She felt full, brimming with her master's seed, and her mistress' love. Isis wanted to stay by her masters' sides for as long as she could, she wanted to give her master a child of her own, she wanted to belong to only them.

Soon, Isis was able to catch her breath to have enough energy to force herself to look up into the dark shine in Wolf's eyes, and only could think of one thing to say, "M-master, mistress…I-I love you," she whispered before sealing Wolf's lips in a kiss, and before her vision faded to black.

Heavy snoring filled the three's room as Wolf laid on his back with his two females wrapped tightly in his arms, while Isis' large wings did a better job of keeping warmth in than the blanket could ever do. All three had some amount of the other's cum staining some part of their bodies, however, none really cared.

Also, at some part of the night, both Wolf and Blaze reverted back to their normal appearances, and the ring of fire-stones had ceased their rotation above their heads. However, all five of the stones fused together in Blaze's hands, and held too much magic to be used as simple door openers. Again, none truly cared at the moment as they all happily slept in each other's embraces, and in the afterglow of last night's...love.

Before Blaze had passed out from exhaustion, she made her wishes of not being disturbed by anyone known to Isis, and told her to make a strong barrier on the door so that no one could enter until they were ready to leave.

Isis more than happily did as her mistress commanded, placing a barrier that not even Celestia could break down, and put a note on it telling any that they will be unable to be reached at this moment.

However, the three had to wake at some point.

"Mmm…" Slowly, Blaze started to crack open an eye, and once the blurriness was gone, was met with the wide smile on Isis' sleeping face. "What the-" Suddenly, a wave of memories washed over her, and answered all of her questions about what happened last night. And it scared her.

For the third time in her life, she allowed the dragon-blood in her veins to take over her mind, and from the flashes of memory, corrupted Isis' mind as well. She thought that she was strong enough to handle it, Blaze really thought that she could control the dragon-blood in her system, however it seemed that she was again mistaken.

She could only hope that Isis would forgive them for what they forced her to do last night. Even with the distant memory of Isis saying that she loved the both of them, more than once, Blaze wasn't sure if the sphinx actually meant those words.

'We're definitely going to have to make it up to her and-' Blaze was pulled out of her thoughts by Isis' stirring and feared the wrath of the sphinx when her now crimson and blue eyes opened.

"Isis, listen about last night-" Again, Blaze was cut off by the sphinx suddenly sealing her lips in a kiss. Blaze tried to fight it off, but something felt...good about having a being as powerful as her bend to her will, and was soon leaning into the kiss before laying their heads back down on Wolf's chest.

Soon, the two pulled away from each other, and were gazing into each other's eyes. Blaze's eyes no longer held any of the dragon's greed or lust as they did last night, and had returned to the loving flame of red that Isis enjoyed. However, Isis' eyes were now no longer the same golden and blue, but now instead crimson and blue. Even the blue had a small tone of purple from the crimson slightly outweighing it.

"Good morning mistress," Isis softly spoke, her body feeling rather stiff in certain areas, but the joy that came with the memories of them overrode any sense of pain. "I see that you're back to your normal self."

"Yes, I am," Blaze started, feeling the same stiffness as Isis, she knew of how to get them out, but she needed to see about the sphinx first. "Isis, are you alright? I'm terribly sorry for what happened last night. I thought...I thought I could control it."

Isis' blissful smile turned into a deep frown when she saw the lone tear going down Blaze's cheek and quickly licked it off with her tongue. "Mistress," she started in a whisper next to Blaze's ear. "You have nothing to be sorry for." As she spoke, Isis ran her hand over the side of Blaze's body while her wings still provided warmth for the three of them. "I enjoyed being with you and master last night and I know neither of you meant any harm to me. Also, the fact that you care enough to try to apologize to me is more than I could ask for."

"But Isis," Blaze started to argue, only getting a frown from the sphinx as a response, and gave up on saying anything otherwise. "Fine, if you really feel that way, I guess I can't tell you otherwise." It didn't feel right to leave it the way it was but Blaze knew she'd think of something to make it up to her.

"I do mistress," Isis started, laying her head back down on Wolf's chest to look Blaze directly in the eyes. "But I do have one question, if you'll allow it." Blaze didn't think twice before she nodded her head, ready to answer any questions the sphinx have for her if it meant clearing things up with her. "Please permit me to be so bold, but how did you acquire a dragon's soul?"

Blaze's body tensing up underneath her wing, telling Isis that the topic was rather sensitive, but before she could apologize for asking a personal question like that, Blaze took a deep breath before sighing.

"It happened when I was fourteen years old…"

/ Ch. 31: Dragon's Blessing/-/

High Moon Ch. 31:  
Dragon's Blessing

Twelve long years ago, a young dull-blue unicorn filly stood in her family's hut back in her native country of Zebraican. All the filly had to call as clothes were dried pieces of brown cloth wrapped around her small underdeveloped chest and her petite left shoulder. While it was simply brown cloth, the pelts of animals she had faced in her short young life were sewn into the shoulder strap as a sign of her victories.

Her flat, toned stomach, showing no signs of the baby-fat of two summer seasons ago, was open to the elements while her lower body had a larger amount of the brown cloth tied around around her waist with dried animal hide, trailing down the back of her long slender legs in a long skirt.

The blood-red in the filly's short mane and tail couldn't compare to the fiery crimson of her eyes as she started walking towards her goal: a large, muscular dull-blue earth-pony stallion. The stallion's clothing was slightly similar to the filly's, the main difference being his had the pelts of lions, leopards, and even cheetahs covering his left shoulder, while a buffalo's dried skull was attached to his right shoulder by a thin brown leather strap going across his built body.

Each pelt, the skull, and even the black vulture feathers tied to the skull were all symbols of his tactical mind, ingenuity, and bravery as chief of the expanding village. All that lived within the safety of the village's walls looked towards the stallion for reassurance and guidance in times of hardships. And in times of peace, they praised him as though he was the great descendant from their gods; the Guardians.

While the stallion's fur was clean for the most part, black and sky-blue paste, gathered from the many fruit and plants that thrived in the country, covered much of the filly's body, forming patterns of tribal markings. The thick, tar-like paste matted against her fur, feeling slightly uncomfortable as it always did, was entirely ignored by the filly.

The only thing on the young filly's mind was achieving her own life's goal and being recognized for all of her struggles that she faced in her upbringing. The filly had dreams of seeing the world, of knowing what was truly out there, and achieving a power that couldn't be found in her home.

"Blaze Soul," the stallion started in a deep and gruff voice, looking down the filly with his arms crossed. However, the filly refused to break her stare at the wall behind the stallion; for she knew he was testing her focus. "My first born daughter, my precious child," the stallion said, walking around Blaze to continue testing her focus. "Tell me, just why would I allow you to risk your life for something such as this?"

"Father," Blaze faintly spoke in a dark tone, despite her high pitched voice. "I can do this, this it what you've trained me to do since I first began to use magic. Is this not so, father?" The sound of her father stopping behind her told Blaze that she was on the right track. "From my first spark, I've been trained in the arts of the fabled fire-breathers. I've taken down opponents twice my own size, and I've bested every male in this village aside from you. I know I can do this."

Blaze awaited her father's response, each second growing longer than the previous one as she knew he was musing over all of her training. It was true, from her first step, Blaze had been trained to defeat opponents others would run from, and she could easily take on any other male in the village.

And that only became more evident when her horn began sparking untold magic. Magic strong enough to bend steel and other rare ores that were found in the deep mines to the south of the village. Magic strong enough to set fire to whole fields of grass, even when raining.

All of this was true about his daughter, undoubtedly the strongest mage-hunter in the village of ponies, zebra, and small number of diamond dogs. What was even more true of the filly's words was the fact that she could draw magic from others.

The feat, shocking at first, helped the small village grow much stronger after the attack from the dragon dwelling in the far east. A dragon that took his sons and was now his daughter's target.

"My child, there is a difference between sparking a grass fire, and taking on an elder dragon," Blaze's father continued to argue with her, obviously displeased that she would even start to think of revenge as atonement for the elder's crimes. "Blaze, you can barely look at a small centipede without succumbing to fear. How can I trust that you'll be able to take on an elder dragon?" Blaze's body tensed up at the sound of the multiple legged insect that she had feared from near birth, but she didn't allow her father to see this, steeling herself as she remain rooted to the ground.

Upon seeing his daughter's refusal to listen to reason, her father sighed, and started to bring up an unwanted past. "Please, we have already lost far too much, don't follow your brothers' fates. I don't know if you're mother's heart can take much more."

Blaze closed her eyes to keep her nerves calm, remembering when she was but a mere five years of age, hearing the screaming of her mother when news reached of her brothers' and other village members grim fates. Ever since then, she swore...she vowed to avenge her brothers' deaths, and she had pushed her body everyday since.

"Blaze, I will not allow-"

"Father," Blaze cut in, turning to face the old stallion who was falling from his prime while she was coming to it. "To this very day, I can hear mother begging the great Guardians to bring my brothers back. I know this wish of hers can never happen," she paused for a moment to choke off a tear before snapping her eyes back to her father's, "but allow me this. I do not act on vengeance. This is my path given to me by the Guardians themselves."

Blaze's father continued to stare in her eyes, burning with a fierce fire that even frightened him, and an unyielding will that could move mountains. Slowly, to his displeasure, the stallion began to understand why his daughter felt this way.

"The visions," he said with a steady tone, as if he didn't like the answer. "You're still having the visions, of another land to where the sun dwells?" Blaze continued to lock her eyes onto her father's, with the same flame in them as from the day she was born, and nodded her head. "Very well, if you truly believe that the Guardians have plans for you, my child, then I have no power to stop you."

"I do father, there is no more mistaking it," Blaze continued to say in a passionate voice that showed no intentions of giving in. "Father, I came here to get your blessings, but I will seek out my destiny on my own if it comes to it."

The tall stallion dropped his head with a slight chuckle, he had seen many moons come and go, and not once had he met someone as stubborn as his daughter. However, he knew that if she ventured out to her destiny, then she will never return to his arms again. Whether she failed or succeeded, once she stepped foot out of the village walls, he'd never see the bright smile of his daughter's face again.

"Very well," Blaze's father gave in with a long sigh, suddenly clapping his hands together several times to summon two identical light-blue pegasi, dressed in the same kind of robes, to his hut. After gazing into his daughter's eyes once more, the stallion turned towards the two mares knelt before him. "Ensure my daughter will have all the provisions she will need for her journey east," he commanded the two before sending them off to gather everything Blaze would need for her wayward journey.

Once the mares were gone, Blaze's father walked over to a massive dark-brown chest that too up a good portion of the left side wall. As he opened the chest, Blaze knew exactly what he was retrieving, and was shocked that he was entrusting something as sacred as it to her. Out of the chest, he pulled a long dark-brown staff with the bright sky-blue and black feathers of the wide variety of birds native only to their country, leading up to a tempered red-steel curved blade.

Blaze knew that it was her family's...no, the entire village's pride, and it had mystical powers that could be only harnessed by the strongest of mages; mages such as herself. She had been raised on tales of her village's past being saved by the staff from obsidius monsters that plagued the grasslands, of only the strongest of unicorns being able to fully master it's power, and of the destructive forces it had.

And her father was entrusting that power to her.

"Father, the Red Fang…" Blaze always became speechless every time she laid her eyes upon the god-like weapon, and even if she only saw it in full use once, just knowing of it's powers was enough for Blaze to lose the ability to breath. "I can't, I simply can not take it from the village. There will be other mages, far stronger than I."

"No," her father said in a threatening and commanding voice that got her to shake a little in fear of his rage. Blaze didn't just fear what the bladed-staff could do, she also feared her father somewhat. After seeing him rip apart a thorn-fang with his bare hands, you would have had to be under some kind of mental sickness to not.

"No," her father again repeated, placing the staff end of the weapon to the ground, and walking towards her. "I will not allow my child to go into battle ill-prepared. You have been blessed by the Guardians with the strength to wield this weapon, and you will do so."

Blaze took the staff in her hands, already feeling it attempting to fuse with her magic, and she knew best not to fight it. All the members of her family were trained in the art of fighting with a staffed weapon, and knew that it was to act as an extension of herself. The Red Fang was no different, instead of just an extension of herself, it was also an extension of her magic, and she needed to accept that fact if she wanted to have a chance of winning.

Her father's hand on her shoulder was enough to pull her out of the thoughts of the staff. When she looked up to his face, all Blaze saw was the proud smile of her father. A strong leader she looked up to much of her life and aspired to become. "Come," he started with a gentle voice, resigned to the destiny the Guardians had for his daughter, but still fearing for his daughter's well-being. "You have a long journey ahead of you and there is much to do to prepare."

It didn't take much for Blaze to hear the sadness in her father's voice, and why wouldn't it be? He was letting go of his last living child to the fate of the great Guardians, he was letting go of the joyful smile that she placed on everyone's faces, and he was letting go of his pride and joy. Any father in his position would be greatly saddened by the fate that their daughter was faced with.

"Y-yes father," Blaze said, holding back tears as she and her father left the hut to deliver the news of Blaze's departure and journey to the rest of the village, and to enjoy the last few peaceful moments together before her unavoidable future.

After sitting down with her family one last time, she was fed a warrior's feast as a sign of the village's farewells, and she ate it with pride. One after another, other members of the village, friends, relatives, and loved ones all gave their respective blessings.

Once that was done, Blaze's father had her equipped with any tools he thought best for her to carry, and also had the village artisans to make her more battle-ready attire. Her old pieces of cloth were thrown away and replaced with dried armored leather clothing. A strong leopard and alligator hide vest now covered her upper-torso. Her skirt was mostly left alone, only adding a belt holding several pouches of water and knives. The manes of lions were sewn into her vest, going around her left shoulder, and connecting to a holster for the Red Fang.

Lastly, the small skull of a lemur was strapped to her right shoulder. A sign of her quick and sharp mind and her ability to adapt to any situation around her.

Her mother, a tall and beautiful unicorn mare of the same colors as her only daughter, had one final private moment with her precious mage by straightening out her mane with the cleaned rib-cage of a small bird, and once finished, tied it with a strap of alligator leather from the river near the village.

Blaze was worried that her mother would fall apart upon hearing her choice to seek out her destiny. However, she was given a shocking surprise when her mother said that she would be fine. "I have faith in you, my little mage." Upon hearing those words, Blaze almost broke down in her mother's arms, but somehow was able to stop the tears from flowing.

Of all the things that needed to be done before she left, Blaze fully believed that speaking with her mother in private would be the hardest. On top of raising her, Blaze's mother taught her everything that she knew of magic, and cared for her like any other loving mother would.

With both of her parent's blessings, Blaze was given a final rest in her bed alone for the night so she could plan out her destiny and how to face it. Alone in her room, Blaze practiced wielding the Red Fang, and quickly got used to its heavy weight. After placing all of her clothing, the Red Fang, and any other personal treasures aside for the morning, Blaze took the time to pray to the great Guardians for a safe passage come the morning.

By the time sunrise was upon her, the same pegasi twins made final preparations. The both of them sat a bowl of colored paste in front of her, one of black, and another of sky-blue; the colors of the great Guardians. The two quickly got to work placing more warrior-like markings on her body, and both gave their prayers to her; just as they had done for her brothers.

Once the markings were in place, Blaze quickly put on the garbs that had been given to her for her departure, grabbed anything that she thought would be of import, and made her way towards the village walls. Along the way, everyone silently watched her make her way out to the open world, and all prayed for her safety in life.

Most shed tears, other quietly pushed aside their feelings, and some wanted to go with her. However, her father was the only one to remain strong, and even if a lone tear ran down his face, it was partially out of joy, seeing his filly grow into a fine mare.

Blaze, once at the open gates of the village walls, turned to each of the faces that had helped raise her at some point of her life, and finally let tears fall. "Thank you, all of you," she started with tears falling down her cheeks. "I promise, I will not forget anything any of you have done for me, and I will not let it go in vain."

The filly's word were heightened in strength when the bright light from the raising sun followed her after her words. All in the village knew of the filly's impressive power for her age and of Blaze's ability to make the best of any situation. Now, with the bright warmth of the sun behind her, she was given a god-like appearance, and would be told of in tales thereafter as the descendant of the sun guardian herself; Yhi, the guardian of light and creation.

Three weeks later…

During Blaze's long journey, she traveled through several other villages, and was able to gain their assistance in her goal. When each village learned of her family's name and her goals, they were quick to give her aid in any way possible. Food, water, a bed to sleep on, training, and weapons. These were the gifts village chiefs and tribal shamans gave her after they heard she was going to end the life of the dragon towards the east.

Even when she came to villages with injuries from fighting off the dangerous creatures laying hidden in the cover of the night, they set aside whatever they were doing to give her aid. Blaze also encountered a tribe of all female mages, named Gerudo. It was there she learned a variety of spells ranging from simple and quick healing spells, to more furious attack ones with the Red Fang.

A part of Blaze wanted to take the leader of Gerudo's offer of staying becoming a member of their clan in order to further her knowledge in the magical arts. However, she had a destiny and promise to fulfill, and she wasn't about to turn a blind eye to it. After thanking the tribe for their kindness, Blaze continued her journey onwards towards the east.

She was even allowed to drop off her personal stuff in the care of the last village's shamans, for when she returned from her battle with her fate.

Blaze was more than grateful for their kindness as she still had much to do before her inevitable fate. However, her time of preparing was over as she stood outside of a massive stone cave entrance. The falling sun behind the cave, the pitch-black, ominous smoke emanating from the sky-high entrance...none of it was able to place a shred of fear in her heart..

As she took those first few steps in the cave, flashes of her entire life came before her, and she slowly realized that it had all been leading up to this one moment. From birth as the chief's first-born daughter, to her first steps as a mage-hunter, and her first spark which caused the ground to be forever scorched from her heat. All of it, every moment of her life, was working towards this. To avenge her fallen brothers, to claim her right as a unicorn mare, and to walk on the path of the destiny.

And there is no running from destiny.

Soon, quicker than she thought, she came to the elder dragon's den, and her eyes furiously scanned over the beast. Bright, yet faded, blood-red scales on her massive back, tall razor sharp off-white spines jetting out of her head trailed all the way to her spiked tail. However, despite the dragoness' massive size, Blaze could feel her magic was weak for some reason, and was growing weaker by the moment.

But she didn't dwell on that thought.

While she didn't know why the elder dragoness was weak, she wasn't going to question a blessing from the Guardians. For she had a destiny to fulfill. "Dragon!" she called out to the beast, thinking she was asleep, or purposely ignoring her magical presence as an insult to her. However, the dragoness seemed to still be unresponsive to her calls, seeming content to just puff out more towering clouds of smoke.

Blaze gritted her teeth at the dragoness' refusal to acknowledge her as it was another insult to her whole reason for having ventured so far out. Thinking the dragoness needed extra incentive to acknowledge her presence, Blaze pulled the Red Fang from its holster on her back. She lowered the blade to the ground as she channeled her magic to flow within the blade.

Her horn sparked a bright crimson hue before sending some of her magic towards the red-steel on the staff. Once fully charged, Blaze swung the blade from the ground and over her shoulder, sending a burst of her magic to the dragoness' back, and landed a blow on her back spines.

The sudden impact of magic on her body got the attention of the dragon, but she still refused to look Blaze's way. Her horn and eyes burned with rage at the dragoness' inattentiveness, as she had pushed herself for five straight years for this day, only to be faced with a dragoness that refused to move.

"Dragon!" Blaze shouted as she unleashed a fury of magical attacks with the Red Fang, each one growing in force than the last. "I won't let you run from destiny!" Finally, after the tenth slash of pure magic, the elder dragon started to move a sign that she was now willing to pay attention to Blaze, and started to swing her head towards her.

Both locked eyes, both having the same shine of crimson in them, but only one was burning with rage while the other held a sickly tone to it. "Leave," the dragoness started in a heavy tired breath as though she had been drained of all of her energy. "L-leave...me alone, dragon-seeker," she finally finished after a winded pause.

Blaze ignored the dragon's pleas as she launched another sweep of her magic at the dragoness, only for her to take it as if it was the hardest attack she had suffered in her long, lonely, life. "No, no you're not going to trick me dragon." The dragoness, who slowly recovered from the unwarranted attack, galred at the filly before her, but had little time or energy to deal with her. "I've came here to take what the Guardians have in store for me, and that's what I'll do. Even if I have to do it one attack at a time."

The dragon, of a size large enough to crush more than half of the villages Blaze had came across in her travels, growled at Blaze, and started to move closer towards her. Though each step took longer than the last, she soon stood at the ledge to the rest of her den.

As she puffed smoke and ash into Blaze's face, Blaze remained unmoved by it, and in fact took it as another insult to her purpose in life. In response, Blaze launched another burst of her magic from the Red Fang, catching the dragoness in the jaw, and throwing her back for moment. "You have ravaged these lands for generations, taken my brothers from me, and now are a part of my destiny. I will not leave this cave until you give up your dragon's soul."

While the filly continued to speak, the dragon's vision started to blur, and everything felt heavy to her. Even the air around her felt as though it could crush her. Blaze's voice soon started to become deaf to her as sound began leaving her as well. "Do you hear me! I will claim my right as a mare!" Blaze finished with another blast of magical slash from her bladed staff.

The attack from the filly, while tiny in comparison to the dragoness' size, was enough to send the dragoness to the ground with a massive thud. As she landed on his hoard of gold, gems, and metal ores, Blaze started to feel the effects of using the Red Fang more than she should have. Since she had oh-so foolishly wasted more than half of her magic just getting the dragoness' attention, Blaze was forced to use the staff to keep herself from falling to her knees.

"Why do you insult me dragon?" Blaze questioned in an accusing tone of voice while the dragon used all of her remaining strength to get back up. "My whole life...every single second of it was to prepare for this fateful moment. So why, why are you failing to acknowledge my power!"

Once the dragon was up again, Blaze raised the blade of her staff over her head, and was ready to put all the magic she had into one final attack when the dragoness blew out a sudden gust of ash and smoke.

The rushing winds were full of dark clouds that were strong enough to knock Blaze back on her flanks and break her of her concentration. She was forced back by the sheer strength of the winds, before she drove the blade of the Red Fang into the ground to halt her movement, and used one arm covered her eyes.

When the gust finally ended, Blaze opened her eyes again as she coughed out some of the smoke that she had unintentionally inhaled. However, she still forced her body to get up from the ground, pulling the Red Fang out of the ground, and quickly faced the dragoness as she suspected another surprise attack from her.

As Blaze got ready to counter whatever attack she had planned, the dragoness suddenly dropped her head at the very end of ledge, causing the ground to shake slightly, and nearly knocking Blaze over. Once she was able to regain her balance again, Blaze looked at the slow breathing dragoness with disbelief. Of all the things the dragoness could have done to her, she had simply collapsed mere feet away from her.

"What are you-"

"P-please," the dragon begged again in the same tired and raspy voice, breathing out thick clouds of pitch with breath she took. "I-I...please, leave me alone. I just want to be alone before I meet the four makers."

Blaze took a step back from the dragon, examining her facial features, and slowly coming to an answer for her lack of magic and energy. 'Wait she isn't…' "N-no, no, no, no...you are not dying of old age." The sound of the dragoness weakly chuckling told Blaze much more than what she wanted. "No," she shouted as she drove the Red Fang into the solid stone of the cave ground where her eyes started to burn holes in the stone ground. "No, you were to prove my power, you were to be my right to call myself a true mare. You will not die simply because of old age!"

"Gha, ha, haha…" the dragoness started to weakly laugh, only to be stopped by hacking out more sickly black smoke. "Y-you have," she was forced again to pause for breath, her time growing closer with every passing second, but forced herself to speak. "high standards...set for yourself, d-dragon-seeker."

Blaze snapped her head up to the dragoness as she again forced her body to move on her command. As she rose to her full height, Blaze couldn't help but feel fear going through her whole spine, but she refused to let the dragon see it.

"T-tell you this...dragon-seeker," the dragoness started again, her vision and hearing fading again, and she couldn't tell which was Blaze and what was the ground. "I-I have no further purpose...no offspring to live my legacy, but you," she paused to take a deep breath to remain living long enough to act on one final plea of the four makers. "h-have a long life in front of you. Y-you want power? You want to...know what it really means to live? V-very well," she finished with a massive breath of air.

The inhale of air was so large that Blaze had to use the Red Fang to keep herself from being pulled in. Through the dust and other material littering the ground, Blaze looked up to see a massive fire ball being formed above the dragoness' open maw.

Crimson, white, and black. Those were the only colors the rapidly growing ball of consisted of. Suddenly the ball began to collapse in on itself, and Blaze sensed a large buildup of magic, it felt impossibly dense to be that ever-shrinking orb. It was much worse when she had to undergo magic-weight training a few months ago and she didn't know if she could take much more of it.

However, she wouldn't have to as the dragoness shut her maw over the small overly concentrated flame ball, and anxiously awaiting for the dragoness' next move. She didn't have to wait long before the dragoness' body started to give off massive amounts of scalding steam, pulled her head back, and let loose a misty-almost spritical-pure crimson torrent of fire towards her.

Frozen in fear, it was far too late for Blaze to even try to run away from the inferno, and feared the dragon was taking her with him to the grave. However as Blaze slowly cracked her eyes open, she was beyond stunned to find that the pure blood-red fire wasn't even hot, and that the Read Fang was unaffected by it.

Instead, it seemed that she and the weapon were absorbing the magical flame as they were lifted off the ground. Scared and not knowing what was happening, Blaze fought against whatever forces was lifting her off the ground, but even her best efforts proved to be fruitless.

As her arms and legs were straightened out wide, restrained by whatever magic was going on around her, Blaze felt her magic reaching out to this new power around her while the Red Fang floated in front of her, trembling.

Tears begin to stream down the sides of her cheeks as her horn was being forced to withhold majority of the elder's magic while the Red Fang's blade started to tremble even more. Slowly, black dragon markings started to burn into Blaze's dull-blue fur while her mane and tail became denser. Two fangs sprouted from the top row of her teeth while her nails lengthened and became sharper as they continued to extend outwards.

Whilst the crimson flame started to swirl around to Blaze's horn and the blade staff, Blaze's eyes and horn were glowing a bright blood-red, lighting up the fresh tears coming down her face.

It wasn't because of the pain she felt as she had felt worse than this, but it was nothing in comparison to what the elder dragoness had called a life. Alone, lost, and always fighting for her next meal; her right to live. While she was suffering alone, numerous equines, canines, and few felines came one after another, attempting to end her miserable excuse of a life. Over the generations, the dragoness had become cold, and distant towards the rest of the world. She had learned the truth of the world:

She was doomed to kill those that she did not want to. Doomed to a life of loneliness and constant bitterness towards a world that refused to understand her. Doomed to a horrible fate worse than death itself. She had no purpose, no reason to live. Yet she had to do so; in spite of all of her riches, and power, she'd always been too afraid to cut her own thread short and end lonely suffering.

However, this filly, this small soul, held a burning will and passion that surpassed any she had gazed upon. Her magic was powerful, she was young, and she had the drive to go so far. Maybe this filly was a blessing in disguise from the great four makers to allow someone to carry out her legacy.

Blaze could no longer hold back her screams as generations of strife and hardship the dragoness had endured flashed before her eyes. The pain of her always and forever suffering, the loneliness that ate away at her hollow heart, and fear of someone finally ending her miserable and pitiful life.

As the marking of a dragon's skull edged its way on her stomach, with sharp fiery-looking black spirals coming off of it and to the rest of her body, the surge of magic finally began to abate.

Blaze's feet soon hit the ground along with the Red Fang floating in her bright blood-red of her magical aurora. With tears in her eyes, Blaze closed them and started to breath a small shot of crimson and white flames.

Her hand moved from her side and reached out to the staff in front of her, dropping her magical grip on it, but catching it before it could even touch the ground. As she turned away from the dragoness' den, she failed to acknowledge the dying elder that blessed her with such power, thanking her with a silent prayer to the Guardians for her safe passage to the great spirit world where she could finally rest in peace.

Once outside, Blaze's body started to heat up the cooling air of the cold night time, but paid it no attention. There was now only one thing on her mind, her real purpose in life hadn't been to defeat the dragon. No, it was to give her redemption, and to give her the chance to leave behind a better legacy.

It was to master this incredible power.

"M-more," she whispered to the high stars and moon above her head, her voice nowhere as high-pitched as it was before, and her eyes held a different kind of inferno. "I want...I want more!" Suddenly, Blaze raised the Red Fang above her head, and slammed it down into the stone ground.

The shining blood-red blade sparked with black and white flames before shooting out two separate streams of fire; one black, one white. As the two streams surged out from the blade, everything they touched was instantly incinerated and consumed by the rushing fire-streams. The white flame rapidly started to move away from the black one, and began carving a jagged spiral pattern on the ground.

Once the black flame had spread out for a half mile, it abruptly stopped, and shot out into two smaller streams that encircled the symbol the white flame just finished making. Even if she wasn't able to fully see what the two flames had created, Blaze had a feeling, no, she knew what the symbol was.

A black flame circle with white dragon markings that translated into two words: Ignis vitae, Fire's life, which she later found to be her cutie mark. Even with knowledge that she had her cutie mark now, she felt no elation. She had the power of a dragon, the dragon's blessing, and she wanted more.

/ Ch. 32: Family's Bond/-/

High Moon Ch. 32: Family's Bond

Isis stared at the shaking mare with wide eyes. Of all the lives she have seen come and go, all the things she seen others' ambitions drive them to, Blaze's was by far the strongest. Her mistress' sniffing broke her out of her wonderment and forced her to pull Blaze into her chest.

"Isis," Blaze started, shaking from the sphinx's touch, believing she didn't deserve the comforting embrace, but it was too welcoming to let go. "I-I'm so scared, I'm scared for my cub. What if...they can't handle the dragon's magic? What if they succumb to the same fate Spike is facing now? Oh Isis, please I…"

"Shh, mistress," Isis cut in, stroking Blaze's long mane to keep her calm, and tightening her grip around her mistress' body with her wings. "It is alright, you are a strong and powerful mare, and your cub has nothing to fear as long as they have you and master."

Lifting her head out of the soft and warm chest, Blaze looked up through her tear filled eyes into Isis' crimson and blue, seeing only truth held within them, coupled with an unyielding compassion for her.

"R-really, y-you mean it Isis?" Instead of answering right away, Isis moved closer to place a loving kiss on Blaze's lips, catching her off-guard before she resigned herself to her fate, and pushed back into the kiss.

Isis kept the mare lip-locked until she felt Blaze cease all crying and shaking. Once Isis pulled away, all that connected the two was a thin clear line of saliva, and again connected their eyes together. "Mistress, you had the power to tame the savage beast that dwells in master's mind," Isis started, both taking a look at the still unconscious dog, and blushing at the dried stains on his jaw. "You had the will to face an elder dragon on your own, at a young age no less, but more importantly…"

Blaze suddenly gasped when she felt Isis' hand rub over her stomach, and started to blush when she trailed up to her breasts. "Isis…"

Before her mistress could make any objections known, Isis again sealed her lips in another quick kiss before laying her forehead against Blaze's. "You have the compassion to go so far for your child," she whispered, again moving her hand back over her mistress' stomach, placing her other hand on Blaze's back to pull her closer. "Mistress," Isis, still whispering, moved her mouth over to Blaze's ear. "You're single-handly are the strongest one of us all. In body, mind, and magic."

"O-okay Isis," Blaze started, suppressing a tear, and wrapping the sphinx in her arms. "Thank you, I don't know what I would have done last night if you didn't show up." Again, Blaze found herself blushing as she remembered at some point during the night, before Isis showed up, she had been considering dragging both Quill and Frost into their dark lovemaking, but Isis showing up had prevented that from happening. Blaze didn't even want to consider the fallout that would have occurred if that had happened.

"No, thank you mistress," Isis started in a matter of fact tone that had Blaze blinking a couple of times. For a moment, Isis' normally calm and smooth voice almost sounded like Blaze's just a bit, but the sphinx continued to throw her off. "You've shown me what it really feels like being close to someone else, and the lengths you're willing to go to." Blaze looked up to the sphinx's now brighter eyes and only saw a wide smile on her face. "Mistress, you've showed me what it really means to be in love with another."

Blaze smiled, she was happy that Isis had learned something good from their rather...'unholy' night together with Wolf, and if she was holding that love towards the both of them, then Blaze was going to take the sphinx with open arms.

"You're welcome Isis," Blaze said before sharing another kiss with the sphinx. "Come on, let's wake the big bad Wolf so we can head to the falls to bathe." Isis giggled along with Blaze at her well-placed joke and got started to move off of the dog so they could dress. However, once they started moving, Blaze remembered the large fire-stone in her hands.

"O-oh right, the fire-stones, or rather fire-shard it seems," Blaze mused, examining the hunk of rock in her hands as it slightly pulsed with her magic. She knew the large rock held too much magic to be used as a key and that it could serve some other purpose.

Isis carefully moved over to Blaze's left side to gaze at the large shard of fire-stones. From what she could remember, the five stones fused together and formed the hunk that was now in her mistress' hands. She was quite curious about it.

"What do you have planned for it mistress?" she asked in a slight whisper so as not to wake Wolf before they were dressed. "Do you wish to experiment with it? I'm sure that it could hold some great value to High Moon."

Blaze took a moment to think about what the sphinx was suggesting, with as much magic that was in the fire-shard, who knew what it could do. On the other hand, she had already done many experiments with fire-stones. Learning how to light them with her magic, control the brightness of them, and splitting and reshaping them were just a few of the things that came to her relatively easy now.

And over the countless hours she had carried out many tests and trials with the gems, Blaze found that they had a small, subtle influence on her dragon's soul, and the dragon instructions that came with it.

"Maybe, but I have another plan for it," she finally said after another moment of thought. Blaze sparked her horn to take the fire-shard in her magical grip and placed it in a wooden chest on the other side of the room for later use. "There's something I want to see with the dragons here."

Isis raised an eyebrow towards her mistress but allowed her to fully explain everything. Suddenly, Blaze laid her head down on Isis' lap, and placed her hands over her stomach. Isis was slightly taken back by her mistress' sudden movement, but she certainly wasn't about to object.

"See," Blaze started, waving her one of her hands around while the other one was busy rubbing her stomach. "We know that Cyclone and the twins went through a greed-growth right?" Blaze rhetorically asked before continuing with her plans. "We also know that it took someone else to pull them back out, well, aside from Quill."

"Why is that mistress?" Isis asked, confused by the information as she wasn't fully informed of the twins' greed-growth a few years ago. "I thought that since they are twins, then they would change back because of the same reason. Right?"

"I dunno," Blaze started, shrugging her shoulders slightly before answering the sphinx's questions. "From what Spike has told me, he changed back because of a mare he once loved." Again, Isis raised an eyebrow towards this, but saved that question for later as Blaze continued onward. "However, Quill can't remember what happened to her, and no one seemed to know either. In fact, all she says she can remember was being unable to control herself."

"I-I see," Isis started, again thrown back by the information as she knew that most dragons couldn't change back from a greed-growth, and if they did, it meant that they were things of legend. "But what of Cyclone, has she told you what happened with her greed-growth?"

Blaze shook her head in Isis' lap and before she rolled over to her side and reached an arm around Isis' waist. Again, Isis didn't think to question her mistress' movement as she soon realized that she was doing it to keep herself thinking ahead of everything.

"No, she hasn't," Blaze answered, still quite curious about the full story, but not wanting to force the dragoness to relive something she don't want to. "From what I could get from Veil, Cyclone did it because she wanted to get Veil a good birthday present. However, that soon led to a greed-growth of her own, and destroyed a few buildings in White Tail."

This only furthered confirmed what Isis had believed about the two, they were much closer than just friends, and shared something most couldn't understand. "Also, just like Spike, it was Veil that broke her of greed-growth. I don't know about you Isis, but I'm starting to see a pattern here."

"Yes mistress, I do as well," Isis quickly answered, knowing what Blaze was trying to point out, and knowing that there had to be some kind of other connection. "All aside from Quill, the dragons were pulled out of their greed-growth by another, specifically someone that they're close to."

"Exactly," Blaze started with a nod of her head, not surprised that Isis was able to see the same conclusion as her. "I'm still unsure what happened with Quill, or if Frost had ever experienced something like a greed-growth. But that's what I want to see."

Suddenly, Blaze started to sit up, now moving near nose to nose with Isis. "Isis," Blaze started, not paying the sphinx's blush any mind as she locked eyes with her. "We need to test them." Isis blinked a few times, unable to follow the mare's sudden train of thought, and couldn't think of a proper response.

"Um…" For a moment Isis' mind stopped and heart skipped a beat at the shining orbs in her mistress' eyes. There was a certain...fire about them that ignited an inferno in her heart. However, Isis was able to soon regain some coherent thought. "What do you mean test them, mistress?" Isis asked with a confused look in her eyes while Blaze continued to press her nose against Isis'.

Blaze suddenly leaned back onto the bed with a slight smirk on her face. "Their greed," she started in a slightly eerie tone of voice that even had Isis blinking a few times. "We, or rather, I need to see if Quill can truly control herself, Spike and Cyclone to see if they would be able to handle their instincts, and Frost to see if she can control her half-blood."

"Oh I see," Isis said, seeing what Blaze was talking about, and following her off the bed to get dressed. Blaze simply put on a pair of pants along with the cloth she uses to cover her breasts while Isis had to use the same pair she had last night.

After Blaze had used her magic to make holes in the back of the thin fabric of one of Wolf's shirts, Blaze told Isis to put that on. Isis said she wasn't too keen on continuing to use Wolf's shirts, but when Blaze told her that he stayed bare-chested for much of the year, she was able to move past it. Once dressed, the two moved to wake Wolf, finding it more difficult than they had originally thought.

"Master, master Wolf, oh master please wake up," Isis said, shaking the dog's shoulder in weak attempts to wake him up while Blaze simply started to charge her horn. After a few more tries to wake the alpha, Isis turned to Blaze, and took a step back from the bed when she saw the bright glow to her own magic. "Um...mistress you don't plan on to-"

Isis, however, wasn't quick enough to complete her question before Blaze fired a small bolt of magic to Wolf's tail. It was at this point the alpha woke with a quick start, almost falling out of the bed as he was startled awake.

As he was glaring towards a giggling Blaze, the sounds of another's giggle forced him to turn his head towards Isis, and quickly remembered all of the events that happened last night.

"Isis," he started, rushing off of the stone floor to stand in front of Isis to take her hands in his. The sphinx was caught off-guard by her master's sudden movements and found herself blushing when he locked eyes with her. "Oh Isis, Blaze, please tell me I didn't hurt either of you," Wolf asked in concerned voice, always worried one day he would fully lose control of his alpha instincts, and hurt those he cared about.

Isis gasped softly in surprise that Wolf was so concerned for the both of them, but smiled when she realized that Wolf cared for all of them. "No, master, you didn't hurt either of us," Isis started, pushing Wolf's hands back to his sides, and taking his lips in a kiss. Wolf was slightly thrown off by the sudden kiss, but after remembering what happened between the three of them last night, he soon gave into it.

Wolf's hands instinctively reached out around Isis' body and pulled her close to him. The sphinx was caught off-guard by her master's sudden movement, but made no objections known. Isis' hands soon found their way onto Wolf's hardened chest, blushing from remembering last night.

Wolf's hands trailed over the sides of Isis' body before moving towards her back to the base of her wings. Isis began purring in the kiss when she felt her master's hands on her wing-base, and started to instinctively flex her wings a little. The feeling of having a trusted someone's hands on the sensitive weak spot on her back was heavenly.

Soon, the two parted, and stared into each other's eyes. Both of them were speechless at what happened, and neither one could think of something to say that wouldn't make them sound like complete fools.

Blaze, who was not feeling jealous of the sight in front of her, walked over to the two, and surprised Wolf by sneaking up behind him. "And... you showed us a good time," she finished what Isis was going to say in Wolf's ear. Blaze's horn briefly flashed for a bit, causing Isis' eyes to do the same thing, and soon both were wickedly smiling. "Come Wolf," Blaze started, rubbing her hands over Wolf's chest while Isis moved her hands over his broad shoulders. "After last night, we're in need of a good long bath."

"Mistress is right, master," Isis added in before Wolf could question the two's sensual rubbing. To further keep the dog off balance, Isis pushed herself further against Wolf's strong body, making sure to let him see a good amount of her breasts through his shirt, and licking on the underside of his chin. "We really must get washed up if we are to be around the others."

Wolf started to blush slightly from the two females' rubbing but somehow remained focused. "Y-yeah, right bath. Let me grab my pants and I'll take you two there," he said, wiggling out of the two's close embraces, and diving over the other side of the bed to put on his pants. But mostly to get away from the grabby females.

Both Isis and Blaze moved to wrap each other in a hug, looking over at Wolf and giggling at his antics. None of them questioned the new bond that they shared with each other nor did they think about it much. All that mattered was that the other was happy.

Soon, after Wolf had put on his pants from last night, and Isis dropped the barrier on the door, the three left the room to find a note from everyone attached to stone wall by a small soft pinkish glow.

Wolf recognized the glow from Lily's magic, but the handwriting didn't seemed to be hers. "What's this?" he asked, taking the sheet of paper off the wall, and reading it to himself.

Dear Wolf,

This is Frost writing you, Blaze, and Isis a note of what everyone will be doing today since we seemed to be unable to reach your room.

Quill and myself will be doing some training with each other and should be back in time for dinner. Spike has taken Cyclone to Ponyville to see if they could ask Dusk for help with her fractured dragon's soul. Lily has taken Veil and the phoenixes out to the city ruins to scavenge a few things that she seems to think of importance.

While I don't question whatever the three of you were doing that forced you to sealed yourselves away in your room, I must remind you that I still can sense emotions through solid objects when they are powerful enough. And let's just say, I had troubles keeping my changeling and dragon instincts from taking control, and so did Quill.

However, Wolf, when Quill and I do get back from training, I want to speak with you about something. Alone.

As Wolf had hoped, everyone was rather proactive about their roles in High Moon, and he didn't always have to stay over their head. However, his eyes looked over the last line of the short note with mild interest. He always had a feeling that Frost wanted to speak with him about something but couldn't with the others around to hear. Whatever it was, it probably pertained to why she was without a hive, and why Quill found her near death in Everfree.

"Wolf?" The sound of Blaze's concerned voice was enough to break Wolf out of his thoughts and forced him to look the mare's way. "Is everything alright? You seem deeper in thought than usual."

Wolf merely shook his head as he folded up the note and placed it in a side-pouch on his belt. "It's alright," he started with a chuckle and a firm smile. "Just Frost telling me what everyone is doing and that we've got nothing to worry about for the day."

Blaze looked into Wolf's eyes to see if he was in fact telling the truth, and when she didn't see or hear any falseness in his voice, she dropped the act and wrapped her arms around him. "Kay, fine. Come on, let's head to the falls."

"Yeah, yeah," Wolf started with a slight eye roll as he placed on arm around Blaze's body and the other around Isis'. For the third time this morning, the sphinx blushed from the close contact with her master, but again didn't make any objections known.

In fact, as they started to leave the temple and head towards the falls, both she and Blaze found themselves using Wolf as a brace to hold themselves up after finally feeling the efforts of last night's events. Walking had gotten so difficult that the two didn't think they could make it without leaning into the dog, their arms crossed behind his back.

Isis had even stretched a wing around her masters' bodies to keep standing. However, it still wasn't enough as Blaze's legs were weakening, and she would have fallen to the ground if it wasn't for Wolf catching her.

Wolf stopped walking to pick her up and hold her sideways close to his body. Blaze yelped in surprise from caught and picked up, but Wolf ignored her shout as he lowered himself to the ground to give Isis a ride on his back.

Of course the sphinx, deeply impressed at how fast Wolf's body could recover, said that it wasn't necessary for him to carry both of their weight, and that she was fine walking. Blaze was going to take the sphinx's side, not wanting to push Wolf's body too far, but Wolf didn't want to hear it.

"Oh yeah?" Wolf asked, standing back up from the ground with Blaze still held in his arms. "Try walking ten steps without wobbling." Isis opened her mouth to tell Wolf that she was fine, however, one look in his eyes told her that he wasn't joking around.

Isis closed her eyes and nodded her head, she was overjoyed that her master was concerned for her well-being over his own, but she didn't want to appear weak in front of him. However, she didn't have much say in the matter. "Y-yes master," Isis said with a slight sigh as she took her eagle-like wing off Wolf's shoulder and began to take the first step.

The first one wasn't too bad, slight pain in her flower, but nothing she couldn't hide. However, when it came to the second one, she felt her knees give out a little, and this time wasn't quick enough to hide it.

"I saw that Isis," Wolf called out to the sphinx, getting a sigh from her as she dropped her head in shame. Shaking his head, Wolf walked over to the sphinx, and again knelt down in front of her. "Hop on." Isis followed her master's command and hopped on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck. Once he felt the sphinx comfortably on his back, Wolf got ready to use the powerful muscles in his legs to lift both her and his marefriend, and carry them the remaining way to the falls.

"Okay, one...two...and three." Both Isis and Blaze gave a slight yelp when Wolf suddenly stood up without much troubles and Isis was forced to tighten the grip on him with her arms and tights. Once he felt the sphinx get a better grip, Wolf continued to walk over to the falls, still without much troubles when neither female moved. "Isis, you alright back there?"

Isis, blushing like a newborn kitten, nodded her head, and again tightened her grip around his fire-stone engraved black and silver collar. "Y-yes master, it's just that...I've never been carried before." Wolf chuckled a little at the blushing sphinx and turned his full attention to the path in front of them, lest he trip on something and cause them to fall to the hard ground.

"Don't worry Isis," Wolf started with an assuring tone of voice. "We're almost at the falls and there's a special spot that I wanted to take the both of you to." Isis looked at the side of Wolf's face with mild curiosity while Blaze knew of the spot he was talking about and she too began to smile in anticipation.

While Wolf continued to support the two's slightly equal weight without complaint, Blaze told him of her plans to test the dragons of High Moon with their individual greeds, and asked when it would be the best time to do so. It took Wolf a moment to think about it, every single one of the dragons always had something that needed doing in High Moon, but he was sure that he could get all of them to take the day off for Blaze's test.

She then rather firmly said that it had to be done before the twins' growth-spurts and no later. It was then that Wolf started to understand what Blaze was trying to say, and told her that he and Veil would have a spot set up for them in a day's time.

While the lovers continued to debate their plans, Isis marveled at how easily they could work with each other's thoughts as if they could read each other's mind. It wasn't just their cooperativeness that impressed Isis, it was well...everything about them.

Their compassion for one another over themselves, the connection they shared, their abilities to change everything on a moment's notice, and their willingness to go out of their ways for others.

Over Isis' long life, she'd never had the pleasure of being so close to beings that truly deserved the claim to nobility, or even royalty. Much more than both Celestia and Luna did when they were younger. Always fighting with one another, going against each other's backs, and taking things too far.

However, back then, Isis had no say so in the acts they would commit against each other. To them, she was nothing but a servant with god-like magic, and their ear for when they had something petty to say towards the other. But, here and now, Isis was something so much more: a family.

Finally, the sight of the falls came into view, but Wolf didn't stop at any of the pools of water. Instead, he continued up the hill, still easily supporting both Isis and Blaze's weight, and stopped when he was in front of a wall of ivy.

Only then did he kneel down to the ground to allow both females to again try and support their own weight. However, they both began wobbling until Wolf wrapped one arm around both Blaze and Isis' waists, leading them to the wall of ivy.

To stay in the supporting embrace of her lover, Blaze used her magic to push aside the thick wall of overgrowth so they could enter the hidden pool. "By the stars," Isis whispered when she was finally given full view of the secluded oasis.

Shimmers of blue reflected off the crystal clear water and the small pockets of crystals jetting out from the ground in clusters. Steamy water poured in from above the small pool, warming Isis' fur and opening her pores. A feeling of serenity, telling her that everything was alright, overtook her senses, and made her forget the centuries of being alone. Truly, only one word came to mind concerning the hot-spring oasis in front of her: 'Tranquillity'

"Isis," Wolf called out to the sphinx, breaking her out of her musing over the crystal-blue pool, and wrapped both of his arms around her from behind. Isis jumped slightly at Wolf's gentle touch as she didn't hear or see him moved up behind her. She soon started to lean in his surprise embrace, allowing him to make small bites alongside her neck, forcing a heavy sigh out of her.

Isis felt her knees grow weak again, but this time it was from her master's soft touch. She quickly felt the heat raise in her flower and didn't know if she could hold off her remaining sexual needs that had been building up over the many isolated years. "Oh master," Isis moaned when Wolf's claws scratched her stomach through the thin fabric of his shirt.

"Shh, Isis," Wolf whispered into Isis' ear as his hands started to trail further down, forcing Isis' wings to become slightly stiffer as they stretched outwards close to their full span. "I'm glad last night happened, there's been something Blaze and I wanted to ask of you. But first, let's get these clothes off," Wolf continued to whisper into her ears as he started to slide of her pants off, dragging his claws down her thighs.

Isis was forced to keep using Wolf to hold her up while he let the pants fall to the soft grass floor. Wolf trailed his claws back up to the hem of his shirt, and started to pull it off Isis' body, careful so not to catch her wings.

Blushing, Isis quickly covered her breasts with her hands making both Wolf and Blaze chuckle at the sphinx, only making the bright blush against Isis' black fur even brighter. "Isis, after last night," Wolf chuckled, taking hold of Isis' wrists, removing her hands from her breasts, and taking a small bite on the side of her neck again. "Don't you think trying to cover yourself up is a little silly?"

"Well...yes master," Isis said with a giggle of her own as she leaned back into Wolf's muscular chest again. "I guess these few days of wearing clothes have made me a little self-conscious about my body."

Wolf moved his hands down to Isis' slightly wet flower and started to lightly play with the outside walls, getting a low purr from the sphinx. "Well, you shouldn't be. You have a very beautiful body Isis, and little to be ashamed of." Isis moaned from the smoothness of Wolf's deep voice as it served to make the oasis around them feel that more calming. "Now come, we still have a mare to undress as well."

"M-mistress!" Suddenly, Isis moved out of Wolf's embrace with a shameful blush on her face, and before either lovers could question the sphinx sudden move, she bowed her head in shame. "Mistress, please forgive me, I was enjoying myself too much, and I-"

"Oh Isis," Blaze, who was enjoying hearing the sphinx moan and watching her enjoy herself, skipped over to Isis and cupped her soft cheeks to lift her head from the ground. "You really have to stop worrying so much. Frankly, I was enjoying myself more than you were." Isis pulled her gaze down to see a wet spot between Blaze's legs and soon understood what she was talking about.

Isis was going to speak up but was stopped by Blaze sealing her lips in a kiss. Isis wasn't even given the time to fight back before Blaze pulled away with a nibble on Isis' lower lip. "Now, 'help' me undress so we can enjoy this time together." Again, Blaze's horn flashed a bright crimson before Isis' eyes followed suit, and a soft smile formed on the sphinx's lips.

"Of course mistress," Isis said in a much calmer voice than before, suddenly feeling less conscious about herself, and more confident in following her masters' silent cues. Isis looked past Blaze to see Wolf sneaking up behind Blaze with a hungry look in his eyes. "Master, would you be so kind to give me some assistance with this?"

Before Blaze could turn around, Wolf snatched the cloth around Blaze's breasts, and tossed the white piece somewhere in the grass. Blaze was caught off-guard by the dog's sneak attack, and couldn't do anything about the sphinx sealing her lips while the dog reached for her pants.

Blaze moaned from being trapped between the two, from Isis' almost equally large breasts pushing against hers, and from Wolf's claws toying with her sore thighs. Soon, after Wolf finally let the mare's pants fall, the two females turned their attentions to their alpha, and slowly took their time with moving down to his pants.

However, eventually, everyone was undressed, and Wolf led the two females in his arms towards the steaming water. Upon first entry, any tensions the group carried just melted away thanks to the minerals in the water, and the three took the moment to silently soak their furs in the water.

Blaze, on Wolf's right side, rubbed her hand over his chest while she rested her head on his shoulder. Isis, on Wolf's left side, did the same as her mistress, and rested her head in the crook of his neck. Both marveled at the power that laid behind the growing coat of fur, strong enough to please the both of them until they passed out, then recover twice as fast as they did, and still able to carry the both of them up a rather steep hill.

However, neither knew of the alpha's adaptation: the number of mates they have makes them more powerful depending on how powerful the two of them are in balance. This is done because of an alpha's mentality: the need to remain physically the dominant one in the pack.

Even if they knew, they still wouldn't care as long as Wolf was happy with them. While the two played with his dense muscles on his chest, Wolf took the silent moment to think of what Frost could want with him when she and Quill do return from their training.

A part of him knew it was to question why she felt massive amounts of emotions coming from his room. He also knew that he couldn't tell her the real reason until after Blaze had tested all of the dragons in High Moon. The question was, how do you lie to a being that is a walking lie-detector?

However, another part of him knew she was going to finally tell him of her real intentions, and Wolf knew that Quill was already involved with them. He wanted to believe that she didn't plan on getting anyone in High Moon hurt, but, there was a sickening feeling that if he didn't pay close attention to the half-breed mare and her dragoness lover, no good would come from it.

"Wolfie…" Wolf looked down to the shimmer in Blaze's crimson eyes as they perfectly captured the reflection of the crystal-blue hot-spring and also captured his heart. "I think it's time," she slightly whispered with a small blush on her cheeks. Wolf knew what the blush and soft look in her eyes were for, he planted a quick kiss on the top of her horn before turning their attentions to Isis.

Before Isis could question the two, Wolf unwrapped his arm away from Blaze, and placed it around Isis' wide hips. Suddenly, Wolf shifted her closer to his chest in a quick motion while Blaze moved behind her. The sphinx slightly purred when she felt Blaze's hands outstretching her wings and rubbing the muscles underneath with care.

Leaning into Wolf for support, Isis looked up to her master's dull-green eyes that glowed a light-blue from the reflecting water. "Isis, there's something the both of us would like to ask of you," Wolf started, pulling Isis closer to his chest, and allowing her to get used to being in his arms. "Isis, we know that you've been alone for these last ten centuries, and there is nothing that we can do about it." Her master's words struck a hard cord in Isis' heart, she had tried her best to hide it when she first met Wolf in person, but she should have know better than to even think she could.

Besides, it didn't take much for one to realize that she had been alone for all these years, and only was able to watch the world change in front of her. However, Wolf and his pack had accepted her with wide open arms, and quickly made her feel like she hadn't been alone at all.

Seeing the smiles on their faces, knowing the hardships they were fighting through, it all made Isis want to be there for them when she could. Because she knew that they'd do the same for her.

"You've already been a major help around High Moon, but..." Wolf paused to move his hands down to Isis' haunches to give them a quick squeeze, forcing her to move her hands to his shoulders for better support. "you've haven't been taking care of yourself." Isis quickly understood what Wolf was suggesting, and if last night wasn't an obvious sign Isis have been neglecting her own desires, and hadn't learned how to properly deal with them.

"But that's not what we wanted to ask," Wolf continued, moving his hands back up to her waist while Blaze moved over to her ear. "Isis, we wanted to know, would you like to be with us? In a relationship, not just for your body, but for all of you." Isis' eyes widened at what she was being asked by her masters, they no longer wanted the master/servant relationship, but instead one where they were all equal to each other.

"Isis, we care about you, and we want to make you feel like you belong." They wanted to love her, like a family truly does.

"Oh master," Isis started as tears started to form around her eyes, overjoyed that the two were willing to let her find a spot in their relationship, and not only that, but become a part of it as well. "Yes, by the stars above, yes."

Isis quickly lifted herself to Wolf's lips with her hands on his shoulders so she could once again be taken away by him. While Isis' tongue carefully explored her master's, now turned true lover's, mouth, Wolf guided his claws over Isis' lower back, and used the sharp claws to tickle her fur.

Blaze, however, didn't just sit idly by as she removed her hands from Isis' large feathery wings, and moved them around to her breasts. Isis started to moan blissfully at her mistress' hands rubbing her breasts while Wolf's claws moved further down to her tights.

A soft giggle came from her when she felt Wolf's hardened shaft pressing against her stomach and made her yearn to be once again joined by her master; to feel at one with him. Isis slowly danced her hands over Wolf's chest again, still mesmerized by the strength they carried, and bewitched by what they could do. Soon, Isis' hands made it into the water, and reached down to Wolf's shaft.

Wolf started to growl a little when Isis began to stroke the length of his shaft in her hands, the hot-spring water providing perfect lubrication, and helping make the sphinx's rubbing much more pleasurable.

Seeing what Isis was doing, Blaze moved one of her hands down her body as well, and started to play with the outside walls of her flower. Isis' soft purrs started to grow louder at the hands of her mistress, and started to yearn for her sweet moaning voice again. That's when Isis moved aside to push Blaze into Wolf's arms so she too could bring pleasure to the dog.

Now, with his lips free and his two lovers stroking his shaft, Wolf was letting low growls of approval urge his mates on while his hands moved over to the two's bodies, and grabbed Blaze's flanks and Isis' hunches.

It wasn't long before Wolf let out a low roar that forced the two to cross their legs and flatten their ears against their heads. Yet again, the three took the time to enjoy the peacefulness of the hidden oasis, but enjoyed the alpha's strong embrace much more.

While Wolf had his eyes trained up to the redding sky above, both Blaze and Isis pressed their breasts against their dog's solid chest, and took turns licking along his neck and collarbone. Truly, Isis have never felt so close to any before, she knew that she'd still enjoy the company of the others, but Wolf and Blaze held a more special place in her heart.

"Isis," Blaze started in a low whisper so is not to disturb whatever thoughts were moving about Wolf's busy head. Isis turned her head on Wolf chest, hearing his heart beat in a slow calming rhythm, and knowing that it beats for the both of them. "I wanted to thank you, for listening to my story, and for last night."

Again, both females smiled with blushes on their faces about the memory and bond they shared last night. "I was worried that if I couldn't fully control the dragon-blood in me, that my cub would face the same fate," Blaze continued, moving her hand down off of Wolf's chest and to Isis' slender shoulders. "I was scared that one day, I would lose control, and that my cub would fall under it as well. I-"

"Mistress," Isis cut in, moving her hand down to Blaze's waist, and wrapping her in her wings. "Like I've already stated, you have absolutely nothing to fear." Blaze rested her head in the cook of Isis' shoulder while her black wings provided a warmth and safety that the water couldn't hold. "You are a powerful mare, you have master caring after you, and you have an entire growing pack doing the same. For you, there is no need of worry."

Blaze looked up into Isis' shimmering eyes as both it and her horn flashed a bright crimson before their lips met in a passionate kiss. Soon, sooner than the two would have liked, they were forced to part ways, but still laid her heads together. Both had soft smiles on their faces at the bright future that was ahead of them and their alpha. "Thank you Isis, for everything you've done."

"No, thank you mistress, for giving me a family."

/ Ch. 33: She's Counting On You/-/

High Moon Ch. 33: She's Counting On You

After leaving High Moon valley, Spike took Cyclone towards Zecora's hut to introduce Cyclone to the zebra, and to see about a potion that he was helping her make. Cyclone remained quiet for much of their visit, mostly because she couldn't think of anything to say to the mare.

Of course, this changed slightly as Spike was able to get Cyclone to talk about her life living with Veil in White Tail. Most of it concerned her and the canine just living together as 'friends,' as far as anyone was able to tell. Veil had taken any work she could get so they could have the things they would need to keep living in the house, while Cyclone cooked and cleaned.

Their lives hadn't been about achieving a dream or finding some goal in life. It was simply to make it through the day and get ready to face the next. Cyclone had no ambitions or ideas about where she wanted to be. She just wanted to be happy and living, that was it. As for Veil, Cyclone said that she didn't really think past the next three days at the most. That was mostly due to her mindset as a beta hound, planning for an unforeseeable future wasn't something she'd even thought of doing.

This got Spike thinking about himself and Quill. They weren't too different from Cyclone and Veil. Quill never planned much of anything out completely, and if she did, she would still constantly change her plans whenever something new and unexpected came up. As for himself, Spike had always prided himself on keeping a schedule and list of goals. One of the effects of living with a mare that praised checklists as gods.

However, it had been hard for him to do so as of late. At first, his goal had been to get strong enough to protect everyone from anything that would try to harm them. But now, it was just to get a balance in his life between his body and magic. The problem was that he didn't know where to start. Every time he tried to think of something he could do better to help with it he would only get as far as:

'There's a real small number of books about balancing dragon-magic, mind, and body. All while still having to deal with something that tried to kill ya in your sleep. Geez, now I know how Princess Luna must've felt.'

All he could hope to do was trust everyone to help him out while forcing himself to push past his limits. Spike couldn't begin to help anyone until he helped himself first, and he supposed that what Quill was doing the same.

He wasn't the only one that had a lot on his plate, even Quill was busy trying to achieve things of her own on top of taking care of her mare. Spike knew that Quill would do whatever she could to help him at any moment's notice, but this was his battle to face alone. How could he hope to help fight off dangers to Equestria if he couldn't even fight for himself? How could Spike ever understand what it meant to fight for a cause until he found one?

Quill had Frost and all of High Moon to fight for, Wolf was the same just with Blaze as his main concern, and the same could be said of Isis and the others. They may have all had their own battles to fight, but they still came together when it was necessary; as a family.

"So this Dusk guy," Cyclone began as she and Spike continued to walk through Everfree towards Dusk's house in Ponyville. She still was unsure about what all of this meant or if this half-breed could truly help her. However, if Clan-Mother thought that it was best for her then she wasn't in any place to argue. "Will he really know what to do for me?"

Spike turned towards his left to look into the worry showing from Cyclone's pink eyes, and quickly thought of a way to end this. "Yeah, of course he can help you Cyclone," Spike said with a happy tone of voice as they passed the threshold of the forest and entered into Ponyville just by Fluttershy's house. "He's a really cool guy too."

"I see," Cyclone muttered to herself as they started to walk through the streets leading towards Dusk's house. Somewhat surprisingly to Spike, there were hushed whispers throughout the town as the two dragons walking freely, questioning who the new face was.

Spike knew that most of the gossip was resentment from what happened during his and Quill's greed-growth two years ago and the incident with the elements two months ago. After destroying a good portion of the town just by himself, Spike wasn't too surprised that some of the ponies still feared or were threatened by him. Then there was the incident at the palace's library, only Celestia knew how much knowledge and other very important information had been lost because of him.

Spike couldn't fully blame many of the ponies for the way they felt right now, he could only hope that they didn't decide to walk the same dark path their ancestors did as dragon-hunters. However, that didn't stop a deep frown from growing on his face as the gossip soon turned to Cyclone. Some ponies even went as far as to say that Cyclone belonged to Spike, and that he had 'claimed' her. Of course none of this was true, but it didn't help that Cyclone grabbed onto Spike's arm and started to walk closer to him.

"Cyclone, what's the matter?" Spike whispered in a hushed voice as they rounded the corner towards Dusk's house so they could find the answers that they needed and a sanctuary away from the judging eyes. "No one is going to hurt you, they're just curious is all."

Cyclone's eyes gazed furiously over the many faces of the ponies all still attempting-and failing-to hide their voices from them. This wasn't her first time being under the judgmental eyes of ponies before. Ever since her greed-growth, Cyclone had noticed the change in the treatment she had gotten from the ponies and other town goers. She knew what the stares were for, she knew what the whisperings were of, she knew what the hate in their eyes meant.

"They're no different," Cyclone muttered under her breath with an angry and bitter tone in her voice. One that told Spike that she'd been in the same situation before and that she wanted to do anything to get out of it.

"Come on Cyclone," Spike said, picking up his pace so they would be able to reach Dusk's house faster. It wasn't long before the two stood at the two-story house before Spike reached out and knocked on the door.

"Coming~" Both Spike and Cyclone blinked several times at the singing voice that came from the other side of the door. However, before they could question it, the dark oak door swung open to reveal Jinx with nothing but a large purple towel around her body and a smaller blue one holding her mane up.

"Oh hiya Spike," Jinx started with a slight blush as she quickly moved to fix the purple towel around her body better before inviting them to come inside. "What brings you here, and who is your friend?" she asked as she continued to get herself ready for the date that Dusk was taking her and Sketchy on while Spike led Cyclone towards the couch.

"Hey Jinx, this is Cyclone," Spike started, waving his hand over towards the dragoness that was still trying to use him as a shield. "Cyclone this is one of Dusk's mares, Jinx." Cyclone looked up from Spike to meet the smile on Jinx's face before giving a small wave. "We came to ask Dusk a quick question. He isn't too busy right now, is he?"

Jinx placed a finger on her chin to think for a moment before shrugging. "I dunno, he should have some time to help you guys out. Here, lemme go get him," she answered before ascending the stairs and walking towards their bedroom where she last saw Dusk.

It wasn't long before Dusk came walking out of the room wearing a white dress shirt, black dress pants, and a purple vest. Upon seeing the half-breed dressed up in such a way, Spike couldn't help but give a whistle of amazement.

"Whoa Dusk, what's the occasion?" Spike asked as Dusk started to make his way down the stairs and towards him and Cyclone. Spike never would have thought that Dusk was the one to clean himself up for any reason. Even Cyclone was impressed with the way the half-breed was dressed and she'd just met him. "Going out or something?"

Dusk started to chuckle at the drake a little as he gave a quick spin around to show off how well dressed he was. "You could say something like that Spike," he answered before turning to the new face in the room. However, upon doing so, Dusk was able to sense something wrong with the dragoness. "So, who is your new friend here Spike?" Dusk asked, taking a seat in a chair across from them. "And I want the full story."

Cyclone sighed when she realized that Dusk already somehow knew about her fractured dragon's soul just from looking at her. "M-my name is Cyclone," she answered quickly as she could feel that Dusk was far stronger than both twins and was a bit ahead of Frost's magic levels. "S-so, you're what's called a half-breed?"

"One of the many types, yes," Dusk answered with a nod of his head as he remained seated upright in the chair so not to ruin his clothes and get yelled at by Sketchy, who was already freaking out. "So how did it happen Cyclone? It's pretty hard for a dragon to lose that much of their dragon's soul and continue to live."

Again, Cyclone sighed when Dusk got straight to the point, and started to shake a little from the memory behind the reason. "I-I went through a gr-greed-growth five years ago, and I-I spat out some of my dragon's soul."

"Hm...now that's something, and I think that your greed-growth may be the cause," Dusk said, leaning forward slightly to think further on the dragoness' situation. It's one thing for a dragon to come out from a greed-growth, it was a whole other thing for them to come out unharmed.

"Wait," Spike stared, only to take a moment to think for a bit. "Me and Quill went through a greed-growth two years ago, so how come this didn't happen to us?"

Dusk rubbed his chin for a moment to think about what Spike was saying. He knew that the twins went through a greed-growth, so the question was why didn't they suffered the same fate as Cyclone. "I dunno," he started, waving his hand around to keep his train of thought going. "Well, with Cyclone, it could have been a sudden growth of ghost-heart in her. That would have caused her to spit out a chunk of her dragon's soul."

Cyclone again sighed when she heard Dusk say the same thing that Blaze did the other day. It was hard to tell which was the bigger blessing, not killing anyone during her rampage, or not being taken by ghost-heart. "With you two, I dunno. It could have been the fact that you two lived docile lives, or just by pure luck. Who knows, I would be able to tell you more if I was there."

"I'm kinda wishing you were," Spike mumbled to himself with a sad look on his face. Cyclone looked up towards the sad look in Spike's face, already wanting for it to go away the moment she saw it. Then she thought back to every time Veil was in the same rut and quickly thought of a way to at least make him smile.

"It's alright Spike," she said with a small smile on her lips, wrapping the drake's arm with hers, and pressing her chest into it. "It's a scary thing to go through, I know that you didn't mean any harm." Spike blushed brightly from the dragoness' sudden actions, stammering to look for something to say.

Dusk chuckled at the two's antics, also hoping that Spike would man up and make the first move this time around. However, there still was the matter of dealing with the dragoness' missing piece of her dragon's soul. "She's right Spike, I know I already told you this but greed is a dangerous and important thing for dragons. Remember that, mate."

"Y-yeah I will, th-thanks Dusk." Spike slightly stammered, using his only free hand to rub the back of his head. Cyclone giggled at the blushing drake, admittedly finding it cute when he was flustered.

Dusk, overlooking Spike's blushing, nodded his head to the drake before turning his attention back to Cyclone. "Alright now Cyclone," Dusk started to get her attention, which consisted of her merely turning her head towards him. "I know it's been a long while but, do you know where it is? The fragment of your dragon's soul?"

"Well...ye-yes, I do," Cyclone answered again with a small nod of her head. "I-I had it made into a necklace for m-my friend, Veilstone." Dusk reeled back in his seat with the look of pure shock on his face, as something like that was unheard of by any dragon. "I-I wanted to give her something s-special for her birthday, and...and I…"

Dusk sighed at the sight of Cyclone breaking down into tears, which made what had to be done that much harder. "Now that really is something," he started with a scratch of the back of his head. "Well...there isn't much you can do."

Cyclone froze when she heard Dusk say the same thing that Blaze had yesterday and already knew what his next few words were going to be. "The best I can think of for you to do is train like your life depends on it, cause it kind of does."

"O-oh...C-Clan-Mother kind of already told me that yesterday," Cyclone meekly said as she tightened her grip around Spike's arm, as if to find something strong to keep her from breaking down. "Clan-Mother also s-said that it will be difficult for me to get control of my magic...because I-I have fire and water elemental-magics."

Dusk slowly nodded his head, knowing about the disadvantages of having two opposing elemental-magic. Luckily enough, neither him, nor his other four siblings had to worry about that when they were being trained by their father. "Yeah, dem's the breaks," he said with a shake of his head and a small sigh coming afterwards. "I can tell ya this, you might want to just learn some basic stuff to focus your body and magic on for now."

Cyclone let out a long sigh as she dropped her head onto Spike's shoulder, briefly tightening her grip around his arm before relaxing again. Spike looked down towards the slightly shivering dragoness and knew that there had to be a better way. "We already knew that, Dusk," Spike started, turning his attention back to Dusk while Cyclone again used him as a shield. "Frost said that the safest way for her to get her dragon magic under control would be for her to train just as much as me and Quill. But there has gotta be other ways."

"Well, that's not the only way," Dusk started, taking a quick glance towards the clock, and standing up from his seat with a sigh. "The fastest way is just to take back what was lost." Again, Dusk caught Cyclone jumping slightly as she now began obviously hiding behind Spike. Even as a stubborn and dense dog, Dusk could already tell what the answer was regarding his suggestion.

"Another way is for her to train," Dusk continued, only getting a sigh out of both dragons. As Dusk continued to look at the two, he noted the sadness on both of their faces, and couldn't stand to see them. "There is one last way she could get control of her magic, but it's too dangerous for you guys."

"Come on," Spike started, not liking how Dusk was refusing to tell them of the last way to help Cyclone, but slightly off-put by his suddenly dark tone of voice. "Dusk whatever it is, we've got to try for Cyclone's shake." Once again, Dusk was silent as he remained standing in front of the two dragons. "Dusk if it can work then-"

"No Spike," Dusk cut in with a shake of his head before he began walking towards the two of them to place a hand on both Cyclone and Spike's shoulders to get the both of them to look him dead in the eyes. "It won't work, it'll just get the lot of you killed." Spike let out a long sigh but soon nodded his head in understanding.

Dusk sighed at the silence he got from Spike and the other dragoness, and as much as he wished he could spend more time to helping the two, he couldn't. "Look," Dusk began, backing away from the two, and glancing towards the clock. "You know I would help some more if I could, but not right now. I've got a little too much to do today, and we'll be leaving for Canterlot in a few days."

Spike's ear-fills perked up at the sound of where Dusk and his mares would be going to in a few days. "Why are you going to Canterlot?" Spike asked, looking back up to Dusk as he started to walk over to his stairs. "Is Rarity taking you guys to some art show?"

Dusk chuckled for a bit as he shook his head, knowing the next time he saw the elements it would be far too soon. "Nah, I owe Vinyl a favor, and she's got me playing in a show with her in like...two days," Dusk answered, leaning against the stair railings. "Listen guys, I would love to help out anyway I can, but not right now. Either early tomorrow morning or after a few days, that's ya'lls best chance to come around again."

"No, don't worry about it," Spike started as he stood up from his seat with Cyclone wordlessly following him. "We came without notice, so it isn't your fault that you have stuff to do. We'll do what we can for Cyclone." With a nod from Dusk, Spike started to leave out the house with Cyclone when Dusk stopped him.

"Hey Spike," he called out after noticing how much Cyclone was holding onto Spike and came to a slow conclusion of his own. He knew that while it wasn't really his place to say anything regarding how the white dragoness was acting towards Spike, he felt he had to give the drake some encouragement regarding her.

Not to mention the way Cyclone spoke, using the term 'Clan-Mother,' told him that she had to been in a dragon clan at some point of her life. Once Spike finally turned his head towards him, Dusk flashed a smile before nodding his head towards Cyclone. "You take care of her. She's counting on you."

Spike was about to question the half-breed when Cyclone's grip on his arm tightened and she had a bright blush on her white scales. "Uh, hey sure Dusk. I will," Spike replied before reaching out to the door handle to lead Cyclone back to High Moon. "Be seeing you around, Dusk, and good luck with your date."

"Thanks, I'll be needing it. See ya guys," Dusk called back to Spike before walking back towards his bedroom to finish getting ready for the date while Spike closed the door behind him. Once outside, both Cyclone and Spike let out a long sighs as they were hoping the Dusk could help with the situation in any way.

With nothing left to do, the two began to walk down towards Everfree to head back towards the temple to inform the others of the news. During said trip, Cyclone didn't release her grip on Spike's arm, and was still using him as a shield to hide away from the ponies' judging eyes.

While Cyclone attempted to hide, Spike thought back to what Dusk had said to him before they left his house. "She's counting on you." Spike looked down towards Cyclone to see the look of fear and small tinge of hatred lacing her eyes.

"Come on Cyclone," Spike said, pulling Cyclone out of her staring match with a few of the ponies. When she looked towards the drake, Cyclone saw only a bright smile that somehow told her that everything was going to be alright. "Let's go home."

"Okay Spike," Cyclone said with a bright smile as she continued to faithfully follow the drake back to the temple and her new home. Thinking that they could use another visit with Zecora, and that it was best if Cyclone was out of the main part of Ponyville, Spike started to lead her towards Fluttershy's house so they could leave the town that way.

Thankfully, his choice was the right one as the number of ponies began dwindling to the point that they were able to talk amongst themselves. Cyclone quickly apologized for the close contact all day long, saying that it was just her clinging onto someone that she instinctively thought could protect her.

Spike was flattered that Cyclone said that she believed him to be someone strong enough to protect her, self-deprecatingly saying that he wouldn't be the best of choice. He went on to say that he didn't mind she had been holding onto his arm all day, though. Spike couldn't understand just why he felt this way, it just felt right, natural even.

Cyclone then continued to say that it was just Spike's natural instincts as a drake, more specifically, a salamander drake. She said that there was nothing wrong with him following the subtle push from his instincts, so as long as he stayed true to himself then no one could tell him otherwise.

After Spike had thanked the dragoness for her kind and caring words, Cyclone again turned the conversation towards something else along the lines of Spike being a salamander drake. "So, Spikey," she giggled, believing that she was the first one to ever call Spike by that nick-name. "Have you...you know, claimed anyone yet?"

Spike raised an eyebrow towards the dragoness' question, not seeing the meaning behind it until he looked over to Cyclone's bedroom eyes. "W-well...no, I-I haven't just yet," he said with an awkward sigh, scratching the back of his head with his hand. To be honest, Spike had never thought of doing that with anyone just yet.

He had always firmly believed that he should marry the one he planned on being intimate with first. However, so far, Spike couldn't even get a date, let alone get to first base without something going wrong. He'd already blown it with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, and there was just no way he was going back to Rarity.

Then he thought about his sister. Quill had, presumably, already been intimate with Frost who knew how many times so far, and yet they hadn't married each other, nor had they even went on what could be considered a date. He again assumed that Quill was doing just that when she and Frost flew off somewhere without telling anyone what exactly they were doing.

Not that he still questioned their relationship or anything, but it would do him some peace of mind to know what they were doing, or maybe he was better off not knowing. "To be honest, I hadn't given that much thought just yet."

"Hm, is that so," Cyclone mused with a small, sly, smile on her face, almost as if she was thinking something to herself. "Spike can I ask you a question?" Wondering what the dragoness was thinking, Spike wordlessly nodded his head. "Have you and Quill reached your growth-spurts yet?"

"Uh, no, Blaze said that it may happen during the winter at the rate our bodies are changing." Spike watched as Cyclone again lowered her eyes, this time with the look of thought on her face, and it only made Spike's curiosity rise. "I'm just hoping by then I'll be out of these magical-limiters. Why do you ask anyway?"

For a moment, Cyclone just continued to walk beside Spike as she kept her thoughts to herself, and from the look of things they were heavy thoughts. Suddenly however, she began giggling with a blush on her face, and this oddly scared and enticed Spike at the same time.

"Oh, no real reason Spike," Cyclone finally said, looking Spike straight into his green eyes with a bright blush on her white scales. For a moment, Spike's heart skipped a beat when he looked into the bright shine in Cyclone's pink eyes, forcing him to pay attention to every word that came out of Cyclone's mouth. "It's good to hear that you and Quill will be growing up to be strong dragons soon, that's all."

Spike began blushing again when he caught himself staring into Cyclone's eyes for too long, turning back down the dirt path. "H-heh thanks Cyclone," he said as he stretched the back of his head while Cyclone continued giggling at him. "That really means a lot coming from another dragon."

"Don't mention it," Cyclone said with a cheery voice, walking closer towards Spike to where their arms were nearly touching. "As a dragoness, it's my job to point out strong and suitable drakes, and you're one of them Spike."

Spike's mind started to quickly race for something, anything, to say to Cyclone, just to keep her smiling and happy after the great loss she just experienced yesterday. 'Don't say something dumb, don't say something dumb, don't say something dumb, say something though!' "I uh, er, did you know Quill can sing?" 'Smooth Spike, real smooth.'

While Spike was mentally kicking himself around, Cyclone began giggling at how cute he was when he was flustered, making sure to tease him enough before he could get used to it; which at this rate may never happen. "Oh can she now? I would never have pegged your sister to be the one to sing."

'Er, did that really work?' "Y-yeah, it came as a surprise to me when I learned about it too," Spike said, thinking back to a rather embarrassing misunderstanding a few years ago, but happy that it turned out the way it did. "I still don't understand how she does it so well with the speaking voice she has."

"Well," Cyclone started, pausing to take Spike's hand in hers as she placed a hand on his shoulder to lean into his ear. "Quill isn't the only one that can hit the high notes," she whispered in a low tone, far lower than her normal speaking one, leading Spike to believe he'd heard what a real seductive voice was supposed to be.

Once she saw that Spike got the message, Cyclone removed herself from his body, and began to walk down the path with a natural sway in her hips, leaving Spike with his jaw hanging open. He didn't know why, but something felt like it was burning inside of him, burning so hot that it almost hurt.

"Oh Spikey~" Spike refocused his eyes to see that Cyclone was a fair distance away from him and again was giving him the bedroom look. "It isn't nice to let a dragoness wander off by herself." Spike quickly moved to again stand by Cyclone's side. He couldn't explain why, it just felt as though he wanted, almost needed, to make sure Cyclone was protected, it felt...natural. "So what are we going to do for the rest of the day?"

"Hm," Spike started, tilting his head in thought for a moment. "Well, no telling when Quill and Frost will be back, I'm fairly sure that Lily and the others will be gone all day, and I still don't know what's up with Wolf, Blaze, or Isis. So uh, you want me to show you a few tricks with your water-magic?"

For a moment, Spike caught Cyclone's eyes sparkling like Twilight's would when something incredible happened, but then quickly faded. "Sure Spike," she said, turning towards him with a bright smile on her face. One that Spike believed suited her better than the sad one from yesterday. "Miss Winds told me that I should be working on my water-magic whenever I could, I guess now's as good a time as any."

"Great," Spike started with a bright smile of his own, one that Cyclone believed suited him better than the bothered one he had all day yesterday. "We can start after some lunch back at the temple. That alright with you, Cyclone?"

Suddenly, Cyclone wrapped herself around Spike's arm again, nuzzling her cheek against him. "That's fine by me Spike," she said with a giggle as she tightened her grip around Spike's arm, taking his hand in hers. "So as long as you don't stop smiling, I'm happy." Spike's eyes widened at was Cyclone said, not believing someone he didn't even know well was treating him so nicely.

He couldn't make sense of it, and he kind of didn't want to. It all felt...natural.

Spike turned his head downwards to Cyclone, only to see her smiling brightly towards him. "W-wow, th-thanks Cyclone," Spike finally stammered as they were reaching the bridge towards Fluttershy's cottage. From there all they would have to do was turn left and follow the stream all the way back to the temple. "That...that really-"

"Spike?" Upon hearing the voice of someone that he never thought he would hear in a long while, Spike was forced to turn his eyes away from the beautiful pinks in Cyclone's eyes, and up the bridge to the last mare he wanted to see: Rarity.

"Spike darling, is that you?" Spike didn't answer the mare for a moment, not daring to continue looking at the one that he suspected was responsible for a large portion of the ghost-heart he was dealing with now. However, the mare wouldn't be ignored so easily. "Spikey, darling, please at least speak to me."

Sighing, Spike turned his eyes away from the small and insignificant stream that led home, and turned towards the glamorous mare. "Yeah Rarity, it's me," he answered with a forced smile on his face. "So, you doing any better? It's been more than two months now."

Cyclone quietly watched the mare, and upon hearing her name, became slightly wary of how she acted. Thanks to Quill, she had heard of a few of the things that the mare was guilty of doing to Spike. Using his heritage for her personal gain, taking advantage of his trust, and toying with his heart.

Something like that was inconceivable in dragon culture. No drake, regardless of upbringing should or would have to put up with something like that without getting something in return. From the lack of a gem hoard, and from not having claimed anyone just yet, Cyclone was able to tell whatever the mare gave him wasn't worth Spike's efforts.

It was obvious to her, if this mare actually held any feelings for Spike, she would have treated him better. She would have treated him with some kind of respect, not like some wild animal that was doing tasks in exchange for a simple treat. She would have treated him as an equal.

She would have treated him like the drake he is.

"Yes dear, I...we are doing much um, 'better' as the best way to put it," Rarity answered with a small laugh as she rubbed her arm, showing how nervous she really was. "It truly has been a rather eventful week for us," she continued to say, taking a step towards the two dragons. "I ho-"

Rarity lost her words when Cyclone moved in front of Spike, placing her hand on his chest while she shot an angry glare towards Rarity. The burning rage in the unknown dragoness' eyes was enough to get Rarity to not only stop moving towards them, but also to take a step back from her.

"Um, wh-who is your friend, Spike?" Rarity asked, directing her question towards Spike, but keeping her attention on the malice pouring out from the white dragoness' pink eyes. "S-she seems to be...uh, nice."

Spike, still trying to understand where Cyclone's sudden aggression was coming from, opened his mouth to answer Rarity's questions, but was prematurely cut off by Cyclone growling, "My name's Cyclone, and I can speak for myself you know," she answered with a few small wisps of azure-colored flames coming out of her mouth as she spoke. "I take it that you're this, 'Rarity Belle' I've been hearing oh-so much about?"

Rarity was taken aback when she heard that the new dragoness had heard about her from the twins, quickly wondering just what was said about her. "O-oh, I must apologize to you, Cyclone," Rarity said, trying to sound unfazed by what the dragoness was saying. 'Stay calm Rarity dear, she doesn't know you just yet, besides, this wouldn't be the first time...'

"So I take it that you and Spike are close friends," Rarity said, noticing Cyclone's close proximity to Spike and the blush on his face. "I would love to hear about it, if that's okay with you two. It's been far too long since we last spoke, Spikey-Wikey."

Knowing what the mare was really saying, Cyclone again began menacingly growling at Rarity with more wisps of uncontrolled azure flames flowing freely from her nose. This little pony actually thinks that she could use a nickname to lure him back into his old life as a slave?!

"Why you arrogant-"

Cutting Cyclone off, Spike took her hands into his to gain her attention, and to silently tell her not to cross that line. "Actually Rarity," Spike started, holding onto Cyclone's hands until he felt her ease them up before moving them off his body, but still holding them as he took a step towards the mare. "We can't really stay. Got a lot that we need to get done today, you know, training and stuff."

"Ah, I see," Rarity mused for a second, thinking of some way to get Spike to stay a bit longer so she could say what she needed to say. "S-surely it could wait, at least long enough to speak with the others...right?"

Sighing, Spike shook his head with his eyes closed so he didn't have to see the sad expression on Rarity's face. "No we really can't Rarity, not now, and not for awhile. There's too much to get done and we can't afford any time wasted on messing around."

"Messing around?! I...well, could I at least know what brings you two here?" Rarity tried to move past the slight that Spike had so casually thrown out, and forced a smile on her face. "I'm guessing that I'd be right if I said that it wasn't for us, was it Spike?"

'So she is just going to ignore me?' Driven by the anger that was building inside of her, Cyclone's hands began curling into claws, intent on ripping the rudeness of this haughty mare. Spike noticed this, realizing that Cyclone wasn't enjoying being talked around as if she wasn't there. He moved quickly to try and hurry things along. "Nothing much, we just came in town to ask Dusk a few questions about dragon stuff."

"Oh my, I'm sorry you had to do that," Rarity said, confusing both Spike and Cyclone. "I do hope that brute wasn't too harsh with you two."

For a moment, all Spike could do was stare at Rarity with a look of disbelief on his face. Sure, he knew that Dusk and Rarity would never be friends no matter what happened, but he would never have thought that she would go as far as to talk bad about him.

"Rarity what are you talking about?" Spike questioned, more than slightly miffed about the tone Rarity had when she was speaking about Dusk. "Dusk isn't a brute. He's the nicest and coolest guy I've ever met in my life. I mean," Spike paused, disbelief coloring his laugh that this was even happening. "Right now, he's busting his butt to pull together a date for his mares, and you call him a brute?"

Now it was Rarity's turn to stare at Spike, shocked that Spike would take a liking to someone such as Dusk. "That's because it is the truth Spike," she said with a more firm tone in her voice that neither dragon liked. "You should have heard the things he said to me and the other girls."

"Well maybe he was trying to get through to you girls. Ever think that, Rarity?" Spike retorted, finally letting go of Cyclone's hands and taking one large step towards Rarity, stopping right in front of her. Spike glared deeply into the shocked expression in Rarity's eyes, finally seeing why Quill never wanted to deal with the elements.

Closing his eyes, Spike calmed himself before speaking, "Two months Rarity," he started with a slight pause, rubbing his face before opening his eyes again. "You girls couldn't stay together for two months without us? You even abandoned one of your own friends, or did you forget that already? You know what?" Spike turned his head towards Everfree and let out a sigh of green flames. "Come on Cyclone, let's go home. We've got nothing left to do here."

Spike quickly turned away from Rarity to start leading Cyclone back to back to the temple in High Moon. However, when he felt a tug on his tail, Spike turned his head around to find the Rarity was holding onto him with a begging look on her face. "What is it Rarity?"

"Spike...p-please don't leave, darling," Rarity pleaded, refusing to look Spike in his powerful emerald-green eyes, ashamed for not being able to. "We've missed you and Quill. We're...I'm sorry for what happened. Please darling, come back to us. I promise that we won't use either of you any more, we'll treat you how you should've treated from the beginning."

Spike frowned when he saw that Rarity couldn't even meet his eyes, sighing as he turned his head back around and saw a worried look on Cyclone's face. This situation was the exact same as it had been two months ago, which left Spike greatly disappointed in Rarity. He didn't know about the others, but he would have at least thought that Rarity would have shaped up just a little.

'I should've known better...'

"Sorry Rarity," Spike said, flicking his tail free from Rarity's hand, and walking back towards Cyclone. Once he was standing in front of the dragoness, Spike gave a quick smile to tell Cyclone that he was alright, and that there wasn't anything to worry about. "That's not an option anymore. Me and Quill, we got our own lives to live now, and we can't stop. Not after everything that's happened."

Without saying another word, Spike began leading Cyclone back towards Everfree, leaving Rarity standing on the bridge with a shocked look on her face. However, as they continued to move down the stream, the shocked expression turned into anger.

"And what's that supposed to mean, huh?" Rarity shouted at Spike, never having expected him to betray her like this. He'd always been there when she needed a hand, ready with a smile on his face. And now, after two months of living out in the Everfree Forest of all places, he was ready to just give up on his old life? On his old friends? It didn't make any sense, unless…

"Oh. I see. It's her, isn't it?" Rarity spat out with a high and mighty tone of voice, getting both dragons to stop their walking. "She's the reason you're willing to just up and abandon your friends?"

Spike looked back towards the scornful look on Rarity's face, wondering why she was speaking in such a way. "Wha...Her? What does Cyclone have to do with me not wanting to come back?" Spike was confused. This didn't make sense, Rarity wasn't making sense. "I don't want to go back because you and the others wouldn't let Quill and me grow up. You didn't, couldn't, teach us anything about being dragons."

Rarity appeared to be unconvinced with what Spike was saying, as if she couldn't believe that they learned anything with Wolf's pack. "Rarity, it doesn't matter if you believe me or not, but me and Quill, we've grown and learned more in the last two months than we did our entire lives living with Twilight or even Celestia."

Closing her eyes and shaking her head, Rarity sighed as she refused to accept that Spike was happier in Everfree than he was in Ponyville. "We didn't know anything about raising dragons, Spike, and you very well know that. But I see how it is," Rarity slowly spoke with a growing dark tone in her voice. "The very moment some 'cute' dragoness bats her pretty eyes at you-"

Rarity's growing rant was cut off as she heard a heated hiss from behind Spike, and saw the porcelain newcomer begin to lunge at her with flickers of azure flames and threads of water from the stream. However, Spike was able to catch her the moment he realized that she intended to fight Rarity.

After catching Cyclone by her hand, Spike pulled her back towards him, wrapping an arm around her waist, and putting himself between Cyclone and Rarity to keep her from rushing again. But that didn't stop Cyclone from trying to move past Spike, only to fail. "Spike, move, that hateful pony needs to be taught a lesson-"

"No!" Spike shouted, forcing Cyclone to cease her struggling when she heard the anger and bitterness in his voice. Cyclone slowly looked away from the angry mare and towards Spike to see that his eyes were displaying the tone in his voice. "I am not having any of my friends fight because of my choices."

Cyclone lowered her head in shame, more upset with herself for making Spike mad than she was for trying to attack Rarity. "I'm sorry Spike, but a drake like you shouldn't ever have to deal with someone like her," she said, shooting Rarity an evil glare before turning her back on her.

"It's alright Cyclone, that was my old life," Spike said, placing a hand on Cyclone's shoulder to show that he wasn't upset with her at all. "Besides," he went on as his hand softly squeezed Cyclone's shoulder, "she's not being herself right now." Sighing, Cyclone nodded her head towards Spike, only looking at him. Spike then turned his head around to Rarity, who was standing on the bridge with a blank look on her face.

"Rarity, this is beneath you, and you know it," Spike said with the tone of pure disappointment towards the mare and her actions. "I'm just going to chalk this up as stress or whatever else you're dealing with, and ignore it. You should be ashamed for what you said about Cyclone, she just lost her home yesterday, and had to move in with Wolf's pack. It isn't her choice to be here, so she shouldn't have to deal with your attitude."

Rarity still continued to scowl towards Spike and Cyclone, still on the defensive with the dragoness around. "Be that as it may Spike, you can't-"

"That's enough Rarity!" Spike shouted at the mare, startling both her and Cyclone at the deep roaring tone in his voice. "Listen, I'm grateful for everything you girls did for us, but that's in the past. Stop acting like we're some kids that don't know what we're doing. That time is over." Far more than done with talking to Rarity for awhile, Spike turned his head around toward Everfree. "Come on Cyclone, we are going home."

"Okay Spike," Cyclone said with submissive tone of voice as she started to follow Spike wordlessly back toward the temple. It wasn't long before the two of them were finally alone within the protection of the forest canopy. Cyclone had been silent the entire walk since their encounter with Rarity; keeping close behind Spike as she continued to scold herself for making him upset, even though he'd already made his choice about where his home really was.

Looking over towards the drake she'd been flirting with for a small portion of the day, Cyclone saw the anger still laced in Spike's eyes along with the small puffs of gray smoke from his nose, it was easy to tell that he wasn't happy.

"Spike," she started, waiting for Spike to look towards her. When he did however, his displeasure was made even more apparent by the angry gleam of red tinting his green eyes. "I-I'm sorry for acting out of line, it is none of my business what happened with you and Quill before we met, and I...sorry."

Closing his eyes, Spike relied on the many hours of meditation he had done to regain control over himself. "No Cyclone, it's fine," he said in a small sigh before turning towards Cyclone, opening up his normal emerald-green eyes. "I'm the one who should be sorry, I didn't mean for you to get dragged into that, I have no idea what came over Rarity. She's usually not like that."

"Well I did speak out of line first though," she admitted with a sad tone of voice, lowering her head in shame as they continued to follow the stream home. "It's just that…that, the things Quill told me that happened with her, they should have never happened in the first place. And that little…filly thinks that it's alright if she says sorry? That everything will go back to normal?"

Shaking his head, Spike let out a long sigh as he still didn't know what was up with Rarity, and didn't want to deal with it any longer. "I know Cyclone, trust me, I've learned my lesson. Just...let's just not talk about it, especially to Quill okay? She would cut Rarity's head off if she heard all that."

"H-heh, alright Spike," Cyclone started, feeling slightly better now that the whole thing was over with, and moving back to her plans to make Spike smile. Seeing an opportunity, Cyclone skipped ahead of Spike, stopping his walking by placing her hands on his chest, and lifted herself up towards his ear. "This can be our little secret Spike, no one else will ever know."

Again, Spike's mind and heart stopped for a moment. This was the same thing Sweetie Belle did during the camping trip, so why did it feel different? 'Is this how Quill feels with Frost? Humph, she's lucky then.'

Spike was snapped out of his daze when Cyclone laid her head in the crook of his shoulder. "Spike, I know this is a lot for me to ask all of the sudden, considering what just happened and all, but...could you protect me? Veil, she can't do it forever, and not in the same way I need her to do it in. I love her like a sister, but I need someone more."

'What's it going to be, Drake? the sound of Spike's absent ancestor echoed in the back of his head. 'This is your perfect chance to be a knight, finally having something to fight for. Are you going to take it?'

"Cyclone, I don't know if I'm the right drake for the job," Spike said with a small chuckle, not believing he had the right to call himself a knight after everything that had happened with the elements, and the things he'd done in the shadows. "I can't even keep my past from coming back on you, there's no way I can protect you now."

'Drake, you make me-'

"That's okay Spike," Cyclone suddenly said, moving her arms around Spike's neck in a tight hug. "You have things that you need to finish first. I don't have any right to hold you to anything if you're not ready." Spike blinked a few times. Am I crazy, or does it sound like she's expecting me to make a move soon?' Spike thought to himself for a moment before snapping back into reality when Cyclone nuzzled against the side of his neck. "Just promise me one thing Spike."

Finding a mind of their own, Spike's hands moved to Cyclone's back, holding her there as he felt something burning in his chest. "Yeah Cyclone, what is it?" A moment went by as the two allowed the soft sounds of the forest to take over. Birds chirping in the background as to call in a mate of their own, leaves moving freely in the in the gentle fall breeze, the slow stillness of the stream by them.

It was nature; it was natural.

"Become stronger, Spike. Not for me, but for yourself."

/ Ch. 34: Tests/-/

High Moon Ch. 34:  
Tests

Hovering high above the land, Quill and Frost glared into each other's eyes. The two lovers had been exchanging blows all day long. Ranging from normal physical attacks, aerial tactics, they had even added their magic into their training.

Ever since last night, when an unexpected flush of raw emotions overtook the two, forcing them to act upon those impulses, they both had planned to push their bodies further in hopes of counteracting whatever caused it.

Quill was still unaware of what Wolf, Blaze, and Isis had done last night, or the reason they were unable to even get close to the door. Frost, on the other hand, had a more than just a feeling of what caused it, and she had been curious about it ever since she got to High Moon.

There was something with Blaze...her magic, her knowledge of dragon culture, and the way she was able to accurately know what to do for both Spike and Cyclone within just a few moments of speaking with them. There was a secret that the mare and dog were hiding from the rest of them and Frost was only able to fully sense it last night.

While it could just be her imagination, and Blaze really could be as powerful as she seemed to be, there could be more to the mare than she first thought. However, that wasn't why Frost and Quill had come out here.

Blaze and Wolf weren't the only couple that was hiding something from the others. Both Frost and Quill had plans of taking her mother's crown, and gaining control over the entire changeling race dwelling in Everfree. Their goal, selfish at first glance, could prove to be High Moon's greatest blessing.

Not only would they have an entire army backing them, eyes and ears in the deepest pits of Equestria, but they'd also have the means of fully rebuilding the former city capital to its fabled glory. And as if all that wasn't enough, Frost would be able to achieve her other goal of changing the way Equestrian changelings think, and with the crown in her hands, it wouldn't be that hard.

Over the generations, ever since one of her ancestors was murdered by his brother, and indirectly sparked the Nightmare Rebellion, changelings had firmly believed that the only way to survive was to take the love from others.

It was this belief that gave the changelings their dreaded reputation across Equestria, that of monsters, mindless beasts that only cared about power and taking control of others' minds. And Chrysalis' failed attempt had only exacerbated the problem.

Well, since Chrysalis refused to see reason, and their mother would most likely kill the both of them on sight, Frost was going to have to redeem the changeling race. Even if she had to fight her mother to do it.

"Hey Frost," Quill called out as she used her magic to create several purple and green fireballs in the air around her. "You know, we should wrap this up, and start heading back," she finished in a slightly smug tone as she was able to land several hits on Frost.

However, the changeling was able to do a bit more. "Aww," Frost started, batting her eyelashes with an innocent smile on her face, and using her arms to press her breasts together while her magic created several spears of frozen ice. "Is my little hatchling feeling tired?" she mocked as she was able to use Quill's lack of proper training to keep her off balance.

Each time Quill tried rushing at her without a single plan, Frost made her pay by throwing her around in the air, shooting her with frozen spears of ice, blasting her off her flight course with a surge of wind, or slapping her in the face with a stream of water from the river below.

However, Quill was far from a pushover, and returned the changeling's defense in full. In single rushes of fire, Quill was able melt any barrage of frozen spears, and after several times of falling for the same trap, was able to dodge Frost's streams of water and wind.

During the fight, Quill was given a burning thrill from fighting someone as strong and smart as Frost, as it pushed her to change the way she went about things. It was incredible and the only other time she felt this way was when she fought Dusk or Wolf.

While Quill felt a flame in her chest, Frost felt like her whole body was on fire from being constantly surprised at how fast Quill adapted to situations around her, and that fire only burned hotter when Quill started to get the advantage.

Soon, it became harder for Frost to hold back her dragon-blood from surging forth as her nails sharpened to talons, her mane became sharp like Quill's head-spines, and her scorpion tail began to drip a blue neurotoxin of its own accord.

However, that only made Quill more excited to fight her. She didn't know that her own dragon's instincts pushed her body to grow stronger and fight more powerful opponents. All she knew was that this fight was a thrill, that she wanted to keep pushing her limits...

And finally prove who wore the pants in the relationship.

"Ha! Well, this 'little hatchling' has a few surprises of her own," Quill returned Frost's mocking as she started to actually plan something out. During the fight, Quill noticed that Frost had always waited for her to strike first so she could counter, and right after that moved in to attack. Well, she was going to use that to her advantage. "I hope you're ready Frost, 'cuz here I come!"  
As a preemptive strike, Quill sent a couple of the fireballs towards Frost, and followed behind them with the rest of her small arsenal. However, Frost simply lowered her eyes, and smirked at her lover's predictable plan.

In counter, Frost flicked her wrists, sending a few of her own frozen ice-spears to meet Quill's fireballs, and launched the remaining portion to catch Quill off guard and to throw her off balance again, leaving her open for a counter-strike. Just like Quill thought she would.

Smirking, Quill slowed her flight before creating a larger purple and green fireball, throwing it before sending the rest of her fireballs to meet Frost's ice-spears. The head-on collision of fire and ice magic caused a thick white cloud of steam, giving Quill the perfect opportunity to set her plan into motion.

Using the cloud of steam as distraction, Quill quickly dove straight down to the ground, and hid in the cover of the tree line. Frost was able to peer through the thick cloud of steam and spotted Quill flying down the to the tree canopy. "Sorry love," Frost started, quickly understanding what Quill was doing, and easily though of a counter to her plan. After stretching her hand from her body, Frost began to create a short frozen halberd in her left hand. "As clever as that is, it will not work."

Snapping her wings shut, Frost dove straight down to the forest floor, and slowed her fall before landing on a tree branch. Frost, in all honesty, thought that Quill would have tried to ambush her from the start, however it seemed that the dragoness was learning.

But Frost wasn't one to be caught in a trap so easily, and this time was going to be no different. "Oh Quilly~ Sweetie," Frost started in a siren's voice to draw out her dragoness lover. "Do stop hiding. Everyone is expecting us to be back before dinner and all this running isn't going to do any good." Frost began hopping from one tree branch to another, so as to not give Quill the time to plan a counterattack, never imagining that she already had.

"Quill, really now," Frost said with the halberd spinning in her hand while she walked along an abnormally large tree branch. "We're only training, so there's no need to push yourself." While Frost continued the search for her lover, Quill hid a few trees away, and knew that Frost wouldn't be able to find her until she started to use magic. Which she wouldn't need.

Thanks to the whole day of sparring with her lover, Quill had learned a few things about Frost. For one, Frost secretly enjoyed managing to catch Quill in any trap of hers. Two, somewhat like Spike, Frost bought time in order to fully plan ahead while Quill was either recovering or dealing with her traps.

Three, Frost seemed to lose some of her changeling abilities when her dragon-blood surged forth, as she could no longer trace Quill by her emotions. And four, Frost couldn't think like a hunter. Unlike Quill.

And this was Quill's advantage against Frost.

Quill's trained eyes followed Frost as she jumped to another tree branch and smiled when she remembered the first time she'd gone hunting with Wolf. Slowly, Quill lowered her hands to the wooden tree branch, and started to move to the edge on all fours.

Once in position, all Quill had to do was wait for Frost jump to the right tree branch, and it'd be a straight shot towards her. As Quill continued to follow Frost's movement, her pupils flexed with a beating hunger as she looked over Frost's body.

Large breasts any mare would be proud to have, long slender legs that trailed up to wide hips, and connected her chest with a tone abdomen. Every inch of Frost beat with power that superseded any that Quill had faced before. No normal pony could do the things that Frost could do, only Dusk was comparable, and he was already in a relationship with two mares. While Frost was hers.

During the fight, Quill started to feel this rush of primal instincts. It was almost the same as when she went through her greed-growth, however this time it felt much different. When her greed took over, there was this hollow feeling eating away at her, clouding her mind.

With Frost, though, it was something very different. Instead of it feeling like she wanted to keep Frost to herself, it was more like a need to do this, and here the mare was displaying some of her dragon heritage to her. 'Screw dinner, I want a cold dessert.' Quill started to lick her lips as faint memories of last night ran through her head. She didn't know what came over her and Frost, but she could care less.

Suddenly, right as Frost's feet landed on the right tree branch, Quill launched herself straight through the forest, catching her mare off-guard. Quill's surprise attack was quick enough to pin Frost to the tree branch, and drop her frozen weapon. Before Frost could do anything about the dragoness on top of her, Quill sealed her lips in a lustful kiss that forced some of Frost's changeling-blood to resurface, and she could sense her lover's emotions again.

Frost moaned from being fed Quill's love and lust as the whole day of training had her far beyond tired. Upon the first taste of the two powerful emotions, and her lover's forceful tongue, Frost gave Quill complete control as she enjoyed letting the dragoness have her way.

As she kept Frost's hands pinned above her with her left hand, Quill slowly moved her right hand down her mare's body, taking a brief moment to tug lightly at the collar of the green T-shirt that Frost was wearing. After a few moments of teasing, Quill's right hand resumed its travel down to the hem of the shirt so she could slip it in, dancing her claws up Frost's tone body before taking the mare's breasts in her hand.

A sharp gasp came from Frost through the kiss when she felt Quill's claws slip underneath her green T-shirt and move straight to her breasts. Quill started to smile when she felt her mare's nipples already hardening and quickly came up with a 'fun' plan.

Right as Frost was getting ready to beg her dragoness for more, Quill suddenly removed her hand from her breasts, and sat up in her lap. "Q-Quill, don't you dare stop," Frost threatened, not knowing how much longer she could deal with the bothersome feeling burning in her chest and marehood.

However, Quill didn't listen to her mare's small threats, and started to giggle with a victorious look on her face. "I win," she boasted with a proud tone in her voice. For a moment, Quill didn't think Frost would fall for her plan, but with the mare shooting her a hungry and begging look look, she took that as victory. "Come on Frost, Wolf will give us an ear full if we don't get back before sundown."

"Quill please," Frost pleaded, grabbing onto Quill's slender hips to keep her there. "Just one time, please~" To emphasize her need, Frost began lightly bucking her hips into Quill's while she made Quill make a few small thrusting motions. "I need you, love."

Quill raised an eyebrow towards the mare, making note that she could shift through her instincts quicker than she thought she could. Slowly, Quill moved her head down to Frost's ear, and whispered, "Fine, you're treating me tonight, but for now," Quill paused to move her hands back into Frost's shirt, again reaching up to her breasts. "I want my prize."

Frost took in another sharp breath when Quill took hold of her breasts, pinching and twisting her nips with her claws. A visible shiver went down Frost's spine from the flush of longing lust from Quill, licking her lips at the thought of having a dragoness for dessert tonight. "Of course my love," Frost hissed from the rushing of emotions from Quill, wishing it was nightfall already.

Quill moved to take Frost's ear in her teeth, biting down on it to get her mare to moan in appreciation. Quill figured that by now Frost was driven up a wall every time she fed on Quill's love, and that was even before Quill began toying with her.

Quill could only imagine the feeling that Frost went through as she was feeding on her love and lust, so she was going to make sure that she was stuffed full of it. "Mm...how you feeling Frost?" Quill asked as she subconsciously flexed her wings outwards to give her the appearance of dominance. Yet again, Quill waved this off as her mind finally giving into her dragon mating instincts. Not like it didn't bother her much, they felt good, they felt...natural.

"O-oh Quill please," Frost begged, moving her hands down to Quill's slender and powerful thighs to lift them up on her body. "Love, please, more...sh-show me more. It feels so incredible."

Quill wickedly smiled at the begging tone in Frost's voice, finding it irresistible with every syllable that she spoke. A part of Quill wanted to do nothing but give her mare exactly what she wanted, but it was alway more fun to make her wait.

"Good," Quill said, slipping her hands away from Frost's breasts, and sitting back up in a quick motion that left Frost blinking a few times. "Now come on, let's head back." Before Frost could say another word, Quill opened her wings, and took flight towards High Moon.

Frost sat up off the tree branch, watching Quill quickly flying back towards the temple. Slowly, Frost realized that Quill wasn't going to stop for her, and shot off after her lover. "Quill, wait up!" All the dragoness did was giggle at her half-breed mare while she continued to fly back to High Moon. After using some of her changeling magic to expand her wings and catch up with Quil, Frost was hit with an odd emotion from Quill.

It was respect, for Wolf.

Well, when she thought about it, the more it seemed right. Quill looked up to the dog as a father and treated everything he said with the utmost care. Hell, she even called him her father. Adoptive or not, Quill held respect for the dog above the others, and Frost could see why.

Wolf, at times blunt about things, was a caring dog that welcomed any change to High Moon with open arms, but knew how to take care of his own. He also was things that Frost hoped to be when she was overseeing her hive of scorpios. Strong, influential, quick-minded, and adaptive. All of these gave Wolf his real power as ruler over High Moon.

What made him stronger was his ability to make things appeal to others, to convince them that it help both them and High Moon. To make things seem to work out for them in exchange for a few favors around the ruins.

It was the perfect plan. Help others, give them a home, food, and a strong shoulder to lean on when they needed it. And in return, gain their trust. Put work in, get work out. This seemed to be Wolf's main way of getting everyone to do the things that he needed done around the ruins and the valley that they lay in.

Wolf was a ruler that acted like he wasn't one. In fact, he was the hardest worker of all of them in High Moon, and showed little intentions of stopping. It was this fact that made everyone want to work with him.

After realizing that Wolf was the definition of an exemplary leader, Frost made sure to model after him when, not if, when she took her mother's crown. It'd be slow at first, that was for sure, but with time Frost was sure it'll work.

However, that was for the future, after she did take the throne with Quill standing proudly at her side.

"Hey Frost," Quill started, breaking through Frost's thoughts, and starting to slow her flight. Soon, the two came to a stop above a cloud near the temple ruins, but still high enough to be out of sight. Once Frost had fully landed on the soft cloud, Quill wrapped her arms around her waist, and pulled her close.

Frost was taken back by Quill's sudden move and barely was given time to sense her emotions before she started to speak. "You okay? You were just absently flying with a worried look on your face."

"Yes Quill," Frost sighed happily as she returned Quill's embrace, wrapping her arms around Quill's neck to bring her dragoness' head towards her chest. "I was just thinking about things, that's all." Frost let out a small groan when she felt the flatness of Quill usually fiery emotions and knew her dragoness wasn't happy with the vague answer. "Fine, I was thinking about what we're going to do after we take the throne."

"Frost," Quill started, lifting herself off of Frost's chest to look her in the eyes while the cloud slowly drifted the rest of the way towards High Moon. "Don't you think that you're thinking far too ahead? I haven't even been able to beat Wolf in a fight yet," Quill argued, knowing that it was extremely dumb to go after Frost's mother anytime soon.

Quill was surprised when Frost suddenly kissed Quill on the cheeks while her hands moved down towards the base of her wings. Quill began wiggling a little in her lover's playful embrace, but still didn't move away, allowing Frost to dance her tongue over her reddening cheeks.

Frost moved her tongue over to Quill's ear-fill and nibbled on it with her fangs, catching a small dose of Quill's appreciation before she let her dragoness free. "You're right Quill," she started, moving away from Quill a little, but only to press her larger chest against Quill's.

Frost giggled a little when she saw the red shine on Quill's cheeks, finding it cute when she was blushing. "Oh Quill, you're so cute sometimes," she giggled before tickling Quill's nose with her the tips of her fork-like tongue. "Mother isn't going to go anywhere and we have time. Let's enjoy it while we have it."

Without another word, Frost let Quill out of her embrace, opened her wings, and began to float down to the ground below. "Frost?" Quill stood on top of the cloud with a confused look on her face. For a moment, there was a sense of sadness in Frost's voice towards the end, almost as if she feared what the future held in store for them, and wanted to prolong the present for as long as she could.

That's when Quill realized that Frost was worried of what would happen if they tried to take on her mother in the state they were at now. Quill slowly looked down her hands, hands that had been through much in these last two months, hands that could do so much more. "Don't worry Frost, we'll get stronger. No matter what."

Quill quickly jumped off the cloud and used her wings to guide down to Frost's side. The two locked eyes, one slightly nervous of the future ahead of them, and the other unwilling to let those worries stop her.

However, neither spoke anything of this, somehow knowing what the other was thinking. Frost wasn't just worried about fighting her mother, but also about the aftermath; becoming queen. Quill was determined to find any way to make the both of them strong enough to even start thinking about taking on Frost's mother.

As they walked towards the wooden structure, which Wolf had been planning on improving, Quill started to wonder if the dog and other two females were finally up by this point, and still wanted to question him about the barrier around the door was for.

However, before she could even as the question, the answer came in the form of seeing Wolf, Blaze, and Isis walking towards them. Isis rather closer than she once thought but paid that no mind as most of Isis' actions and reasoning was based on the past culture.

"Oh...well, well, well," Quill started, leaning against a wooden beam while the three quickly approached, and taking note of the blushes on both Isis and Blaze's faces. "Look who finally decided to roll out of bed."

Wolf rolled his eyes at the dragoness' remark as he too didn't like the fact that he slept most of the day, but still wouldn't change anything that had happened. "Yeah, yeah Miss Obvious," Wolf quickly retorted as he used the fire stones in his collar to open the door so everyone could enter the temple. "Well, I just hope that you and your mare enjoyed your day off, cause tomorrow you all will be doing something important."

Frost raised an eyebrow towards the dog as she walked beside Quill. From the way Wolf made it sound, it was of great significance, but she couldn't understand what he meant. "By 'you all' you mean…"

"It's just something I wanted to see from all you dragons here," Blaze finally spoke up, looking back towards Frost with her usual motherly smile before she turned her head back around. "Think of it like a...test. Don't worry, I'll tell all of you more about it when everyone is here," she finished as Wolf opened the final door to her work area.

Once all through, Wolf found the others were all waiting on them and Spike was already starting to fix dinner. Frost quickly moved to help the drake with the task while Quill walked over to the dinner table where the two newcomers sat at. It wasn't long before the five started to talk with each other, mostly asking Cyclone if everything was alright, and what happened her and Spike in Ponyville.

While the younger members of the High Moon pack talked amongst themselves, Lily slightly surprised Wolf by not questioning what happened to them this morning, and quickly moved on to say that she and Veil found some rather interesting things around High Moon.

When questioned, she moved to say that they found a cave that led deeper into the earth. Isis quickly recognized that Lily was talking about as the burial tomb of Celestia's first fallen general and first lover. She continued to say that the stallion was able to wield an odd weapon called Sol est Spiritus, or 'the Sun's Wind.'

Wolf made note of the tomb as he had never came across it before and the thought of having an arsenal of ancient weapons, if they hadn't been broken by time, on his side did sound appealing. However, at the moment, there was far too much for him to be wasting time diving into tombs.

And since all the dragons were here, he thought that it would be best that Blaze inform them about their 'test.' "Blaze," Wolf started, looking towards his mare while she happily munched on a fruit salad. "If you want to tell them, now's the time."

"Alright Wolf," Blaze said, sitting up from her chair, and walking over to the dragons. Lily silently watched Blaze. She knew that whatever Blaze had planned for the dragons, it was important, so she didn't think to question it.

Once Blaze was at the dinner table where the younger members of High Moon were all sitting at, she smiled towards each and every single one of them. "Hey guys, there's something I want to talk to you about," she started with the same motherly smile on her face. After guessing the mare would be there for awhile, Spike stood up from his seat so Blaze didn't have to stand.

When Blaze saw that Spike was giving her a place to sit, her smile got even brighter, and he quickly took the gentledrake's offer. "Aww, thank you Spikey." All Spike did was smile and return the nod before going back to eating his fish dinner. "Speaking of which," she started again, this time, turning towards Cyclone who was sitting next to Veil. "What did the half-blood have to say Cyclone?"

"Who, Dusk?" Blaze nodded her head, prompting Cyclone to sigh a little. "Nothing good, and we could barely talk to him. When we got there, he was busy getting ready for a date with his marefriends, and from the sound of it, a really important date."

Blaze's smile leveled a bit, she was hoping that Dusk would know more of what to do, or that Cyclone would make some kind of connection with him like the twins had. "Oh I see, well I guess it can't be helped. Maybe next time?"

"Yup, that's what he said," Cyclone quickly answered the mare's question and worries. "He said that he'll be free tomorrow, but after that he and his mares will be out of town for a few days. Something about a gig in Canterlot."

"Um...what's a 'gig?'" Blaze asked, never having heard the term before, and curious as to what the half-breed was doing out of town. "Is it like a ritual?"

This time, Quill was the one to speak up before the other dragoness. "Not exactly," she started with a mild giggle before fully answering Blaze question. "It's more like a show or performance, usually of the musical kind."

"Ah, so it's like a sonsa," Blaze quickly caught on with a happy remembrance sigh of her youth back in her native country. "When I was a filly, we would put on the biggest of shows for visiting chief leaders and shamans, and we had to wear the cutest of outfits."

As the mare recalled her youth, Frost was hit with waves of her happy reminiscing, and forced her to think back to a time where most ponies didn't even know of changelings or when her own mother wanted her gone. A time where she could happily eat with Chrysalis, her mother, and even her father. A time where Frost didn't fear her own father and looked towards him for hope.

But that time was over.

"Well, we're just going to have to wait until he gets back then," Blaze continued, pulling Frost back into the world, and out of the dreading memories of her past. "We have more important matters to attend to."

Frost quickly realized that Blaze was talking about the 'test' she suddenly had planned for her and the other dragons in High Moon and silently wondered what it could be. While Quill was more direct with her thoughts. "Like what?" she asked after finishing her dinner, and chewing on a deer bone.

"Well...think of it like a test," Blaze started, sparking the curiosity of Spike upon hearing about a test. He had no problems with the idea, in fact, the idea was appealing to him as it would give him a base point in a certain field he may need to work on.

However, Cyclone was less than excited. She had never taken a test before and the way Blaze was talking about it made her slightly nervous. On top of that, she'd only been there for a day now, and didn't know of the mare's standards. Whatever she had planned, Cyclone needed to make sure she passed it lest she failed and got her and Veil kicked out of High Moon.

"Now, all of you had some kind of experience with your dragon's greed, correct?" Suddenly, the mood around the table dropped, and it made Frost sick to her stomach. Even if she was a half-breed, Frost could still feel her dragon-blood beating for her to take everything for herself, sometimes surging forth when she was alone Quill.

However, due to her changeling-blood, Frost had never experienced a greed-growth like the other three dragons, and didn't know of the atrocious feeling of losing every rational thought. Frost was pulled out of her thoughts when Quill's grip tightened around her and she started to shake uncontrollably.

That's when she remembered that both of the twins had undergone a greed-growth a few years ago, and that the memory was still fresh in their minds. Or at least in Spike's mind, as Quill admitted she couldn't recall much of what transpired over the next few days afterwards.

Then there was Cyclone. She herself had came from a greed-growth five years ago, roughly the same age as the twins did, and lost a good portion of her dragon's soul from it. Frost could only imagine the feeling of hacking up a piece of herself and then giving it to someone she trusted.

Frost admired the dragoness for her choice of not taking the pink gem away from the hound, however, the choice could one day prove fatal if she isn't careful.

While the dragons and hound remained silent, Blaze looked over into each of their eyes, and noted the small pings of fear in them. "I'm taking the silence as a yes?" All four dragons were pulled out of their thoughts at the eerie sound of Blaze's calm voice versus her cheerful one, which was the one they all wished she'd go back to. "It's okay guys, this test shouldn't draw out too much of your greed, but it will pull on it a little."

"But why would you want to do that?" Veil half-growled, remembering how destructive Cyclone was when she was overtaken by her greed, and not sure if she could bear to see her only friend in that state again. "Wouldn't preventing their greed from taking control be top priority? I mean-"

However, before the hound could continue, Blaze held up her hands to stop her from speaking, and so she would calm down a little. "Veil, sweetie, I know. The last thing any of us want is for them to lose control over themselves. However…" Blaze paused for a moment to gather her thoughts before continuing. "However, I don't want any of you getting hurt, but I need to see how much control you have over yourselves."

Spike and Quill dropped their heads for their own reasons. Everything Spike did was to avoid losing control; that only became more evident after his greed-growth, and now he was paying for it with the ghost-heart. Meanwhile, Quill wasn't sure if she had any control over herself at all, but wasn't going to let that stop her.

While the twins brewed over their thoughts, Blaze quickly moved to ease the worry in their mind. "Listen guys, I promise that none of you will lose control, but you'll still have some kind of reaction. It's that reaction I'm looking for. Alright?" she asked towards the others, hoping that they would trust her enough to agree to the test.

"Yeah, sounds good to me," Quill started, knowing that whatever Blaze had planned was going to help them in the long run, and it couldn't hurt to hear the mare out. That's when she turned her attention to her brother to see if he was on the same page. "What about you Spike?" All Spike did was nod his head with his eyes closed, still trying to think about what the test could mean for him.

Quill, who knew Spike better than even himself, knew the drake was worried about the test just as much as she was, but if anyone of them would pass it it was him. "Frost, Cyclone, what about you two?"

"I'm with you on this Quill," Frost said nuzzling her head against Quill's cheek so she could silently whisper, "As I'll always be." Blaze, who slightly caught what the half-breed said, turned towards Cyclone who was slightly shaking with a look of sickness on her face.

"Cyclone, you don't have to do it if you don't want to," Blaze spoke up, getting the dragoness to flinch a little, and becoming more concerned for her. "None of you have to do this, I'm just asking."

Cyclone started to feel the collective stares from the others falling on top of her, only adding to the nervousness she was feeling, and started to make her feel like a heavy weight was on top of her shoulders.

At this point in her life, she wasn't too sure about anything around her any more, and the thought of succumbing to her greed scared her. However, if what Blaze says was true, then she wouldn't be overtaken by greed. She'd only have a visible reaction to it.

"Okay," Cyclone whispered in a slight sigh while Frost was sensing dangerous amounts of worry coming from her. At this rate, there was a chance she could succumb to ghost heart, and would be fighting for her life just like Spike. "Okay, I'll do it. It's just a test right, and nothing bad will happen if I fail...right?"

Blaze, hearing the worry in Cyclone's voice, made a mental note to make things easier for her, and slowly shook her head. "No, no, absolutely nothing bad will happen. In fact this may prove to help all of you in the long run."

"See Gustie," Veil started, waving a dismissive hand towards Cyclone, and wearing a smile on her face. "Alpha-Mother has everything under control, so there is nothing to worry about."

"I thought I told you not to call me that," Cyclone pouted, crossing her arms underneath her chest, making them stick out more. The dragoness' absent-minded move made Spike turn his head with a slight blush on his face upon first sight of most of Cyclone's breasts.

Frost quickly picked up the small signs of attraction from Spike as well as his drake-lust for an attractive female, however, only made a small note to confront him about it in the future. "I've told you that I hate that name," Cyclone continued with an embarrassed blush of her own, truly hating that nickname.

Veil would normally listen to the dragoness, however, she was having too much fun with it, and really it was to keep Cyclone's spirits high. "Haha...Gustie, Gustie, Gustie!" Veil continued to chant getting the dragoness to blush even more from the meaning behind the nickname.

Even with her shooting an angry look towards Veil, Cyclone still had the faint look of a smile on her face, and was giving off much more happy emotions to Frost. "Ahh, Clan-Mother, make Veil stop," she begged almost in reflex.

Blaze, who was laughing slightly at the two, still needed the dragons' attention before they could afford to get distracted like this. While Veil continued to throw more 'insults' towards Cyclone, Blaze reached a hand over to behind the hound's ear, and started to scratch a certain spot.

Suddenly, Veil's eyes and body visibly relaxed as she laid her head on the table with a content sigh, and started to mutter something incoherent. Cyclone stared at Veil, never seeing her so content before, and couldn't begin to understand what Blaze did to the hound.

Then the table's attention was drawn to the mare as she continued to rub behind Veil's ear. "Oh come now guys," Blaze started with a giggy smile while she increased the pace she was rubbing behind Veil's ear, getting her tail to waggle back and forth faster. "Eight years of being with the a diamond dog alpha, you have to learn a few tricks."

Everyone, including Lily and Isis, started to nod their heads, no longer needing an explanation for how the mare was keeping the hound tame. "So where was I?"

Frost was going to answer the question when a low hum came from Veil as she open one eye towards Blaze. "Mm...you were talking about what the test was for," Veil moaned lightly while Blaze continued to move around on the hidden spot behind Veil's ear.

"Thank you Veil," Blaze said with a slight giggle as the hound was having the same reaction to the ear rub that Wolf did as well. Blaze's paise to her was rewarded with a small happy bark from Veil, prompting Blaze to move her hand towards the back of her head. "Yes well, like I've already stated, this test is to see just how much control all of you have over your dragon greed, and you'll be taking it tomorrow."

Once she got a nod from everyone of the dragons, Blaze turned her head over to Wolf, but still continued to rub and scratch along certain points on Veil's head. "Wolfie," she started, batting her eyelashes towards the dog, getting a goan out of him when he realized what they were for. "You think you and Veilie can have everything set up by tomorrow?"

"Sure Blaze," Wolf answered through the bone in his mouth, knowing in order to find a good spot that he and Veil would have to wake up pretty early in the morning. "Veil." As a sign of acknowledgment, Veil let out a long moaning sigh towards the alpha. "Be ready to be up really early tomorrow."

"Mm...sure thing Alpha."

Wolf sighed at the hound's blank response, however, after being in her same situation before, he couldn't expect much more from her. "Right then, dragons, I want all of you to make sure to get a good night's sleep. Cyclone, you make sure hound over there gets up in the morning."

One look down to her friend told Cyclone that Veil was going to get more than a good night's sleep. "Sure thing, Clan-Father." Wolf nodded his head towards the dragoness, trusting her to do what he asked before turning to the rest of them.

"Alright, if that's everything-"

"Actually Wolf," Frost started, standing from Quill's lap, and looking the dog dead in the eyes. "There's something I want to talk with you about." Everyone looked towards the half-breed changeling, who had started to walk towards the arcane doors leading out of the temple, and was paying no attention to the emotions that were being thrown towards her. "In private."

Wolf nodded his head and started to follow the mare out the door with everyone still looking their way. "Mm...Alpha-Mother," Veil started, only just glancing towards the arcane doors, but minus the curious and worried looks from the others. "What's Frost got to talk with Alpha about?"

Slowly, the collective looks of the room fell on Blaze as she continued keeping the hound docile. "I don't know, but if it was any of our business, they would have discussed it in front of us." Quill opened her mouth to further question the mare, as she didn't know what was suddenly up with her mare, but soon realize that she couldn't argue with her statement.

So, they continued their conversations about the test that the dragons would be taking tomorrow while Isis and Lily continued to speak of the general's tomb and what to do with it. However, Blaze still kept glancing towards the door, a curious look in her eyes when she did.

While the others were making plans, Frost continued to lead Wolf out of the temple, but had to allow him to open the door as she didn't have a fire-stone of her own to use. Once outside, Wolf noted the full moon hanging high in the sky above, and as they walked along a dirt path, recited a diamond dog saying about the moon's pale-blue light.

Frost took interest in the saying as it spoke of how dogs, of all kinds, would gather underneath its light, and howl towards it. The howls were prays to Cerberus's fallen sister, Cadjo, for safe passage during the night, and as tribute to her fearful power which at one point consumed her.

It seemed from the story that Cadjo was swallowed whole by her own shadow and flew to the night sky to become the dark side of the moon while the light side was her trying to escape. When Frost finally asked how that could be a bad thing, Wolf told her that Cadjo is the hound of dreams and minds.

What made the story more interesting was that Cadjo could either give late-night travers pleasant, blissful dreams to see them through their journey, or dreadful nightmares until they killed themselves.

"Well, that rather...dark," Frost said as they continued down the path and stopped in an open clearance where the moonlight seemed to be its strongest. "If she was a kind hellhound, then why would she drive travelers to the brink of insanity? It is as if…"

"Yeah, she is," Wolf started, nodding his head, and keeping his eyes to the moon in the sky above. "Cadjo, she only kind when you give her acknowledgment. No one likes to be ignored when they're right above our heads or below our noses."

Following Wolf's finger towards the ground, Frost knew that he was speaking about Cerberus, and if he is guarding the gates of Tartarus, then what is his sister doing on the moon? "So Frost, what you want to talk about anyways?" Wolf asked, breaking Frost out of her curiosity of his canine culture and back into what she needed to speak with him about.

"Yes, right," Frost started, closing her eyes, and taking a deep breath. While Frost thought of where to start with the alpha so as not to say the wrong thing too early, the gentle breeze of the autumn season brushed across their furs, and added sound to the heavy silence that came over the night. "Wolf, I want to be queen."

Wolf stared at the changeling with a slightly flat look, the sudden confession had him confused, but he was going to let the changeling speak her peace before he denied her of her goals.

"Ah, so it's one of those talks," Wolf started, nodding his head, taking a seat on the soft grass, and motioning Frost to do the same. Hesitantly, Frost sat next to the dog with her legs folded underneath her while Wolf rested his wrists on his keens. "So, what's this about you wanting to be queen?"

At first, Frost was worried that Wolf would violently react to her, but after sensing no shifts in his emotions, she felt more open to speak. "I know how it sounds. Your adoptive daughter brings home an abandoned changeling princess, they're in a 'relationship,' and the mare wants to become queen. I know I sound awful but-"

"Frost," Wolf cut in, getting her to jump violently from his deep voice cutting through all other sounds of the forest. Again, Frost quickly thought that Wolf was going to yell or be angry with him, but was proven wrong when he surprisingly wrapped his arm around her.

However, before Frost could even begin to question the sudden embrace, Wolf spoke in a low tone. "Now, I don't have the ability to sense emotions like you, but that doesn't mean I'm a dense dog. I can tell that you really do love Quill and that she loves you back."

A happy sigh was forced from Frost's lips from the dog's strong embrace. 'So this is why he's a father figure to her,' Frost silently thought to herself, missing the embrace of someone like Wolf, and remembering when her father would hold her as a filly.

"Now," Wolf started, breaking Frost out of her thoughts of her past, and back to the work of the present. "Mind telling me where this 'I want to be queen thing' came from? I would have guessed that you've wouldn't want anything to deal with your past any more."

No longer able to help it, Frost laid her head on Wolf's shoulder, and kept it there when she didn't sense any objections from him. "My mother…" Wolf looked down to the changeling mare as she started to somewhat shake in his arm, as if she was physically sick just from remembering her past. "She doesn't deserve to rule. She took the throne from my father and no one has made any moves to reclaim it."

"And you want to," Wolf asked, still unsure of the changeling's past, but feeling that she didn't have a pleasant life. Slowly, Frost nodded her head, but didn't let Wolf see the sadness in her eyes. "Mm...overthrowing your mother, taking the changeling throne, and doing all of that without getting killed." Frost only became more saddened after Wolf had listed her biggest fears with her goals and knew each of them would be harder than the last. "You got a plan on how?"

Again, all Frost could do was slowly shake her head, and sigh at the improbability of her dreams ever coming true. "No, no, I don't. I'm not even strong enough to even think of fighting her, even with Quill saying she'll fight with me." Suddenly, there was a small twitch in Wolf's emotions, and it briefly scared Frost. "I'm sorry, it came up after Quill tried taking me back to High Moon after the fire at Veil's and Cyclone's old home, and she...vowed to help me reach my goals."

Much to Frost's surprise, Wolf shook his head with a slight smirk on his face, and the feeling of pride coming from him. "No, I'm sorry. I've forgotten that you can sense emotions for a moment there." Even with the sincere tone and emotions coming from Wolf, Frost was still slightly fearful of the dog's wrath, and made sure to answer things more carefully when it came to the twins. "Okay, so you and Quill need to get stronger to take down your mother. I get that. What I don't get, is what you need from me?"

"Last night," Frost started with a slight sigh before continuing. "Last night, there was a massive flush of raw…feeling," Frost paused to suppress a shiver from the memories of the unexplainable rush of emotions and magic that seeped through to her and Quill. "and I need to know, what was it?"

"Blaze," Wolf started with a slight chuckle, filling Frost with the senses of love, devotion, and that ever so present dash of lust that any healthy couple seemed to have for each other. "That mare went and whipped up a potion to help her gain better control of...another part of her magic, and for our cub to have better control of it when they're born."

Frost took a moment to think about the way Wolf explained what happened last night. The way he said it, the sudden curve in his emotions, and her theories about the mare's magic. It all pointed towards one thing. "She has dragon-magic, doesn't she, Wolf?"

Wolf chuckled, having suspected the mare would be able to piece together the dark secret from Blaze's past with what little he'd told her, and knew at some point they all would have to know.

"Yeah, yeah," Wolf started with a nod while his eyes moved back up to the moon. Frost started to sense slight worry from Wolf along with his grip tightening around her meant that the subject was somewhat touchy. "However, it isn't my place to speak on it, and it isn't your place to question her about it with the others around. Understand?" he asked in a commanding voice, which, along with flatness in his emotions, told Frost that she'd regret it if she did question the mare about it where the others could hear.

"Y-yes, I understand, but that's not what I wanted to know." Wolf raised an eyebrow towards the mare but stayed quiet until she had fully explained herself. "That potion, I want, no, need that power."

Another gentle breeze overtook the forest, betraying the emotions swirling around Wolf's head, and the feeling of nervousness from Frost. Suddenly, Wolf started to chuckle before breaking out into a deep laugh, and even had to let go of Frost. "No," he said before resuming the laughter and straightening out enough for Frost to take him seriously. "No, no, no, no….no. Frost, Blaze had twelve years to master the dragon's soul inside of her, and she completely lost control. Even dragged Isis into it and forced the both of us to act on impulse."

Even with the list of reasons not to do it, Frost still was considering whatever potion Blaze used to make her and Quill stronger, and Wolf could see it in her eyes. "Frost, no. I'm telling you this as a friend, there's no way of knowing what will happen to you two. I mean, if you couldn't handle being in the next room away from it, how in the world do you think that you can take it in the middle of it?"

"Wolf, please I-"

"No Frost, not even after Blaze's test, and I don't even want to hear you looking for a way to recreate it." One look in the dog's eyes told Frost that he was drawing the line in the sand and going against his wishes would be the last mistake she'd make. "Look, I don't mean to insult you two, but face it Frost. Every time I look your way, one of you is on top of the other, and we don't know how much control you have over yourselves."

After sensing the dog's concern in his voice, Frost dropped her head, but still gave a nod of acknowledgement. However, Wolf still saw the slight tear building in Frost's eyes, and knew that she was really counting on the potion to help her achieve her goals.

He still knew little of the mare, in spite of her being a part of his pack, and her happiness was his business. "Frost," Wolf stated, wrapping his arm around the mare again, and pulling her to his chest. Frost's eyes snapped open from the compassion coming from the dog as she only felt anything like this from her past with her father. "Don't let your ambitions cloud your mind. You've got too much to let it consume you."

That's when Frost no longer could hold back her own emotions and wrapped her arms tightly around Wolf, letting the tears fall on his chest. "I-I'm sorry...I'm s-so sorry," Frost began repeating as years of pent up frustrations and sadness started to finally make themselves known.

All Wolf could do was rub the length of Frost's blue mane while she continued to mutter her own songs of sadness into his chest. "I just...it's my f-fault." Again, all Wolf could do for the mare was remain silent while she cried into his chest. "M-my father lost control because of me...I-I lost my hive because I'm a f-failure, the o-one thing that would make it all better, and I couldn't even handle it. I-I'm nothing but a failure…"

"Frost," Wolf finally started in his usual commanding voice that got Frost to look up to him from his chest. "You're far from a failure. You are a very smart and powerful mare that has something most changelings can't understand."

More tears began swelling up in Frost's eyes before she again buried her head into Wolf's chest. However, this time, they were tears from having someone like Wolf care for her. Everything about the dog: the way he thinks, the way he speaks to others, and how he handles the things that needed to get done...All of it reminded her of her father before her mother took over.

The moment her mother's flanks touched that throne, everything in Frost's calm, normal life was changed. She and Chrysalis were ripped apart, forced to rule over their own smaller hives while most of their freedoms were taken away, and under constant guard. Even back then, it had blatantly obvious it wasn't for their safety.

It was to keep watch over them.

For much of Frost's adolescence, she had the sickening feeling that her mother feared that one day one of her daughters would come to overthrow her, and she was right. First, it was Chrysalis with her invasion of Canterlot. However, after her crushing defeat, their mother stripped Chrysalis of her hive, and was left to defend herself on her own while her connection to the hive mind was severed.

Frost had never been too close to the cold mare; they always argued, and rarely agreed on anything. Frost knew that she couldn't force her sister to see her view on things, but that didn't mean she had to like them. This slight animosity only increased after her failure in Canterlot that had gotten exceedingly high numbers of changelings killed and placed a massive target on the changelings' backs.

However, it wasn't long before she too was caught trying to find away to take her mother's throne, and suffered the same fate as Chrysalis. Though, something told her that she was better off than Chrysalis, and wherever Chrysalis may be, she was paying for her sins.

"Frost," Wolf began, adding a slight rocking to his embrace to help calm her down. "Know that you're not alone any more, Quill isn't the only one that cares about you, but...there are some things not all of us can help you with. You understand me?" Wolf asked, he wanted to help the mare, but he couldn't risk the other's lives for a goal that almost seemed to be a fool's dream. "We're here for you Frost, so don't go getting yourself killed okay?"

"O-okay Wolf," Frost started, biting back any more tears, and wiping the ones around her eyes away. Wolf simply watched with a wary concern for the mare as she tried to regain some of her composure. "S-sorry, it's just...I was never given someone to cry on before, and...sorry."

Wolf shook his hand as he rubbed Frost's arm, still rocking as it seems to help somewhat. "Don't be," he started with a slight smirk and a chuckle following after. "We all need a shoulder to lean on, that's why we're a pack. To help one another." Frost turned her head towards Wolf only to see his shining green eyes facing straight at the moon, which only highlighted his strong features. "You going to be okay Frost?"

"Now I am," Frost started, leaning her head back into Wolf's chest, and nuzzling into his growing coat. "Father." Of course, Frost was able to feel Wolf's emotions jump a bit, but soon felt them turn back to compassion of a real father.

"Come on Frost, let's head home."

/ Ch. 35: A Mutt's Loyalty/-/

High Moon Ch. 35: A Mutt's Loyalty

"Tonight has been just…perfect."

Back in Ponyville, Dusk and his mares walked out of one of the more 'exclusive' restaurants in the small earth-pony town, and were now taking a midnight stroll through Ponyville's central parks. The whole date had went perfect for the half-breed and two unicorns. Showing the two around town, taking them to a performance from the local orchestra, and even ballroom dancing with the both of them.

Before the night even started, Dusk surprised the two with their favorite flowers. White daffodils for Sketchy and a green and blue tulips for Jinx. Yup, by far, Dusk had proven that he could get things done even when he's goofing around, and his mares loved him for it. He even went as far as dressing up, which of course, had to be slightly modified by Rarity to accommodate his large wings.

However, Dusk didn't care about the restricting fabric. If it made both Jinx and Sketchy happy, though, then he'd wear something like this. Besides, with hardships came rewards, and this mutt was going to get his 'reward.'

"See," Jinx giggled, wearing a flowy green dress, coming down mid-way of her legs, and with a light-blue strap going over her left shoulder. Her two-tone green and blue mane was pressed, straightened, and styled with a purple bow on her left side, decorated with small pale-blue stars. Walking around town was made easier with a pair of blue slappers with green gems placed on them. "Now didn't I say that tonight would be fun?"

Dusk chuckled at Jinx's mocking towards Sketchy while the two of them walked in his strong wings. "Okay," Sketchy sighed with a small laugh of her own, wearing a tight strapless black dress that was cut off mid-thigh. Her multi-shaded black mane was tied in the back with two decorative purple and black-striped chopsticks while the rest came over her shoulders.

And while Jinx preferred to walk comfortably, Sketchy favored strongly striding along in a pair of tall black heels. Each step the mare took seemed more precise and calculated than the last, giving her an aura of authority that forced some of the citizens to turn away from. However, even if she was standing over the few numbers of stallions that lived in the small town, Sketchy still was just shy of being taller than Dusk, not that she cared. "You were right, tonight was more than I could hope for."

Jinx started to giggle at Sketchy, making her blush even more than she already was, which caused Dusk to chuckle as his arms tighten their grip around the mares' waists. "Well I know I had fun," he said, wearing a bright purple vest on top of a clean and pressed white dress shirt, all tied together with a dark-blue tie and black dress shoes custom made for his dragon/dog feet.

Both Jinx and Sketchy wrapped their arms around his back and happily rested their heads on his body. Soon, the three young lovers found themselves near the lake in the Ponyville park, and Dusk knew that they were getting closer to a spot he had picked out beforehand. "Now, I hope you two saved room for dessert."

As they were being led further down the path, both Jinx and Sketchy raised an eyebrow towards the dog. But before they could question his meaning, they came up to the sight of a tall hill facing the bright full moon. Before either of the mares could question it, though, Dusk led them up the hill, and came to a stop at a small picnic blanket and basket at the top.

On top of the purple blanket was a brown wicker, basket that no doubt had 'dessert' waiting inside of it along with three glasses and two tall bottles of, what Sketchy hoped was, non-alcoholic drinks sitting in a bucket of ice. What really tied the whole scene together was the lone unlit candle sitting practically in the center of the blanket.

For Jinx, it was something out of a comedy-romance movie she would enjoy watching. A movie where a mare would fall in love with a mysterious guy that randomly showed up in town. Kind of the same way Dusk showed up to their old high school back in the republics.

For Sketchy, it was like a scene from the many romance novels she would read, and blushed when she remembered how scenes like this end. "Dusk," Sketchy started, piecing together that it was Dusk's sole doing of setting up the hill-top picnic, but not knowing when he had the time to do so. "When...how, when did you do this?"

"Shh...don't worry about that," Dusk whispered into Sketchy's ear while his claws moved down both mares bodies and pulled them closer with his wings. Both mares couldn't help but give Dusk slight control over them as his claws did feel quite nice against their bodies, forcing them to slightly raise their legs against his to feel more of his strong body.

"Now come on," Dusk continued as he began motioning for both of his mares to sit down on the soft blanket while still trapped in his wings. Dusk then looked up to the bright silver-blue moon that was blessing them with a faint light to make it through the last bit of their date. "The night is still young and Cadjo is in full bloom."

Soon, both mares found themselves resting their heads on Dusk's lower chest with their legs spreaded to the side of them. Neither one felt the cool winds of the early autumn season as the fire in Dusk's chest burned hot enough for the both of them while his wings trapped them and the heat together.

Once he saw that they were comfortable against his body, Dusk blew a gentle purple and blue flame towards the candle, lighting it in the same vibrant colors. Jinx always found Dusk's flames and magic interesting as the colors of purple and blue mixed together to make something much more beautiful than if they were on their own.

With the candle lit, Dusk skillfully moved his tail around Sketchy's body, and wrapped the the handle of the basket with it. While Jinx was enticed by their half-breed's magic, Sketchy admired his flexibility despite how hard some of his body was. His ability to adapt to any situations, change tactics at the drop of a hat, and will to never give up.

However, the main thing the two could fully agree on was Dusk's kind heart; even when he was being mean to others, he still had good intentions. He might not think everything out, or make the right choices, but he always worked hard for others.

"How about we get some real food to eat?" Dusk asked while his tail fished around in the basket so he could keep his arms around his two mares. Without much thought, Jinx and Sketchy started to rub against Dusk's white dress shirt to feel the strong muscles underneath, and smiled towards each other as they knew what the muscles could do. Dusk, used to the mares' touches, didn't think much of it as he continued to feel about the inside of the basket with his tail.

'For fuck's sake,' Dusk growled in his head while his claws softly rubbed against the mares to keep them from being bored while waiting for his tail to pull out their dessert. 'Please, tell me Pinkie set this thing up right, and-' Suddenly, Dusk felt what he was looking for, and allowed a smile to spread on his lips. 'Ah-ha!'

"Sorry for the wait ladies," Dusk said, wrapping his tail around the package he had Pinkie set up for him for a favor that she made him vow to return one day. Pinkie never told him what the favor was, just that he'd have to return it whenever she asked him to. However, Dusk didn't think about it much as he started to pull out a silver tin container with a green ribbon tied to it. "For you Jinx."

Jinx took the tin in her magic so Dusk could fish for Sketchy's treat. She did wonder what was inside of the tin-box, and after a full night of pleasant surprises from Dusk, she knew it would be something to top off the night. Once she had pulled it over to her face, Jinx used her magic to untie the green ribbon, keeping it floating in the air while she opened the box.

Inside was a whole five stacks of sugar-cookies with green and blue rock-candy baked inside. Jinx's green eyes widened with joy at the sight. "Candy-cookies!" she gasp as she was sure that they weren't made in Equestria, so the only way was to either have them imported or be near a rock farm, and even then you'd still have to know the recipe. "Dusky how did you…"

"Would you believe Pinkie used to be a rock-farmer?" Dusk asked to answer Jinx's question as he pulled out another silver tin with a solid black ribbon on it. "And I may fail to have the same cooking skills as you two, but I have the memory of an elephant." Jinx stared at the smile on Dusk's face while he had his eyes closed.

Suddenly, Jinx pushed more into Dusk's embrace to plant a kiss on his cheek, and tighten her grip around the dog's body. "Thank you Dusky, this means a lot to me," she whispered into his ear as the treat held a special meaning to her.

Dusk quickly returned the sign of affection with a quick peck on the lips. "Anything for my mares," he whispered to her before turning his attention back to Sketchy. "And for you, my queen of mean." Jinx started to giggle at Dusk's nickname for Sketchy while the mare herself simply rolled her eyes and took the tin-box in her grayish-black magical aurora.

"Ha-ha, you two are so funny," she retorted as Jinx happily munched on her sugary treat. It wasn't the same as her mother used to make, but the memory was enough to make her look past the slightly off taste. Once Sketchy saw the joy on Jinx's face as she was eating the cookies, she knew that they had Dusk to thank for this night. "However, Dusk, tonight has been wonderful."

"Hey, it's the least I can do for you two. Both of you make my day every time I get to see your smiles." Suddenly, both Jinx and Sketchy locked eyes at their dog's words, and felt a slight heat raise in their chest. Catching Dusk off-guard, both Jinx and Sketchy placed a kiss on both of his cheeks, undressing him starting with his tie, vest, and finally his dress shirt.

As soon as the final button was undone, both mares put their hands on his bare chest, and started to rub their hands over his growing fur. 'Stay cool Dusk, they're just being playful, nothing new,' Dusk reminded himself before continuing on with his plan to end the night on a high note. "B-besides, the night isn't over, so don't go thanking me just yet."

Jinx soon started to lick her way around the underside of Dusk's jaw while Sketchy pulled herself up to his ear, placing a hand in his lap to feel his growing bulge. Giggling, Sketchy started to gently squeeze Dusk's inner thigh to coax more of the bulge in his pants. "And just what's that supposed to mean? You're not planning anything, Dusk, are you?" she questioned in a slightly seductive voice that forced a shiver down Dusk's spine. "Well, whatever you have planned better be good."

"What...me planning something?" Dusk joked with a cheesy smile on his face, forcing both Jinx and Sketchy to stare flatly at him. "Don't you remember, I never think. So, how can an island-mutt like me plan anything out?"

After another moment of staring into his eyes, both mares let out a giggle before laying back against his chest. "Alright, for once you may be right," Sketchy mocked while Jinx went back to eating the remaining cookies. "But weirder things have happened before," she continued, using her magic to undo the ribbon to open the tin box.

Inside were several pieces of dark chocolate squares bites that seemed to be filled with white cream. Not as memorable as Jinx's treat, but Dusk did know that Sketchy had more of a thing for chocolate.

"Aww, Dusk, you shouldn't have." Again, Dusk allowed a bright prideful smile to spread across his face, which became wider as she continued, "Really, you know I can't control myself around chocolate, and I still had something planned for the night as well."

Dusk waved a dismissive hand in the air at the mare's statement while his tail snaked over the towards the bottles in the bucket of ice. "Pfft, well I hope whatever you have planned is 'good.'" Dusk pulled the two bottles out of the bucket while Jinx lifted the three glasses in her green magical aurora.

"Yeah, yeah mister smart pup," Sketchy again retorted, taking a bite out of the smooth creamy chocolate, and moaning as she started to chew. The rich dark chocolate danced over her tongue while the creamy white chocolate mixed in, making it go down easily. It wasn't the best chocolate she'd ever eaten before, but after forcing herself to cut back on the delectable sweets, any amount was pure bliss.

While pouring out the drinks, both Dusk and Jinx laughed at the mare's moaning just from eating chocolate. When the giggles from her two lovers reached her ears, Sketchy glared over to the two, and started to blush even when she was trying to act tough. "Shut up, I love chocolate, and you know it."

Even with the mare's threatening glare, her other two lovers continued to giggle at her, making the blush shine brighter against her white fur. What made it worse was the fact that she tried to hide it with what little she could get of her her black mane, only succeeding in imitating their friend Arctic, making the sight more 'adorable' in her lovers' eyes.

"I really do love chocolate," Sketchy muttered underneath her breath, taking another square piece in her mouth, and unable to hold back a soft hum. Wanting to change his mare's mood, Dusk lean over to kiss the top of Sketchy's horn, and giving her a slight jolt of his magic.

Sketchy took in a faint breath when she felt Dusk's magic spark through her horn, rushing down her spine. She knew that Dusk had known how sensitive a unicorn's horn was, and each time he played around with it caused a fire to quickly rush around her entire body.

Right as she was going to ask for more, Dusk pulled away from her horn with a final spark of his lighting-magic. "Aww, don't worry Sketchy, we pick on each other equally," Dusk said as he placed the two bottles back into the bucket of ice before wrapping his tail around Sketchy's. "Besides, I'm sure you'll think of something to get back at us with. You always do."

The embarrassed blush on Sketchy's face turned into a more seductive one at the plentiful memories of her getting 'revenge' on the two for a prank or joke they would pull. And while Jinx's blush was of the same memories, it was more embarrassed than Sketchy's.

When it came to having sex with Dusk and Sketchy, Jinx was rather...submissive, and needy. While Dusk was more than happy to give what the mare wanted, Sketchy enjoyed to not only toy with her, but also Dusk to the point he could lose control of his mixed-heritage instincts. Both of them.

While that was great and all, Jinx would sometimes wish that Sketchy would step down, and let her take control for once. That's when an idea sparked in Jinx's mind and a quick change of plans began to form with a growing smile on her face. Sketchy might be a control-freak in the bed, but she was as self-conscious about things as a grade-schooler, and she had the self-control of a mare in heat.

'Fight fire with fire. I got you now Sketchy,' Jinx thought to herself while she sipped on the cold grape soda.

"Huh-uh, yeah right," Sketchy finally replied to Dusk, taking another square piece in her mouth, and following it up with a sip of her drink.

Jinx wasn't the only one that was tired of Sketchy's drive for dominance in the relationship. Dusk was an alpha drake for Cerberus's sake! And he'd be damned if either one of his mares would ever take full control. Maybe every now and again for the fun of things, but other than that, yeah…not going to happen.

As the three of them continued to partake in their own thoughts and drinks, they allowed the small sounds of the fall season to gently sing a soft melody while they huddled close together and used the dragon's soul burning in Dusk's chest to keep warm.

All day, Dusk had shown the two mares an extraordinary time around Ponyville, and had pulled everything together better than either of them could have asked for. During the whole date, he'd been nothing but nice towards them and all others that they came across.

Even though Sketchy constantly picked on him about being an immature dog, Dusk truly showed off his maturity when it came to what was important. For example, when they came across a light-gray filly with a blonde mane, that looked to be in her early pre-teens, crying near the restaurant, Dusk quickly moved to help the sadden filly. Within minutes, Dusk already had the small filly laughing joyfully, and kept her company until her mother came.

No matter how much the mare tried to apologize for causing any troubles, Dusk waved all of them off saying that it wasn't a big deal, and wished the mare and filly a safe night. After that, Dusk continued to show his two mares a good time around Ponyville, and constantly pulled one surprise after another.

The Dusk from two years ago wouldn't do something like that. In fact, Sketchy was sure that she and Jinx would have soon left Dusk if they only saw the tough outer coat he wore without thought. Back then, Dusk wouldn't even be caught dead in a fancy restaurant, let alone be willing to dress so well without much complaint.

'Hey Sketchy,' Jinx started while she was finishing the last of her cookies. Once Sketchy felt the mare trying to open a mental link through her magic, she lit her horn just enough to answer back to Jinx.

'What is it Jinx?' The two mares had learned about a mental link through magic back in high school from one of their changeling friends, and after a few weeks of practice, the two of them had finally gotten it down just in time for graduation.

Dusk, who knew nothing of the mental link between the two, continued to refill their glasses while they spoke with one another. 'Dusk has changed hasn't he?' Sketchy looked towards the dog as he started to sip on some of the, thankfully, bubbly-soda drink. 'I mean, sure he's still mean sometimes, but now he has a reason for it. Also, he's more caring.'

'Hm...you're right Jinx, and I think our little mutt's loyalty deserve some reward.' Jinx started to furl her eyebrows at the tone in Sketchy's voice, it sounded like her normal speaking voice, however had something laced into it. 'Jinx, I think it's time you let me in on your surprise.'

'Um...okay?'

While the two mares started to make a plan to fully repay Dusk's hard work and loyalty towards them, the dog himself was thinking of more pressing matter. Of the dragon kind. He really wished that Spike and Cyclone hadn't came when they did. He wanted to help dragoness, he really did, but he had other obligations to fulfill.

However, from what they was able to tell him before leaving was that Cyclone was undergoing training to see if that would boost her dragon's soul back to a more healthy level. That really was the right way to do it. Not the only way, but it was the right way. Dusk did know of a more...effective solution to the dragoness' condition, but again the mere idea was unwanted.

Frankly, there were three main ways for Cyclone to get back to full magical health. One way was for her to simply reclaim her dragon's soul, but from how Cyclone took the suggestion, that wasn't much of an option. Another was for her to train until her magic started to improve, but they seemed to have already planned for the dragoness to do that. But, there was still one other way; a more dangerous way.

The third way involved taking on, and killing, an elder dragon. No matter what condition the dragoness was in, there was absolutely no way that Dusk was going to suggest they try kill an elder dragon. The mere thought of it was suicidal, and not even Dusk would dare doing something like that.

Dusk was worried about the dragoness and was still wondering how she hacked up a piece of her dragon's soul. Cyclone hadn't even had to tell Dusk what happened before he could sense that something was wrong with the new dragoness.

It wasn't until she told him about her greed-growth five years ago and how hollow she still felt right before she spat out her dragon's soul that he was able to understand the problem, or at least the cause. Dusk soon guessed that the fragment must have been severely damaged by a sudden expansion of ghost heart that comes with the greed-growth. And in an act of evolutionary defense, she had been forced to remove it from her body.

Then Spike asked why hasn't neither he or Quill suffered the same thing, and he'd waved it off merely as luck, unable to give him much more than that. Dusk was still gravely worried about Cyclone, as he'd only heard about her condition happening to traditional dragons, but with the date coming up, he couldn't offer much help.

'Speaking of which.' Dusk secretly moved his tail back into the basket while his mares were oddly quiet to reach out to the final piece on top of the carefully planned date. Right as he was going to grab the final two objects in the basket, both Jinx and Sketchy started to lean further on him, and made it harder to reach the items he needed.

"Um...you two okay?" he asked, wrapping his tail on the handle of the basket to bring it closer, and again tried to reach the two very important items. However, the two mares still didn't answer him as they again leaned into him, and started to brush against his chest.

Dusk ignored the rubbing as he was used to it by now and started to reach out for the objects in the basket again. But, just like last time, he was stopped by Jinx suddenly moving to his lap. Without warning, the mare seal his lips in a heated kiss, and forced her tongue into his mouth.

A strong breeze forced Dusk to catch the whiff of some heat in the air, which made him lose focus slightly as he started to return the kiss. While Jinx's hands were quickly locked in his spiky black hair to pull her half-breed lover deeper into the kiss. The hand Dusk had on her moved alongside her back, quickly find its way down to one of her plump flanks.

Jinx let out a brief squeal before it turned into a giggle as Dusk kept his hand on her luscious flanks and continued to massage them. Without Dusk's knowledge, the two had been using their magic on each other's marehoods to get them both riled up. That way, the moment Dusk caught a whiff of their heated scent in the air, he would slowly start lose control of his instincts.

Though much of this was Sketchy's idea, she'd originally only planned to use it on Jinx while they walked back so she'd pop at the first move. But from the sight in front of her, this was much more pleasurable to watch.

"Mm...looks like some mare is ready for bed," Sketchy started, sitting up on her knees, and getting ready to light her horn to teleport the three of them back to their house. However, Jinx had other plans.

Pulling herself away from Dusk, Jinx moved her arms around Sketchy's neck, and moved to her ear. "Hm...how about no." Sketchy raised an eyebrow towards the mare, but before she could question it, a sudden inferno was let loose in her marehood. A loud moan was forced out of Sketchy's throat while her eyes dropped to the fire burning in her core.

The intense feeling was strong enough to force her to use Dusk as support, making him fail to pull out the two objects his tail has been hunting for. "J-Jinx," Sketchy half moan and half growled, looking straight at the mare who was trying to act innocent. "W-what are yo-you...doing?"

"Oh c-come on Sketchy," Jinx giggled, continuing the innocent filly act, and started to grind her hips into Dusk. The mare's movement only made reaching for the basket that much harder for Dusk. It also didn't help with both of the mares sitting up and blocking his view of the it. "Where's the harm in a little fun?"

Sketchy began brightly blushing, knowing now that Jinx had wanted to have 'fun' out in the open. Where anypony could see them. "N-not when...s-somepony can see us, Jinx." Instead of listening to reason, Jinx simply moved back to attend to their half-breed, and started to bite alongside his ear. "Dusk, d-do something. S-she's going to get us caught."

However, before Dusk could begin to gather enough thought to speak, Jinx had thought of a way to keep things going where they are. "You can smell it can't you Dusk?" she started, using the same kind of tactic Sketchy would use to get Dusk lost in his mating instincts from both of his lineages. "That's our scent, lusting for you to make us your mares again, and again."

A low growl started to erupt from Dusk as small clouds of smoke started to seep from his nose. With Jinx's grinding and Sketchy's whimpering moans it wasn't long before Dusk's grip around his mares started to tighten as the clouds began to become more noticeable. Both mares recognized this as sign he was starting to lose himself in his instincts and that it wouldn't be long before something gave.

Jinx licked from her half-breed's collarbone all the way to his underside of his jaw before glancing quickly at Sketchy. "Last chance Sketchy," she whispered in a seductive tone with a slight hint of anticipation in it. Sketchy took a moment to weigh her options; give in to Jinx, and have an incredible moment under the lunar goddesses' moon, or try to again teleport them back to the house, but running the risk of being stopped by Jinx.

She could try to overpower the mare like she usually did, but in the state Dusk was in now, it might entice more of the savage alpha drake in his mind. And really, when she thought about it, letting Dusk have his way with them while they were out in the open did feel...exciting.

And every relationship needs some excitement to it.

"F-fine," she moaned before moving towards the other side of Dusk's ear, sliding her hand down his bare chest. With one last look over to Jinx, telling her it was now or never, Sketchy took Dusk's ear in her teeth, and jumped when his hand moved down towards her flanks. "Do it, let free the beast that's tearing through your mind." Jinx went back to nibbling on Dusk's ear, knowing that when it came to dirty-talk, Sketchy was far better. "Take us, make sure no other can ever hope to bring us joy like you can. Make us your mares."

'Rah, girls!' Suddenly, Dusk pushed both mare's down to their backs, quickly moving his hands up to the cleavage line of their dresses to pull it down. Both Jinx and Sketchy started to moan and giggle in their own unique ways as Dusk moved his hands wildly over their bodies. Once his mare's breasts were free from their fabric offenders, Dusk took a moment to gaze at the large mounds before scooting both mares closer so he could take one of each into his mouth.

The mares moans and giggles turned into sharp gasp when Dusk bit on their hardened nipples and twisted the other ones in his claws. Both Jinx and Sketchy soon found themselves lip-locked in a kiss with one another, and as usual, Sketchy moved for dominance.

As they continued to lock lips, both unicorns' horns started to rub against each other, causing magical sparks to fly out from their horns and into the other's. All the jolts did was add to the magic toying with the other's marehood and push them closer to the edge.

'J-Jinx,' Sketchy called through the mental link, which only sent another spark through Jinx's horn, and to her marehood. 'E-ease up will y-ya...I-I don't know, oh for Nightmare's sake!' Another strong breeze sent more of the mares' scent into Dusk's nose, causing him to growl around their breasts, and suddenly remove himself from his mares.

However, before either of them could whine in complaint, Dusk flipped Jinx on top of Sketchy, and lifted her out of her black lace panties. Jinx soon caught onto what he was getting ready for and used her magic to teleport Sketchy's green and blue panties off of her.

"N-no, Dusk, Jinx...n-not out here," Sketchy pleaded, falling from her tough mare act at the thought of having sex out in the open. However, her begging only made Jinx feel so...so good that she started to nibble on her neck to get more of it. It was just so thrilling having a mare like Sketchy begging instead of her. "Somepony could see us…"

"What of it?" Jinx questioned as she pressed her nose against Sketchy's, and staring her in the eyes. "Why should we have to worry for? If they don't like what they see than they can take a hike." Sketchy was snapped out of her embarrassment by the mare's words. She was right.

They both loved Dusk without any shame, so why would she want to hide it from the rest of the world? Hell, realizing this made her want to scream it out to the entire town, and soon she would be.

The mares heard the should of Dusk finally undoing his pants and revealing one, or rather, two of the biggest bonuses of being an alpha drake half-breed. Standing proud in the air with coats of clear pre-cum, Dusk's twin shafts twitched slightly from the cold winds of the fall air, and beat with a hunger that matched the one in his eyes.

When the three finally made the choice to take their relationship to an intimate level, both mares were given the pleasant surprise of the twin rods Dusk had. He quickly explained that it was because of his dragon-bloodline, saying that alpha drakes like him usually get two shafts, while male salamanders have one big one.

Again, the mares were thrilled at the knowledge as they had a shared dream of losing their innocence at the same time, and now they had a lover that could bring them that joy. And that joy hadn't ended or depleted at all over these two years of being together. If anything, it had grown stronger with each day, and the both of them were sure it'd stay that way for a long time.

"C-come...our love," Sketchy started, no longer caring if somepony did pass by their little spot on top of the hill. Sketchy reached out to Jinx's flanks to spread them wide so Dusk could see every glistening inch of his mare's marehood. Jinx moaned from having her flanks spread out but still had the focus to reach down towards Sketchy's marehood with two fingers to do the same thing to her marehood.

"Ta-take us."

Not even a half thought went through Dusk's head before he lurched over to the two and grabbed Sketchy by the flanks to aim both is his shafts at their marehoods. Both mares started moan when the heads of Dusk's shafts brushed up against them before diving in.

Sketchy and Jinx removed their hands off of each other to interlock their fingers before sealing their lips in another kiss. Both enjoyed the feeling of having Dusk's shafts buried in both of them and they knew that he enjoyed the uniqueness of the both of them.

Each thrust Dusk made into them forced their hard nipples to rub against each other, making them even harder. Their horns kept stroking against one another, sending jolts of the other's magic through their bodies, and through to Dusk's shafts.

With another deep growl, Dusk removed his claws from Sketchy's flanks. Before the white furred mare could complain, Dusk moved his hands up to Jinx's shoulders, pulling her out of the kiss with Sketchy, and forcing her to take more of his upper shaft. Suddenly, the hill was filled with the sound of the mares moaning, and their half-breed's growling.

Reaching around his light-blue mare, Dusk took Sketchy's breasts in his claws, and started to pinch her hardened nipples. Sketchy threw her head back in bliss, as unlike Jinx, she enjoyed the rough treatment from their savage alpha drake. That's why she would always push Dusk to the edge when it came to his mating instincts, though she was careful not to go too far. Just enough to give her that exciting thrill.

And having sex underneath the moonlight, in a town full of ponies that could randomly pop up from nowhere, was literally one of Sketchy's dirtiest dreams.

However, Jinx liked it when she could have a litte more fun, but she wouldn't have to wait this time around. Dusk's wing suddenly shot out to their full span, causing a small gust of wind that snuffed out the still lit candle before knocking it over. Jinx soon took it upon herself to aid with Dusk's thrusting by placing one of her hands down on Sketchy's lower body while the other one wrapped around Dusk's head.

Dusk moved his hands off of Sketchy's breasts to cup Jinx's as he sealed her lips into a kiss. Dusk's dragon-like tongue quickly darted into Jinx's mouth, wrapping around her tongue as the kiss continued to deepen. Sketchy was left to buck her hips upwards into Dusk's throbbing shaft with her legs wrapped around his lower back, just above his tail.

Still deeply locked with Dusk, Jinx opened one eye to look down towards the needy look on Sketchy's face, and quickly thought of a way to make Sketchy's time more enjoyable. Sparking her horn again, Jinx reached out to Sketchy's clenching marehood with her magical grip to massage the wet folds.

In doing so, Jinx only further added the pleasure that her lovers were feeling, freeing more of Dusk's instincts. Which was returned in full as Dusk moved his hands down to Jinx's thighs to start lifting her up to the tip of his shaft, only to slam her back down all the way to the base, getting her marehood to drop on top of Sketchy's.

Both mares started to howl towards the moon as their pleasure intensified along with the burning feeling that was growing in their cores. Of course they tried to fight it off for as long as they could, but Dusk's rods continued to be near too much for them to handle. And after having used magic on each other for a good portion of the time they'd sat out on the hill, both of his mares were at the very edge.

However, this only spurred Dusk on. Both mares' marehoods clenched down around his shafts, bringing a warmth and pleasure through his body, forcing him to increase his thrusting into both mares.

"S-Sketchy," Jinx moaned with her tongue hanging out of her mouth along with a line of saliva flowing down it. She tried to speak again only for her voice to get caught in her throat when Dusk took a small bite on her neck. Neither Jinx nor Sketchy knew why Dusk did this so much, but they surely weren't ever going to complain. "I-I'm so...c-close."

Sketchy opened her mouth to answer back to the mare that was all but a sister to her, but she too lost her voice when Dusk brought Jinx down for their marehoods to rub against each other. "M-me too," she finally said with a gasp as she started to play with her own breasts, twisting her hard nipples. "W-we really...s-should have th-thought this thro- Oh sweet Nightmare!"

Right as Dusk again brought Jinx down, both mares' backs arched as a powerful climax reached the both of them. Dusk let out a low growl when he felt both of his shafts become trapped in the two mares' clenching walls, allowing them to ride out their oragasms.

After a long moment of drenching their lover's lower body in their juices, both mares started to finally calm down from their climaxes. Sketchy eased her way back down onto the soft cotton blanket while Jinx rested against Dusk's solid chest.

Acting on instincts, Dusk's wings wrapped themselves around Jinx to keep her afterglow warm inside of her while Sketchy had to settled with his hands sensually massaging her hips, not that she minded.

"Mm...Th-that was incredible," Jinx cooed, grinding her hips onto Dusk's throbbing top shaft while she reached her hands up towards his ears to rub them. Her move was rewarded with Dusk taking small nibbles on her neck and shoulder. Jinx began softly sighing from the small bites and kisses along her neck from her half-breed lover.

Looking down, Jinx started to feel bad for leaving Sketchy on the ground like that, and began to wiggle out of Dusk's embrace to be with her 'sister.' Somewhat reluctantly, Dusk allowed Jinx to be free of his wings so she could lay down on top of Sketchy's breasts to begin to kiss and play with them.

Sketchy let out soft moans as Jinx continued to place small kisses around the underside of her chest while her fingers toyed around with her nipples. It wasn't long before the white mare embraced Jinx with her hands locking into the mess of green and blue mane.

Letting his mares catch their breaths, Dusk started to come back to his senses, and remembered about the final gift he had for his mares. However, some of his instincts still jumped at the sight of both mares sweating and panting like they were actually in heat, but he was able to remain focused for long enough.

Again, Dusk snaked his tail towards the basket, which was knocked over like most of the items on the blanket. Thankfully, now that both mares were too tired to do much, he was able to grab the two final pieces to what he hoped would be their best date.

"O-oh ladies," he started, still breathing a little heavily from being close to the edge when they came. Sketchy looked up towards Dusk while Jinx nibbled on her breasts like a newborn filly. At first, she feared that he would continue the love making before either one of them had the chance to fully catch their breaths, but then saw the dark-purple boxes wrapped in his tail.

"I know you two are tired," he chuckled a bit at his own joke before continuing on with what he had intended to happen before having sex with them. "But, I have one last gift for the both of you that I think you'll like," Dusk continued, moving his tail over to his mares, and letting them see the boxes.

Just like the tin boxes that held their treats, each box had their own individual ribbon on it to tell whose was whose. Jinx, after letting Sketchy's breasts free from her nibbly teeth, sat up to Dusk's chest, moaning as more of his throbbing shaft pushed into her, and taking the box with the blue and green ribbon.

Sketchy soon too sat up, forcing her marehood to rub against Jinx, and for her to take more of Dusk's shaft. A low growl from their half-breed told them that moving wasn't a good idea, so they both held onto each other with their hands interlocking behind the back of the other.

Using their magic to undo the ribbons, both Jinx and Sketchy gasped sharply the moment they saw what was inside the two boxes.

In both boxes were purple and blue necklaces, and by the way they were made, were handcrafted with extreme care. Blue gems led around the necklace while purple gems were connected on either side of the centerpiece gem on each individual necklace.

For Sketchy, it was a solid black gem that reflected a white shine. For Jinx, it was a jade colored gem that reflected a light-blue shine.

Both mares stared at their handcrafted gifts from Dusk. They may not have been professionally made, but the fact that they had a feeling that he was the one who made them, made it even more perfect.

While Jinx was still trying to understand how Dusk was able to make such a lovely necklaces, Sketchy turned her attention to the only one with the answers. "D-Dusk, when did you made these?" she asked in a near speechless voice, not from the climax she was recovering from, but from the lengths Dusk went for the both of them.

Dusk smiled and wrapped his wings around both of his mares to pull them closer to his chest. "To be honest, for awhile now," Dusk started, getting both mares' eyes to widen as they slowly realized that Dusk had to been secretly working on their necklaces ever since they started dating. "I had planned to give you two this after our first anniversary, but I only had one made by that time, and I wanted the both of you to have them at the same time."

Both mares turned their heads to only see that the other was just as shocked as the first. They knew that Dusk loved the both of them, as they loved him too, but they didn't think he'd go as far as he had. What Dusk had done for them beat any old book Sketchy had read before, it definitely surpassed what Jinx saw in movies, and even beat what they dreamt about regarding the half-breed.

Jinx slowly brought the necklace to her heart and held it there while they were still encased in Dusk's warmth. Neither one had ever felt so close to another like they did now with Dusk. Not even in their dreams had they ever thought that they would wind up as lucky as they were now.

Sparking her horn, Jinx reopened the mental link with Sketchy, gaining the attention of her sister. 'Sketchy, Dusk, I think he's-'

"I know Jinx," Sketchy spoke, no longer bothering to use the mental link any more, and sparking her horn. Knowing what Sketchy was doing, Jinx crossed her horn with Sketchy's, and added her magic to Sketchy's. Dusk was left in awe by the bright white sparks that came from the two mare's joining magic but was still left in the dark of what they were doing.

"It's really time for our loyal mutt to get his reward."

Suddenly, a bright flash over took the hill, bright enough to temporarily blind any that were around to see it. Right before the flash washed over the hill, both Sketchy and Jinx moved to place a kiss on Dusk's lips, and push him down to his back. When Dusk's sight returned, he found himself looking straight up towards the ceiling of his and his lovers' bedroom, only...without his clothes.

"How in the world did you two manage to do-"

Suddenly, a white finger was placed on his lips, silencing his words. Dusk moved his now shining blue eyes down to see Sketchy with her mane fully down over her back and shoulders while only wearing her necklace around her neck. "Shh...our hardworking lover," she started in a gentle voice that was sort of a rarity with Sketchy. The black mascara around her half-lidded eyes, along with her three-shaded black mane falling to the bottom of her back, made her look more enticing than she normally did. "You've done so much for the two of us, so let us do something for you."

Dusk was going to try again to question the mare, when he felt Jinx move to his right side to lick along his jaw, and trail her hand over his bare chest. Sketchy soon joined the mare, moving down to lick along his jaw on his left side, and moving her hand down to his still fully erect shafts.

Again, low growls came from their half-breed lover, prompting the two to start pressing their bodies closer to him, and grinding their hips into him. "Dusky, we want to make you feel good," Jinx whispered into his ear while Sketchy toyed with his uppermost shaft. "You've done nothing but good for us, so let us do good for you."

Jinx slid down Dusk's body, taking small nibbles where she could before reaching his twitching shafts. Staring at the twin rods as lines of pre-cum leaked down the sides, drool started to form around the edges of Jinx's lips as a very dirty thought entered her head.

Moving down, Jinx placed her hands on Dusk's hips as she took a long slow lick of the the bottom shaft, going all the way to the tip of it before licking down the sides. Her nose flared from the heavy scent of her half-breed lover, along with the taste that she knew was from Sketchy, and a little bit of her own.

The smell was intoxicating, and she wanted more. Taking one more long lick up the underside of Dusk's shaft, playing around with the head a little, Jinx took the twitching head into her mouth, wrapping her fingers around the uppermost one to begin stroking it slowly.

Loud growls came from Dusk's mouth, which was sealed by Sketchy when she placed a kiss on his lips. In a challenging move, Sketchy tried to win dominance over Dusk, fighting back his wide fork-like tongue with her own, but soon failing when Dusk pushed back. Sketchy was rendered helpless as Dusk's dexterous tongue forced its way into her mouth before encircling hers.

However, she was granted some leeway thanks to Jinx taking more of his bottom shaft into her mouth. Jinx had always been the one to please Dusk like this, and she preferred to as well. She enjoyed the feeling of Dusk's shafts throbbing deep in her mouth. The feeling of him filling her up with his seed as it fired into her was pure bliss for the mare, and it soon gave her another idea.

While Sketchy was busy sealing their lover's lips, Jinx pulled back from the shafts, making a popping sound as she went. She then placed her legs on either side of Dusk, using her magic to aim his shafts at both of her tight walls. "Oh Dusky~" At the sound of their mare, Sketchy allowed Dusk to be free for just a moment to see what the mare was doing. When Dusk caught sight of what Jinx was doing, his jaw nearly fell off, and he couldn't gather enough thoughts to stop her from pushing her way down both shafts.

The moment Jinx started to push down on his shafts, a deep growl came from Dusk as well as dark lines of smoke. However, the two thick rods were proving to be a bit too much for the one mare to handle as she failed to breach both of her tight holes.

Wanting to help her pack-sister, Sketchy placed her legs on either side of Dusk's head, and reached out to Jinx's hips. Jinx quickly leaned over to wrap her arms around Sketchy's neck for support, causing the uppermost shaft's head to breach her marehood. "Come on Jinx," Sketchy whispered into the shaking mare's ear as she stroked the length of her green and blue mane. "You always wanted to know what it felt like to be filled by both of Dusk's shafts, so what's the problem?"

"Oh S-Sketchy," Jinx cried out from another failed attempt of taking both of Dusk's shafts. The pain was near unimaginable but there was this small ping of pleasure that kept her trying. "I-it hurts...I don't t-think I-I can."

Sketchy kissed the side of Jinx's cheek to lick off the tear that was threatening to fall down it while her hands moved to her flanks. Jinx moaned when she felt Sketchy's soft hands on her flanks as they coaxed her to pushed down further.

When Dusk felt the tight walls taking his shafts, he shot his hands to Sketchy's thighs, and pulled her down to his face. Waves of the mare's scent washed over Dusk's mind, forcing him to fall back into his instincts, making him buck his hips into Jinx while his tongue started to snake its way out of his mouth.

Both mares started to moan from their half-breed lover's sudden movement. Sketchy began shaking when Dusk's wide fork-like tongue started to dance around on her outer walls. However, Jinx released more moans when she started to lose strength in her legs, and slid further down Dusk's shafts.

Her walls began expanding so as to accommodate his sizes, however, there was still the painful mix of pleasure behind them. But, Jinx wanted to repay Dusk for all the hard work he had been doing just for her and Sketchy, and she was going to do just that.

Placing her shaking hands on Dusk's lower abdomens, Jinx started gyrate her hips to cover more of Dusk's twin shafts, continuing to moan. As more of Dusk's shafts filled Jinx, her half-breed started to buck his hips more into her, and Sketchy bucked from his tongue.

Drool started to fall down both mares' lips as Jinx had always wanted for both of her holes to be filled by Dusk. While Sketchy learned just how flexible his tongue was, Jinx continued to ease her way down Dusk's shafts, gripping tightly at any tufts of fur she could grab on Dusk's body.

Soon Jinx finally stopped grinding down on Dusk's shafts as she began feeling too much pain to keep going. "Sketchy…D-Dusk's s-shafts, they're t-throbbing deep inside me," Jinx moaned as she started to use her hands to push her up the shafts to drop back down, which pushed more of the shafts in. It was painful at first, however, that pain started to slowly subside, and give way to pleasure.

While Jinx slowly found a good rhythm, Sketchy was doing her best to keep the building climax at bay just a little longer, but Dusk's prodding tongue was starting to become too much. Suddenly, she leaned forwards to take Jinx's lips in a deep kiss while her hands reached out to her light blue and green trimmed star-shaped cutie marks.

Jinx began rolling her hips into Dusk each time she dropped down, finding that it made it easier to get more of his shafts inside of her. And as she moved up, she rolled her hips out away from Dusk as it was also easier than just pulling straight up. So, to make the pain as minimal as she could, Jinx kept this up to maximize their pleasure.

While Jinx was getting used to being impaled by both of Dusk's rods, Sketchy was starting to have trouble keeping herself under control. Dusk's tongue felt magnificent against her outer walls, and just like his tail, it was extremely flexible. However, it wasn't until Dusk pushed his thick fork tongue inside her did she really think that she was going to explode.

Showcasing further feats of his dragon heritage, Dusk's tongue continued to push deeper and deeper still. Sketchy placed her hands on Dusk's upper chest for better support and to give him more room to work with. "O-oh Dusk, m-more...fill me more with your incredible tongue!" Just like Jinx, Sketchy started to roll her hips into Dusk's face to get more of his tongue to go further in her.

Dusk growled as in answer, pushing more of his tongue deeper inside of her, twisting it around to hit all of her sensitive spots inside of her. Both mares threw their heads back in pure bliss from their half-breed.

The burning need to have Dusk release inside her forced Jinx to increase the pace of her drops, even going all the way to the tip before slamming down. Sketchy too began bucking her hips into Dusk's face faster, both pushing their hands down on Dusk's body for more support.

Soon, deep dark smoke lines started to seep from Dusk's nose, followed by more growls, foretelling of his impending climax. Both mares knew the signs that he was ready to blow any moment. By now they could already feel their marehoods were clenching around him, enticing Dusk to push them further towards their peaks.

Sketchy moved her hands from Dusk's body to cup the sides of Jinx's bouncing breasts and took the hardened nipples into her lips, biting down to spur the mare further to her peak. Jinx did her best to last another few minutes to give Dusk the release that he deserved, however, with both shafts buried inside of her, and with Sketchy biting down on her nipples, it was too much.

"S-Sketchy," Jinx cried out with another heavy drop down Dusk's shafts, forcing a moan out of her lips. "I-I...I'm not gonna to last m-much longer...D-Dusky's g-gotten big-" Jinx couldn't finish her words as another mind-numbing climax ripped through her body, much more powerful than the last one. Suddenly, she buried herself all the way down Dusk's shafts as her juices leaked out around them, still managing to force a few more bounces.

Luckily, Jinx's last effort was enough to finally get Dusk to reach a climax as well, and he quickly filled Jinx with his steaming hot seed. Jinx's eyes started to roll to the back of her head from the warmth traveling up through her body, and she forced herself to keep bouncing to milk Dusk for all he was worth.

As excess cum started to stream down the sides of Dusk's shafts, Sketchy also reached a climax from Dusk reaching a certain spot inside of her marehood, and flooded Dusk's mouth with her slightly chocolate-like taste.

Once he finally stopped pumping his seed deep in Jinx, and when there was no more of Sketch's cum to lap up, Dusk released his white mare's thighs. Sketchy slowly, and carefully moved to Dusk's left side, avoiding hurting his wings.

No longer able to hold herself up, Jinx collapsed on top of Dusk's right side while Sketchy took a spot to his left. It wasn't long before Dusk's arms and mighty wings tightly wrapped around the two mares, who all were left a sweaty mess.

While trapped in Dusk's wings, both Jinx and Sketchy again reminded themselves why they loved their half-breed so much. He may not be the nicest of guys, or smartest, but Dusk was always there for them when he needed them. He even went as far as planning out multiple surprises for their date tonight. All the while, dealing with the elements of harmony.

There was no second guessing his devotion towards them, and while he might act like a no-good island street-mutt sometimes, he was their mutt. That was all that mattered. /-/  
/ Ch. 36: An Outcast's Home/-/

High Moon Ch. 36:  
An Outcast's Home

"Alpha, would you slow up?" Above High Moon valley, Luna and Nightmare's moon was beginning to make its last few minutes of light known before the twilight of sunrise would slowly crawl above Everfree. However, Wolf, Blaze, and an unwilling Veil all walked around a covered path in the valley, and were preparing to set up Blaze's test for the dragons.

Blaze had told Isis to tell all four dragons not to eat anything until after the test, and that she would come to get them when everything was ready. The sphinx hadn't wasted a single moment as before leaving to carry out her mistress' order.

Now, Wolf carried Blaze on his back, as she was still somewhat sleepy, while Veil crawled around behind them. However, the diamond hound was still able to keep her eyes open enough to at least assist in finding the type of field the Alpha-Mother was looking for. But she still wanted to sleep. Blaze had told the two canines that she needed an open field with virtually nothing else in it, somewhere that sound wasn't made too often.

The first part of Blaze's desired area was fairly easy to point out several times, however, it was the second condition that made the search difficult. Each time they came across a field, Wolf would close his eyes to listen to the early morning sounds of Everfree Forest.

Birds chirping in the far distance, a strong morning breeze moving leaves about, and the slight subtle movement from the grass gave the group a calming feeling. "Well," Wolf started, glancing back to Blaze's half-lidded eyes. "Of all the fields we've came across, this is the quietest one." Groaning slightly, Blaze moved her head to rest on top of Wolf's shoulder so she could inspect the field herself. "What do you think Blaze?"

Blaze carefully looked over the rather empty field, the only thing in it was a wooden tree stump, and a tree behind that. Aside from that, nothing else that could prove to be a distraction for the dragons during their test, or to Isis, who would be assisting with the tests. Really, if it came down to it, Blaze could always put a soundproof barrier around them, but she hoped that it wouldn't be necessary.

"It'll do," Blaze sighed, resting the side of her head against Wolf's back, and nuzzling into his growing fur. "Just set me down on that stump." Wolf nodded his head and made his way towards the stump with a yawning Veil right behind.

Honestly, Veil hated mornings, like a lot, but she had a job to do. And if that job would help Cyclone in any way, then she was willing to do whatever it took to help. However, that still didn't curb her dislike for the early morning hours.

As Wolf gently set Blaze down on the stump, Veil took a moment to look the two lovers over, and thought about the relationship they had. Of all the mates the alpha dog could have picked, he went and chose an unicorn mage as his mate, and was having his first born alpha cub by the mare.

Normally, an alpha dog as strong as Wolf would have picked another alpha hound to be his mate, but Wolf wasn't like any other alpha Veil knew. Other alphas would have been looking for the fastest way to strengthen their pack and claimed as many mates as possible to give them powerful offspring.

However, Wolf wasn't like that. Everything he did was in mind of his pack as a whole and his mare. 'If only there were more males like him,' Veil quickly thought to herself before walking over to the couple to see why she had been woken so early in the morning.

At the sound of Veil walking towards them, Wolf turned around to tell the hound what would be done in a short few minutes. "Alright hound," he began, patting her on the shoulder, and leading her to a spot Blaze pointed out. "All we gotta do is clear out this little part, head to White Tail to see about that farm job, and then we're done for the day."

"Oh gee, that's it?" Veil scoffed as she moved towards the spot Wolf pointed out and waited for further instructions. "So what are we doing anyways?" Wolf began going over what Blaze told him that she needed done before the dragons could start the test. Mainly, all they had to do was make large circles for each dragon, and to ensure that there was a fair amount of space between each circle.

Veil mumbled something about not liking to dig but did as she was told. At the same time, both diamond dogs tightened their fists, and suddenly snapped them back out to fully unsheathe their claws.

As Veil expected, Wolf's claws were nearly a full three inches longer than hers, and from the slight reflection they had, were much denser in comparison. However, that didn't mean that Veil's claws were any laughing matter, as they were close to a full two inches, and had their own slight reflection.

Another difference between the two dog's claws were the shape of them. Veil's were more curved with a sharp point at the end of each one while Wolf's were straighter with a jagged edge.

The two went to work moving as much dirt as they could to make a notable circle in the ground, and constantly referred back to Blaze to see what she thought. It turned out that each circle had to be much larger than they first thought, and took several attempts before they could move on to the last set.

While the two dogs dug out the last of the large circles into the soft morning dirt, Blaze rubbed her hands over her belly, and continued to smile at the thought of caring for the cub inside. The more she thought about it, the less it seemed scary to her about raising her child in Everfree. She not only had someone as strong as Wolf looking after her, but all of the others in High Moon.

Blaze had to suppress a small giggle at the thought of the pack turning into a village like the one she was raised in back in her native lands. The thought naturally appealed to her, wanting her cub to grow up as she had. She already knew how her mother felt standing by someone as important as her father from being with Wolf, but she still missed the feel of being in a village.

Though, first thing's first. Blaze was sure that the others would continue to help them with the many tasks that needed done around High Moon, but first she wanted to make sure that they knew what they were dealing with when it came their their dragon bloodlines.

"Hey Blaze," Wolf called out, breaking Blaze of her thoughts of the future, and back into the trials of the present. Blaze looked over to her lover and the hound as they both flexed the muscles in their hands to resheath their claws back to a more manageable length. "This good?"

Blaze stood from her seat on the stump and looked over the four circles in the ground. Each one was large enough to encircle a fully grown oak tree, easily large enough for each dragon to have their own small space for what she had planned.

"Yes that'll do," Blaze answered after a moment of thought, walking over to the row of four circles, and sparking her horn to life. Suddenly, each dirt circle started to shine in a bright crimson light, and Wolf could tell that she'd placed a soundproof barrier over each one.

'So that's her plan,' Wolf thought to himself while Veil was still in the dark about what Cyclone would have to do for the test. Blaze let the individual barriers down and started to lean against Wolf again.

Wolf looked down the sleepy eyes of his mare with a slight chuckle. He should have known that she would be tired this morning after staying awake late into the night planning everything out for the dragons' tests. "Everything set?" he asked, wrapping an arm around Blaze's shoulders, and pulling her closer.

While the two lovers spoke with one another, Veil sat on the ground, and looked on with a sense of longing. Not for being with the two but for having what they had; a family. All her life, Veil was either alone, or wished to be. When she was a small cub, she ran from her former oppressive alphas, and vowed to never go back.

So, since then, she'd been living in that house in White Tail trying to make it out on her own. It was a really rough start as she had to learn a lot on her own, but soon, she found a nice routine that worked for her. At the most, she would only have to do business in town twice a month, and that was really only for small things like clothes. Which she hardly wore, only enough to cover what needed to be covered, but that changed the day she found Cyclone.

"Hey, hound." Veil jumped from her memories at the sound of Wolf's deep voice calling out to her while his hand shook her shoulder. She quickly snapped her grayish eyes towards the alpha's dull-green eyes and blinked a few times. "You alright? You were just...staring."

A small, yet visible, blush spread across Veil's cheeks at her own inattentiveness, and she quickly turned away. "Y-yeah, I'm fine," Veil mumbled, hoping that Wolf and Blaze would take her half hearted answer, but having a feeling that they wouldn't.

"Veil, sweetie," Blaze started in a soft voice, walking towards the hound, and placing a hand on her shoulder. "You know that you can tell us anything right?" Veil looked back to the couple's concerned looks on their faces and knew that it wouldn't be fair to leave them like that. "Veil, is everything alright?"

Sighing, Veil got off the ground while she nodded her head with an unreadable look on her face. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Mind if I tell you on the way back?" Blaze stepped to the hound's side while Wolf took the lead so the two females could talk amongst themselves. The three soon started to make their way back towards the temple, where Wolf and Veil would leave from to go to White Tail to finish a few things.

Along with way, Veil was quite, looking as though she was afraid of what the two might think of her story, but she needed to tell someone. And no one was better than the two alphas of her new pack. "It's nothing really," Veil started as she absentmindedly followed the couple's lead while she looked back into the past. "I was just thinking about the day I found Cyclone…"

White Tail Forest; Six years ago

Deep within the mostly tamed part of the great Everfree Forest, a small gray diamond hound searched the forest looking for her next quick meal before nightfall came down on her. For the most part, she'd been able to survive on her own for these last few months, but she had started to feel alone in this world.

That said, she couldn't care less. She was healthy, had a roof over her head, able to find work for a few things for the house, and was starting to get into her own routine. Yeah...living the dream.

"Aw, who the hell am I kidding?" Veil, no older than fifteen at the time, openly asked the green forest around her. Three months. Three long and lonely months had already passed since she left her old den to get away from those two crazy alphas. Sure, Veil felt bitter about leaving her parents with those fools that called themselves alphas, but she had given them the chance to come with her.

Even knowing that, it still didn't change the lonely feeling in her chest.

"Rah, fuck!" In pure, pent-up anger from the empty luck she had, Veil unsheathed her claws, clawing away at the tree she was leaning against. Each swipe was wider than the next as her claws started to break away the tree bark. With her at such a young age, her tiny one-inch claws weren't suited for things such as this, each swing causing her a small pain in her hands, but she didn't care.

Sap from the tree began to stain her gray hands, making them sticky with amber, but she ignored it. She had no reason to care; no one around to tell her right from wrong, no one around to tell her what she needed to do and when, no one around to give her some slight comfort of company. And she still didn't care.

Soon, Veil wasted most of her energy, and the unoffending, thick oak tree had suffered mortal wounds. Both combatants fell over to their backs, the tree making more sound than Veil's ragged gasps. Once she got her breathing under control, Veil flatly stared up to the bright blue sky above her head, and took it as a sign of Cerberus further mocking her existence.

Veil covered her face with her arm so she no longer had to stare at the ever-so-mocking brightness of the world around her. "Whatever," she growled to herself while her hands subconsciously flexed to sheath her small one inched curved claws.

She soon got off the ground, having no further purpose with laying about the forest, and no longer wanting to think about the life she left behind. However, before she could start making her way back to the house, Veil heard something moving behind her.

Veil again clenched her fist to unsheathe her claws and whirled around towards the source of the sound. "Who's there?!" Veil demanded, trying to make herself sound as threatening as she could, but not sure how threatening her still-cracking voice came across as.

Even with her aggressive display, the forest refused to acknowledge her, and returned to the dead silence that Veil found comforting, yet dull. Sighing, Veil again got ready to leave the forest, but was again stopped by a sound coming from behind her.

This time though, it was followed by a voice.

"H-hello?" Taking in a deep breath, Veil looked up to the sky, and prayed that Cerberus wasn't further toying with her before she turned her head towards the tree where the voice was coming from.

Veil's cold eyes quickly found the white and blue dragoness hiding from behind a tree. From the look of the dragoness, she couldn't have been any older than Veil was, yet she was much smaller in size.

As the newcomer started to move from the tree, Veil's eyes widened, not from the dragoness' lack of clothing, but from the obvious signs of injury on her body. "By Cadjo's second soul, what the fuck happened to you?" Veil questioned, eying the deep blue bruises showing clearly on her white scales, and the faint sign of blood staining her upper chest.

Each step the dragoness took towards her, Veil could easily see the dragoness flinching from pain, and it was too much for her to bear. "Hey, hey," Veil started, running over to the dragoness, and catching her before she fell to the ground. That's when Veil was able to see the slash marks on the dragoness' white back, leaking out fresh blood.

"Oh shit," Veil muttered to herself as she started to carefully pick the dragoness up. She needed to get the newcomer back to the house to tend to her wounds and hopefully able to save her life. As she raced out of the forest, the sound of the dragoness crying told her that she was in a lot of pain, and that she needed to be careful. "Hey, you hang on. Hey, you hear me?"

Three hours later

Veil sat next to the unconscious dragoness after three long hours of treating her wounds to the best of her abilities, most of which consisted of getting the bleeding to stop as fast as she could. Luckily, Veil had 'borrowed' first-aid supplies from the local clinic, and used most of the bandages she had.

Now, all she could do for the dragoness was be at her side for when she woke up, but the hound didn't know what she was going to say to her when the tiny dragoness did. Would she remember who she was, would she be able to tell her who did this to her, or even what happened?

Veil sure as hell didn't know, all she did know was that this dragoness was alone just like her, and she was in a lot more trouble than she was. "For Cadjo's fucking sake," Veil groaned, laying her head back against the chair, and staring up towards the brown wooden beams holding the roof over their heads.

Of all the things she could have thought would possibly ever happen to her, an injured dragoness falling at her feet was not one of them. "Okay, calm down Veil. Let's get things situated," Veil spoke to herself, which was a normal thing for her to do as it helped her gather her thoughts. "An unknown dragoness collapsed in front of you, injured by Cadjo knows what, and is now unconscious in your bed."

Veil continued to think about everything while the dragoness rested. "Okay, okay, just...make it up as you go." Sighing, Veil sat up in the chair to look over the sleeping dragoness, and frowned at her poor ability to fully get rid of blood. Not that there was more still flowing, that much she could stop, but the dragoness' pure white scales were stained in it.

As were her hands.

The feeling of the dragoness' blood soaking her hands made her think of it as an ill omen for abandoning her old life in the den. It was like Cerberus himself was trying to ensure that she couldn't get anything done. Sure, she had moments of luck and some minor achievements, but it seemed at every corner that something was waiting to fall on top of her.

"Yeah...living the dream," Veil grumbled to herself, in a sour mood at the way her life was turning out. The problem was, as much as she wanted to turn it around, she didn't know how. "Wonder what's going to-"

"Mmm…" Veil quickly snapped her attention to the dragoness as she started to groan from the dull and throbbing pain in her back and legs. "W-water…" Veil quickly jumped into action, grabbing the glass of water sitting on the nightstand next to the dragoness, and carefully bringing it to her lips.

Upon the first drop, the dragoness hurried to drink as much of the cold water as she could, but this caused her to start coughing. Veil quickly set the glass down and started to gently pat the dragoness on her back, careful not to reopen her wounds.

Soon, the coughing ended with the dragoness laying her head back down with a ragged sigh. "Th...thank yo-you," the still weak dragon started, only able to open one eye to look towards Veil. At that every moment, Veil caught the dull shine of the dragoness' soft pink eyes, and slowly recognized the look of betrayal in them.

Memories of the day she left, or rather ran away, from the den flashed through her head, and the thought of seeing her parents' disappointed looks again was too much. Not disappointed that she ran, no, they were disappointed because she was abandoning the pack, while she was angry because they were abandoning her.

"C-Cyc…" The faint, struggling, sound of the dragoness trying to speak again broke Veil out of her thoughts, and forcing her to look down to the injured dragon. "Cyclone...m-my name," she whispered with a ragged breath following after.

"Stop talking," Veil said, kneeling down, and gently pushing Cyclone's head back down to the blood stained bed. "Y-you're going to be fine," she continued to rub Cyclone's soft round head-spines, which traveled down to her neck where she could see them being cracked by something. "Everything is going to be alright...I-I'll keep you safe."

Cyclone again opened an eye towards Veil, only to see the slightly forced smile on her face. "Th-thank you…" Slowly, Cyclone let her vision go dark again, but this time with a smile on her face. Moments passed as Veil continued to look at the sleeping dragoness. For the second time in her life, Veil had no idea what to do next, and the thought scared her.

"Don't go thanking me just yet."

Present day

Silence overtook Everfree Forest as Blaze looked at the hound thoughtfully while Wolf was eerily quiet. Both lovers were trapped in their own thoughts about the story Veil just got done telling them, however, both were of different thought.

Blaze felt sorry for both Cyclone and Veil. From the sounds of things, they both had a hard life, and had more than enough reasons to depend on each other. Though, the question did come up about Cyclone's injuries, but Veil just said that Cyclone never told her about them. After they had a rather heated argument, Veil just dropped the subject altogether, but still wondered about it.

While Blaze worried over Veil's past life, Wolf's thoughts were less...sympathetic. He did his best not to show this, though. It was hard for them, that much was sure, however, he couldn't but help think about how a beta hound left her pack.

Granted that he almost did the same thing, the main difference being he had his father's blessing as well as the pack's, but Veil did not. She was officially a runaway hound from a den somewhere in Everfree.

However, Wolf couldn't hold anything about it against her. Veil was entitled to her dreams as much as any other and Wolf had no place in saying otherwise. Also, he could understand her want to getting away from her old den's alphas, and knew just why.

Being one himself, Wolf knew how many alphas think, and knew that many could be abusive towards their other pack members. Some would even go so far as to drive some of their members out. Usually the hounds were the first ones to go, before others followed.

An alpha that only knew how to mate, hunt, gather, and eat wasn't a real alpha, nor did they deserve the right to call themselves such. Blaze was the one that helped him see that, and he was forever grateful to the mare for showing him this. So, he couldn't say anything against Veil doing the same.

Suddenly, Veil stopped walking down the path, and had her eyes transfixed on the ground. Both Blaze and Wolf turned to the hound, only to see the pained expression on her face while her fists clenched at her sides, quivering.

Blaze placed a hand on the hound's shoulder for reassurance, only getting Veil to wrap her arms around her. "Alpha-Mother," Veil started with a shaking tone in her voice as her grip around Blaze's neck began tightening a little. "Please tell me Cyclone is going to make it," she continued with a begging tone while tears started to swell up in her eyes. "S-she's all I got left…"

"Shh, it's okay," Blaze started, placing her hands on Veil's head, and softly stroking Veil's black and white hair. "Cyclone will be fine, Veil, there isn't anything for you to worry about." Blaze continued to softly stroke the hound's hair until she regained control of herself. "Now Veil," Blaze said, forcing Veil to let her go, but still holding onto her hands. "I want you to know that you two aren't alone any more. We're all here for you, understand?"

Sniffling, Veil nodded her head. She knew that there wasn't anything really to worry about so as long nothing else drastic happened to Cyclone, but she needed to hear it to be sure.

"O-okay, thank you Alpha-Mother," Veil said, wiping the tears from her eyes, and putting on a small smile. Blaze returned the smile in full and patted Veil on the shoulder, getting another nod in return from the hound before turning to walk behind Wolf.

It wasn't long before the three were standing outside of temple entrance. Wolf told Blaze that him and Veil would be heading to White Tail to finish everything that had been started a few days ago, and to see about that farmhand job that Frost and Quill were talking about.

Blaze waved the two off with a tight hug from Veil, again telling her that everything would be alright, and a quick kiss with Wolf that told him more was to come when he got back. Soon, the two canines were walking down the path towards White Tail, and would be back within an hour or so.

Once Blaze could no longer see the two down the dirt path, she took in a deep breath, and hardened herself for what needed to be done next. She opened the doors to the temple and moved onward to her work area, where she saw Isis had already gathered the dragons, and were all waiting for her next instructions.

"Okay everyone," Blaze began, walking towards the table where the dragons, and one half-dragon, were at. "Everything is set up and ready for you all. I trust that none of you have eaten just yet?" Loud growling from the twins' stomachs served to answer Blaze's question without any of them wasting more energy by speaking. Even Frost was starting to get hungry, mainly because the only emotion Quill was giving off was hunger itself, which only served to make her even more hungry.

However, even though the dragons had a hungry look in their eyes, Blaze smiled at how disciplined each of them were, and noted this with great interest. "Good, I also wanted to tell you all that the only thing any of you will be doing today is this test."

All four were taken by surprise at what Blaze had just said. At first, they all thought the test would take no longer than a few hours, and would leave them enough time to do some other things around the valley. However, the way Blaze said that they would only be able to do the test, worried each of them.

"Um...by that you mean?" Quill asked for the others as they were trying to decode what the unicorn just told them.

"By that I mean, none of you will be able to do anything," Blaze again stated with the same motherly smile on her face. For a moment, there was worry coming from her, but before Frost could understand why, reassurance took over. "Don't worry guys, it's nothing too...hard. It's just that I don't want you all to do anything afterwards."

Again, all four started to think about what Blaze was telling them. Whatever this test was, it was sure to really be something if it was only to pull on their greed just a little, yet have Blaze not wanting them to do anything afterwards.

Without another word, Blaze turned around, and started to walk to the temple doors with Isis following after. "You guys just wait here a little longer," Blaze called out to them as she and the sphinx started to walk through the door leaving the others slightly confused. The two remained quiet until Isis closed the wooden door to her masters/lovers room.

Blaze didn't move from her spot right in front of the bed, causing Isis to grow worried for the mare. Suddenly, Blaze's sight of the floor was obscured by two massive black wings wrapping around her. Before she could respond to them, Isis hands trailed along her bare stomach while she nibbled slightly on Blaze's ear.

Soft sighs told Isis that her sudden move did its job in calming her mistress down and pulled her out of the deep thought she was trap in. Isis released Blaze's ear from her sharp teeth but still held her in her arms and wings.

"Mistress, please stay strong, I hate seeing you this way," Isis said while her hands continued to softly rub Blaze's growing stomach, being rewarded with soft sighs. "You've been uneasy ever since last night and it is not healthy for you." Blaze stopped the sphinx's gentle rubbing by interlocking her fingers in the space between Isis' fingers. "Either of you."

"I know, I know," Blaze murmured, leaning back into Isis' chest, and closing her eyes to take in the sphinx's warmth. "It's just that I'm slightly worried for them. This test could prove a lot about each of them." Feeling her mistress' hands tightening their grip on hers, Isis knew that Blaze was still feeling stressed about the whole situation, and began slowly rocking from side to side in a calm motion. "Thank you Isis."

"Of course mistress," Isis started, again sounding like Blaze, but continued before the mare could think about it much. "Now, don't you think we've kept them waiting long enough?"

Blaze giggled at the sphinx, thinking she was copying her cheerful attitude to make her smile. "Okay, okay miss bossy cat-butt," Blaze joked, getting Isis to blush, and laugh along with her. After the two's fit of giggles ended, Blaze sparked her horn to open the wooden chest in the room, and pulled out the hunk of fire-stone.

As the rock slowly approached, Blaze breathed slowly to keep the dragon-blood from rushing forth. "Isis," she started, in a tone that didn't entirely fit her. Isis quickly recognized it as the same tone when she gave her body to her masters the other night. "Could you put a magic-proof barrier around the fire-shard?"

"Yes mistress," Isis said with a heavy tone of her own. For a brief moment, the sphinx's crimson and blue eyes flashed before an orb of reddish light surrounded the shard, and forced Blaze to let her grip of it go. "It has been done."

Blaze nodded her head but still kept the harden look on her face. "Very good. Come, let us get the others. It's time for their test."

White Tail

While Blaze was preparing to test the dragons, Veil and Wolf made their way to White Tail. Along the way, they talked about anything that came to mind, and took interest into the other's motives for things.

Veil obviously had a good sense of duty, since the only thing keeping her in High Moon was Cyclone's training and the debt she owed Wolf. Along with that, it was clear that she cared for Cyclone much more than just a friend.

However, Wolf couldn't overlook the fact that she'd left her old den. Again, it wasn't his place to judge the hound, but as an alpha the knowledge continued to make itself known to him. Alphas depended on betas to keep the pack and den running smoothly, while betas depended on alphas to keep them safe within the den.

If an alpha, or in some cases alphas, could not do this then betas would be inclined to question them before either leaving or finding some other dog that could kept them safe.

From the sound of Veil's old life, that's exactly what might have happened to her old den, but there was no telling. Not unless she wanted to venture back to the old den in the side of a distant hill near the edge of Everfree to see for herself, that is.

Soon, the two found themselves in White Tail, splitting up to get what they needed done as quickly as possible so they could head back to High Moon. Wolf left to check up on the winter coats for the others as he, Veil, and probably Isis, were capable of dealing with the winter months, thanks to their adaptations. However, as for the equines, dragons, and half-breed, they all needed something to keep the heat in their bodies.

While Wolf left to go see the local dressmaker, Veil pushed onwards to the center of the town to see about that farmhand job, but something was telling her that it wasn't going to happen. Mostly because of Cyclone's greed-growth five years ago.

Thankfully, it wasn't to the same extent as the twins, but there was still damage to certain businesses and other public places. That and...over half of the town didn't like the idea of a dragon being there.

"Just hope that it doesn't cause any troubles," Veil mumbled to herself as she reached the town square. That's when Veil started to hear the quiet whispers from the town goers. All of them were surprised that she was even still alive after the fire at her house, which none of them came to.

Veil slowly came to a stop as her mind started to race for an answer. Spike said that he was only able to find her burning house from the tower of smoke that was sticking out clearly from the blue sky. So, why didn't anyone else come besides Wolf's pack? Why was it that the only ones that didn't live in White Tail came to her and Cyclone's rescue?

"They wanted us gone." Veil could have slapped herself for not realizing this sooner. After Cyclone's greed-growth, over half of the town feared not only Cyclone, but her as well. That was why few ponies would even approach her any more and even fewer would dare speak with her. "Awe-fucking-some…they're scared of us. That's just great."

Veil leaned back on a nearby empty cart and stared blankly up towards the sky. Five years, for five long fucking years, the whole town wanted her and Cyclone gone, but was too scared to even say it to their faces.

She always had a feeling that the town wanted her gone, especially after Cyclone's greed-growth, but she was too stubborn or just too content about where she was in life to see the truth being whispered all around her.

It was far more than painfully obvious that White Tail was no longer her home, since her's was probably still encased in ice. Now, however, she had another home. One where there were others that actually care for her and Cyclone.

"Well...I never liked this town anyways."

Suddenly, Veil kicked off of from the cart, the force of it enough to damage the wooden cart, but she didn't care. Taking one last scornful look towards the ponies, unable to get a single one of them to look her way, Veil started to walk away from the town square with her head towards the ground.

Right as she was leaving the town square, Wolf spotted the hound walking with a sluggish slump, and ran over to see what was wrong. At first, he thought that it was something regarding the farmhand job or along those lines. And this thought only persisted when she refused to say a single word to him or even looked his way.

She just kept walking out of the small town, not paying attention to anything, just continuing to leave. Wolf kept questioning the hound's sudden change in mood, then he started to hear the whispers from the ponies. All quietly cheering that the hound was again leaving and that they were finally rid of her and Cyclone.

Sighing, Wolf followed Veil out of the town, and back onto the path to High Moon. Again, he was given reason to feel bad for the two. The town they called home for six years silently wanted them gone and were too cowardly to even say something to them. Though, Wolf knew that Veil would be fine. She was a tough hound and she had all of High Moon supporting her.

However, once they were far out into the clearing, Veil fell to her knees and started to curse her life. Wolf knelt down the the hound and placed a hand on her shoulder, quickly getting her to wrap her arms around him.

"T-they wanted u-us dead," Veil sobbed into Wolf's chest as her grip around him tightened, who could only return the hold, and rocking slightly to comfort her. "F-five years, Alpha...five years! I-I'm such a stupid hound."

Stroking the top of her head, Wolf allowed the hound to cry away her sadness the same way Frost did last night. It was his job. He was the alpha of High Moon, he had to be the immovable mountain for the others to walk upon, he needed to be there for them to make them feel like they weren't alone in this world, and he did it because he wanted to.

Soon, Veil's crying gave way to her soft snoring, and Wolf sighed at the sleeping hound. "Great, now I get to carry you back," he chuckled, standing up from the tall stalks of grass, holding Veil in his arms.

More or less, the trip to White Tail had been productive, regardless of the sudden turn of events. While Veil may have been given a reason to never look the town's way ever again, Wolf was at least able to finish the order for the winter coats, and now had a rough idea when they would be done.

So, now all he had to worry about was making sure everyone was taken care of.

"And I plan on it."

/ Ch. 37: Temptation/-/

High Moon Ch. 37:  
Temptation

Back in High Moon valley, Blaze had led the dragons towards the empty field where the four dirt circles lay in wait. Once there, she began to explain why none of them had been allowed to eat yet. Apparently, Blaze needed all of the dragons to be somewhat relying on their instincts so they wouldn't have as much as control on them as they usually do.

This was done for a few reasons; one to get them to rely on their feeding instincts, and another was to force them to fall prey to natural dragon greed. This was already evident in Frost as more of her dragon heritage was making itself known, cutting off most of her changeling abilities.

Everyone aside from Quill, Isis, and Blaze, were given a slight shock by the changeling's gradual transformation as her body began to represent more of her dragon blood. However, this didn't seemed to dull Frost's sharp mind, as she was able to retain mental control over herself.

While the changeling was displaying discipline that was unmatched by the others, both Spike and Cyclone were more or less fine, just hungry like the others. However, Quill was… hungrier than she should have been.

"Blaze," Quill started, holding her empty belly, standing in her own circle like she was told to do with the others while Blaze sat in front of them on a wooden stump. "Can we please eat already?"

The others' stomachs growled in agreement at Quill's question, only making all of them feel hungrier than they already were. However, Blaze remained completely stone-faced as she kept the shard of fire-stone floating next to her. "Sorry, Quilly, not just yet, but you all will eat soon." Blaze paused for a moment as she closed her eyes as if she was trying to fight something. "I promise."

Quill threw her hands up in pure frustration and started to walk around in the circle, thinking of anything to distract her from the hunger in her belly. While Quill will was starting to crack, Frost kept her focus solely on the large shard floating next to Blaze. With each small pulse the thing gave off, she could sense more power coming from it, making her dragon bloodline threatening to overcome her mental control.

However, she did her best to make this unknown to any of the others, knowing this test was about will and self-control. If she ever wanted to be able to handle more magic, than she needed to have full control over herself.

Though with each stomach growl from one of the others, or from herself, this became harder and harder. 'Got to remain strong,' Frost recited in her head to retain some of her control, however, everyone had their breaking points. 'This is my only chance to prove that I can-'

"I'm hungry..." All eyes turned towards Cyclone as she had her arms wrapped around her torso with a visible shake in her knees. That's when the others started to shape up, Cyclone was the weakest one of them, and they needed them to be strong for her. Even Quill had to stop her pacing from the downcast tone in Cyclone's voice.

"Clan-Mother...c-can I-"

"Cyclone," Spike cut in before she could finish that sentence. Soon, the dragoness looked towards the friendly smile on the drake's face, and did her best to return it. "Come on, we've only been out here for an hour at the most, and Blaze already said that we'll eat soon."

Cyclone slowly nodded her head as she forced herself to stand back up with the others. Frost looked over to the dragoness with a slight feeling of pity, of all of them Cyclone was the weakest one in both physical and magical aspects, and right now the most any of them could do for her was give words of encouragement.

"Yeah, Spike's right," Quill started with a smirk on her face while she stood proud with her arms crossed over her chest. "We've all been through worse than this, and besides, what else could happen?"

Blaze sat back and watched the four give each other words to keep themselves going. She was happy that they knew when to lend each other a hand; this would prove to be useful later, but she was here to test their individual resolve.

"Well now," she started, crossing her legs, and leaning against the tree behind her while a gentle wind pushed through the clearing. Slowly, each dragon stopped their talking to see Blaze sparking her horn, and smiling towards them. "I'm glad to see you all working together, but…"

Suddenly, the fire-stone shard split into five separate fragments and one of them shot out towards each dragon. Each one came to a sudden stop right in front of their chests, still pulsing with the same odd type of magic, the likes of which none had seen before. Without time to understand the magic, a sudden flash of black feathers next to Blaze gave way to Isis.

"Isis," Blaze began in a dark tone of voice while she kept an eye on each dragon's reaction to the fragment of her pure nature magic. "Do what we've planned." she continued with a darker tone of voice while the fragments started to periodically arc with magic That's when Frost was able to piece together what was happening, and what Blaze's true plans were. One look towards the others only confirmed this. Spike was slowly reaching a hand out towards the fragment, Quill was moving to take it in her mouth, and Cyclone had fallen to her knees as she held the fragment in her hands.

'This whole time she was waiting for us to break down and start helping each other.' Frost turned back towards Blaze and Isis as the sphinx started to complete a spell she was instructed to do beforehand. 'That way when she finally did separate us, it'd truly test our own wills.'

"Mistress," Isis quietly whispered as her hands and eyes began glowing a crimson color. "The spell is ready." Blaze stood from her seat and started to walk towards Frost as she was the only one left conscious to the world around her.

Once she was right in front of Frost's circle, which had its own bluish-crimson glow to it, the motherly smile on Blaze's face suddenly dropped into a stony frown. "The real test starts now," she whispered in a grim tone before turning her back on the changeling half-breed. "Do it, Isis."

"As you wish mistress," Isis responded with a snap of her fingers that completed the spell. Suddenly, deep blood-red fields of magic surrounded each individual circle. The field of magic was so strong that it even blocked out outside influences, leaving only the red hue from the fire-fragment as the dragon's source of light.

Blaze continued to stand in front of Frost's dome, hoping that each dragon would be able to deal with their own greed, and wishing that there was something else she could do to help them. Blaze was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear Isis walking towards her.

"Mistress," she started, enclosing Blaze in her wings while she gently placed her hands on Blaze's head to bring it down to her chest. "There is nothing to fear, they all are stronger than we think." Blaze took in a slow deep breath and let out a long sigh as she wrapped her arms around Isis' back.

"That's what I'm afraid of."

XXX

Frost snapped awake, opening her eyes with a sudden gasp of breath. Moments passed as she tried to get her breathing back under control and gather her thoughts. However, once she did, Frost found herself sitting in her mother's throne room, on her mother's throne.

She quickly tried to take in all of her surrounding to center herself; lit rows of torches lining the walls with a glowing green flame, towering doors made out of igneous stone that led out to other parts of the castle, a row of opened windows allowing any to view the mass-hive below along with the dormant volcano in the far distance, and finally the small legion of fully armored changeling guards standing at the doors.

For a moment, Frost truly believed that all of this was real. It felt like it. The smell of burning ash coming from the nearby volcano, dull heat from the lit torches, and the feel of the silk robes on her. Everything was as real as she could imagine it, but something felt...missing.

It felt like something very important was missing from her. As though there was a void in her heart, which now beat sullenly, as if reluctant to keep going without whatever it was that was missing. In fact, when she thought about it, she couldn't feel much heat from anything. Even the heat from the torches wasn't really heat, just a dull flicker in the wind.

Slowly, Frost remembered what happened moments before, and soon concluded that this was the final part of Blaze's test. "How in the name of the threads did that sphinx do this?" she asked, standing in front of her mother's throne, as she began walking away from it down the blackened marble steps.

As Frost continued to look around, she thought everything seemed to be exactly the same way she last remembered it. Walls made of hardened volcanic stone, glass tempered from the same volcano's heat, and silk and cloth made from another breed of insect-equines.

Every little detail, from the tapestry hanging from the walls, to the buzzing outside, and the small click of her royal shoes on the stone floor. It was as though she was teleported straight back to her mother's castle...but that was impossible.

There was no way Blaze or even Isis could have known where the hive was at in Everfree. By Tartarus, only changelings could ever find the mass-hive deep within the heart of Everfree. So how was Isis able to teleport her to the castle? It was simply impossible, unless…

She hadn't been teleported.

"This is in my mind," Frost said, the sudden realization hitting her. She felt like she could honestly do what Quill had told her about facepalming when she didn't realize this fact earlier. Frost walked over towards the window to further confirm this. All she found was the buzzing was made by the massive swarm of changelings that kept the mass-hive up and running. Frost couldn't help but feel a false sense of nostalgia wash over her at seeing the large numbers of changelings moving about to complete whatever task they were assigned since birth.

This didn't mean they were happy about it, of course. Like many of the insect-equines, changelings shared some traits with some species of insects. One of these was that the queen's rule was absolute. And since the queen had mandated that every changeling have a place in society, and not deviate from it, the changelings had no choice but to follow.

In spite of ruling with an iron fist, the queen took care of her changelings. All had food and emotions to sate their hunger; roofs over their heads; jobs, tasks, and other assignments to keep them occupied. For the drones, work was peace in the hive. They weren't allowed to think otherwise.

Frost wanted to change that. She wanted the changelings to be more malleable, more open to the other races. Yes, they required the emotions of other races to live, but that didn't mean that they had to hide in the shadows and always steal what they needed. She wanted the changelings to have a chance at living.

As Frost's mind wandered over her plans for the future of the hive, she noticed that the buildings were all just as she remembered them. Everything, even down to the smallest house and vendor stand in the streets were as she remembered. This was before she ruled over her own hive. Before Equestria came to fear the Changelings. Before Chrysalis' misguided attempt at taking the Equestrian throne. When Frost had been a foal.

"This isn't right," Frost muttered to herself, looking down to the streets below, and seeing each individual face. If there was one thing Frost hated the most, it was being stagnant, never growing, or changing. To even believe that everything was the same as she once last saw it was beyond a mild annoyance.

"Nice try, but this isn't going to distract me from what's important," Frost claimed as she turned her back to the window and walked towards the towering doors. However, the small number of guards standing at the door stepped in front of her to prevent her from leaving.

The guards' sudden movement startled Frost for a moment before she regained her composure. "Step aside, I would rather live my life in strife, than sit here in content," she proclaimed with an air of absolute authority.

However, neither of the large guards heeded Frost's command, making her think there was more to the test than she first realized. "Do you not know your places? I said step aside," she repeated with a sharp glare into the blank greens of their eyes. Frost realized that it would take more for her to get the two out of her way, and if words wouldn't work then she would have to use force.

"This is your last warning," Frost said, creating a frozen halberd in her right hand while the other one was being encased in a small cyclone of wind. "Learn your places. Step aside or be moved." Again, Frost's answer came in the form of more blank stares from the two guards. Frost knew she wasn't going to get out of this...reality until she got past the guards, but she still didn't want to cause harm to any without reason.

Well, going home was a good enough reason.

"I warned you." Frost started to rush the two guards, knowing that she could easily take them down, but was stopped by the stone ground wrapping around her feet. She tried to struggle against the stone bindings, however, her efforts proved fruitless. Right as she was going to demand to know what was going on, the sound of someone walking behind her stole her attention.

"Frost, my daughter," sang a tall changeling mare, as she walked out from behind the throne. She had the body of the fairest of temptresses, yet the mind of a professional killer. Frost didn't even need to see the mare, her voice was more than enough to make Frost realize who it was. "Now why is my little queen making so much fuss?" she mockingly asked as she took her time to walk down the steps with a natural sway of her powerful hips.

Frost again tried to work her way out of the stone bindings around her feet, only to meet failure as her mother slowly approached. She no longer cared if this was a part of the test or not, just seeing her mother's image was enough to get Frost's blood boiling.

"Do stop trying." Frost heard her mother continue with an exaggerated sigh followed by a shake of her head. However, Frost refused to listen to the fake motherly tone in the older mare's voice, redoubling her efforts to get free. She even went so far as to try to use her frozen halberd to break the stone.

Seeing her daughter's refusal to listen, Frost's mother sparked her horn, yanking the frozen halberd out of her daughter's hands. The yank was so forceful that it would have made Frost fall over if it hadn't been for the stone bindings on her feet. Once she recovered, Frost still tried to free herself from the stone bindings. Much to her mother's displeasure.

"Come now," she started, walking up behind her daughter, and stopping her struggling by wrapping her arms around her shoulders. Frost's body stiffened up at the embrace from her mother's cold body and found herself struggling with the fear she was feeling.

Continuing with the fake motherly act, the queen started to rock from side to side, and hum an off-tune lullaby. To any that heard the tune, they would instinctively think of it as a death-sentence, and Frost knew this.

"Don't you think you've suffered enough?" Again, Frost's body twitched from the cold tone in her mother's voice, and started to pray it would somehow end on it's own. "All this pointless fighting you do, there is no need. You could have it all if you just came home Frost."

Frost lowered her head to the point her eyes were concealed behind her mane and did nothing to stop her mother from continuing. Something in her mother's words sparked a small flame in her chest that was craving more power. "Sweetie, don't you want it? The throne, the army of changelings ready to bend over just for you, and the power. It could all be yours if you just stay here."

"Yes," Frost quickly answered, forcing a smile to stretch on her mother's mouth. In truth, Frost did want all of that, and so much more. The crown, an army of changelings backing her, and the power that came with it all. However, she wanted something-or rather-someone else as well. "I do mother, I want every bit of that, but…"

The smile on her mother's face slowly dropped, and all of the fake comforting motions ceased as well. "But what, Frost?!" she spat out with volcanic venom lacing every edge of her voice. All the changeling queen got in response was a slight scoffing laugh from Frost that furthered her annoyance. "Answer me, Frost! What else is there that I can't give you, I demand to know."

"Oh mother," Frost started, forcing her own gentle rocking motion, and continuing to laugh. "While you're content with what you have, I on the other hand want more. That's what makes us different." The queen's eyes widened at the increasingly mocking tone in Frost's voice, not believing the defiance that she was getting from her daughter. "All you'll ever know is what is inside these walls. Don't you see? Your own power and title have made you a prisoner."

"And that makes us different how?" the queen snapped with a deep scowl on her face as she failed to understand what more Frost could want. "You to want the same power as me, so what makes us different?" the queen questioned, only getting more mocking laughter as an answer. "I fail to see how I'm a prisoner of my own power, and that you are not."

Frost continued to laugh at her mother's darkening voice; she no longer had a reason to fear her. All these years and she hadn't changed, she was still the same quick tempered mare from her youth, and wasn't nearly as threatening as before. Frost would take the throne, maybe not today, or even months after this. But she would never stop growing stronger, she would never allow herself to grow complacent with her life; she would never stagnate.

Besides, this wasn't even even real.

"I"m so sorry to disappoint you mother," Frost started with a cheer in her voice that burned her mother straight through the core. "Though, we're different even if you fail see it." Suddenly, the stone bindings around Frost's ankles started to slowly chip away as the guards' eyes slowly changed from a blank green to a bright shining blue. "We both may want power, we both may want to own it all, but I have someone to fight with me."

"Th-that changes nothing," the queen started with a stammering shout, only adding to Frost's laughter. "No one could ever truly lo-" Suddenly, the queen was cut off by her daughter ceasing her rocking. Before she could do anything to question the sudden stop, a strong blast of wind knocked the queen off of Frost's body, and back onto her throne.

The impact with the harden volcanic stone knocked some of the air out of the mare's lungs, but Frost kept going. "You're all alone," she stated, taking a look back at the shocked expression on her mother's face. Even if this is nothing but a false reality inside of her head, Frost did take some joy knowing that her mother from her past was weaker than she is now.

It didn't compare to the power her mother held now, but knowing she might eventually have a chance to beat her gave Frost hope. It gave her a reason to keep moving. "You may think you know what true power is, but that's only made you blind."

Frost turned her head back towards the legion of guards and glared each one in the shining blue eyes. "Step. Aside." Not even two seconds passed before the door was clear of guards as each one of them stood aside to let the changeling princess through. Right as Frost placed her hands on the door, she turned to take one last look towards her mother. "I will be back, I will be much stronger, and I will take the throne from you."

Without another word, Frost pushed open the doors, and walked out of her mother's throne room, vowing to come back to take it from her. However, unbeknownst to Frost, as she started to leave, a soft smile grew on her mother's face.

"I know, my dear Frost."

XXX

"Woohoo!" Blasting through the clouds, high above the ground, a certain purple and green dragoness tore through the clear skies. Flying high made Quill feel free from every worry that plagued her life. Feeling the rushing winds against her scales, hearing it pass by, her wings beating with power and strength that belonged only to her. All of this made Quill feel safe, and more importantly, free.

Somehow, she knew this was all still a part of Blaze's test. After waking up falling in the skies, but quickly recovering, one would think that the mare had more planned, but to Quill it didn't matter. Up here in the skies, she had no worries to weigh her down. Nothing could hope to touch her as long as she could keep flying.

So, she did just that.

"This is awesome!" Quill shouted as she ripped through the skies with the wind flowing freely around her. What more could she want? She had her powerful wings and all the time in the world to use them to their full potential.

All she could ever want was in the skies. She had it all to herself, no one to tell her what to do, no one to pull her down from the skies, no one that 'needed' her to do things for them. It was just her, and the open free world of the clouds.

Up in the skies, Quill was her own dragoness, and she didn't have to worry about anything else any more. "Yeah!" She could waste the whole day spinning, flipping, and diving down to the ground all she want. She didn't have to worry about anything; up here, she was...all alone.

Slowly, Quill came to a stop mid-air, just now feeling the hollowness in her heart eating away at her for her selfish choice to abandon everything around her, and realizing something very important was missing from her.

"Woo...woo-hoo," she forced herself to fakely cheer while she continued to hover above the ground. "W-what more could a dragoness want…" A family, that's what Quill's true answer was. All her life, she had wanted to be accepted amongst the ponies, however the truth soon hit her like a sack of sapphire gems.

How could she be accepted if she was destined to outlive all of them? How could she hope to think any of the actually loved her if they knew nothing about dragons? Hell, over half of Equestria fears dragons. So what was really stopping them from turning on her one day?

"N-no, that's not my life any more." As much as she tried to push it away, Quill still couldn't shake the feeling that one day she would have met the wrong end of an angry mob. Well, not any more so as long as she stayed with Wolf in High Moon, but why did she have this feeling in her chest? A feeling that told her one day, on her own terms or not, she'd have to face this pointless racism.

"Whatever." No longer feeling up to flying, Quill started to lower herself to the ground, choosing a volcano as her destination. Just smelling the active magma and ash in the air was enough to make Quill think about the first time she and Spike tried to learn how real dragons lived.

Having nothing else to do, Quill closed her eyes to remember the short two days she and Spike spent with their own kind. During the short trek, as Quill wings hadn't grown in yet, she had wondered what life would have been like if they were raised by their own kind. Would they still be the same? Would she be still the brash and proud dragoness that she is? Would Spike actually have a backbone?

Well, the only way she was going to get any of these answers, was if they actually made it to the dragon nest. However, when they did reach the top of the volcano, Quill was beyond disappointed with the answers.

As they reached the top, Quill found that the dragonesses were inside of the volcano instead outside with the other dragons. So, she had to leave Spike to deal with the tougher drake lifestyle while she ventured inside of the volcano. Quill could never forget what it was like being inside of an actual volcano, the feeling was like something she would never be able to fully understand. Nostalgia with a sense of resentment.

Back then, she didn't know why she felt like that, but the answer came quicker than she expected. Right as she found herself inside the volcano, she was quickly showered in attention from all the older dragonesses. Most of which were trying to claim her as their own child. It was slightly overwhelming at first, but she soon found an elder dragoness to hang onto for the time being.

However, that's when she learned of the dragonesses traditional lifestyle. Egg care-takers. Most of the dragonesses barely had any knowledge of how to function outside of caring for the young. And while Quill did enjoy having someone else do the work for her, she didn't enjoy learning that this was the fate of most dragonesses: becoming nothing but a brood dragon.

To say this slightly enraged Quill would be a grave understatement. All this time she had thought that dragonesses were supposed to be proud and powerful, only to find that they were nothing but egg care-takers. Quill thought of her constant drive to become stronger as a way to spite the traditional dragoness lifestyle that she hated.

She had hoped that one day, she'd grow strong enough to free any dragoness from this misconception, and show them that there's more to life than laying and caring for eggs. She also hoped to see the dragon empire, to see what kind of kingdom the dragons could forge on their own, to really know how a dragon lives. And she couldn't do that alone.

She needed others by her side, she needed to find a way to prove to the world that she wasn't just some other dragoness that was destined to grow into a monster. Quill wanted to make sure that everyone that committed crimes against dragon-kind was dealt with in their own way.

The mysterious unicorns stealing dragon magic, dragon-hunters, and even Celestia. All of them had a hand in Equestria's fears of dragons, they were the reasons that dragons were shunned and feared throughout the kingdom.

There was no way she was going to allow them to walk away free like they hadn't done anything wrong. And there was definitely no way that she was going to let Celestia walk away, not until Quill had all of her answers.

"I want out," Quill started in a low whisper before she turned her head up to the sky. "Get me out of here!" she shouted towards the skies above with a tower of flames erupting from her power. "There's still so much I need to get done, so much that I want to do. So. Let. Me. OUT!" Suddenly, the volcano that Quill was standing on erupted with its own roar of power and anger.

Columns of lava sprung forth from the ground surrounding Quill in a ring of magma and fire. "I will not stop, not until I'm ready to!"

Everfree Forest

Hours had passed since the dragons had begun the final part of the test. During the day, Lily had brought Blaze and Isis lunch, informing Blaze that Wolf was back with Veil asleep. When Blaze questioned why Veil was asleep, Lily told her that Wolf said she'd fallen asleep walking back to High Moon, and that the farm-hand job was a complete bust.

Knowing that there was nothing else that could be done, Blaze thanked the flutterpony, and waved her off to do whatever else she wanted to do that day. However, before Lily left, she asked how the dragons were doing with their tests after eying the domes of dull red and blue covering over where she suspected them to be.

Blaze simply said that they were doing fine and that they would be done any minute. Lily took another minute or so to stare at the domes covering over each dragon before she took Blaze's word.

The very moment the flutterpony had left, Blaze let out a long sigh, and made a slight vow to make it up to Lily one day. She lied, the test wasn't going alright, and the dragons weren't doing as well as she had hoped they would. At the very least, she expected Cyclone to quickly break through Isis' illusion spell before anyone else, then she thought Spike would follow with Frost and Quill right after.

However, instead of an hour or two, nearly four hours had passed, and she was starting to become increasingly worried. Even with Blaze hiding much of this, Isis was able to pick up on the subtle signals that her mistress was giving off, and moved quickly to comfort her.

"Mistress, please calm down." Blaze looked up towards the sphinx standing next to her. When Blaze locked eyes with Isis, she could feel the worry in them just as much as she was feeling, however, that only made Blaze worry even more. "I'm sure that they are fine," Isis continued comforting Blaze knowing that the dragons would be fine regardless of how this ended.

Right as she was going to further try to quell her mistress' worries, Isis suddenly got a strong feeling coming from two of the magical domes, and knew that it was two of the dragons completing the test. "In fact, here are a couple of them now."

Blaze quickly looked from the sphinx towards the four glowing domes of illusion magic. Soon after, one of the domes started to slowly fade away, leaving Frost standing with her eyes closed. Both Blaze and Isis rushed towards the changeling half-breed as she collapsed to the ground with a wheezing breath.

"Frost, Frost, please tell me you're okay," Blaze begged, worried to death about the younger mare, and fearing that she was somehow hurt by Isis' illusion spell. However, the changeling didn't respond to any of Blaze's pleas, furthering her worries. "Frost, please speak to me."

Frost placed a hand on top of her head and started to blink away the blurriness in her eyes. "Y-yes, yes I'm fine," she started to get up from the ground, feeling a dull pain on the left side of her head.

As her mistress was helping the mare up, Isis felt another strong feeling, this one much more volatile than Frost's. Looking towards the dome of magic over Quill, Isis spotted the deep crack lines growing along the dome's walls, and the small embers of purple flame. "Oh-no, mistress, Frost, get away from there!" she shouted, fearing that the dragoness was breaking through the illusion with force, and that Blaze and Frost would be caught in the sudden explosion that would be the result.

However, neither mares were able to heed her warning before the dome continued cracking like stuttering glass. Isis quickly teleported between the dome and the mares, setting up the strongest barrier she could make in the half-second before Quill's dome erupted with volcanic fury.

The empty field was now filled with the sound of the dragoness' roar as she let out a towering purple and white inferno. Frost nearly lost control at the display of Quill's full power while both Isis and Blaze feared that she had given in to her greed.

Quill's display of fire-magic burned so bright that grass underneath her feet started to ignite from the sheer heat coming from her. Blaze quickly placed a small barrier around Quill's circle to prevent the fire from spreading outwards while Quill continued to roar.

Soon, the towering inferno began to die as Quill dropped to her hands and knees with a ragged breath. Frost quickly moved to support her lover, but was stopped by Blaze who told Isis to go fetch them some water.

Isis quickly flew off in search for the nearest stream to carry out her mistress' order while the two mares went to the dragoness' side. Again, Blaze told Frost not to touch Quill until they knew exactly what was wrong with her, but asked her if it was possible for her to use healing-water on her.

Frost shook her head saying that Quill's fire dried the air around them, making her dragon-magic completely useless in this situation, however she still had some changeling magic on her.

She closed her eyes as her horn sparked with magic to send some of it for Quill's dragon's soul to latch onto. As Frost begin to use some of her magic to restore some of Quill's, Isis landed with an orb of water encased in her own magic, and quickly moved to help the changeling.

Frost quickly switched magic, leaving her feeling slightly drained, but still able to use her water-magic to stream the water over Quill's body. However, as it got close, some of the water began evaporating nearly instantly.

Soon though, the water was able to reach Quill's body, allowing Frost to start using the healing-water technique on Quill, and quickly started to show good results. Quill's ragged breaths soon slowed down to calmer breaths, which rapidly returned to her normal breathing.

"Th-thanks Frost," Quill started with her voice still cracked a little with a slight cough following right after. She then tried to stand on her own, only to be forced into Blaze's large chest.

"Oh Quill," Blaze started, sounding like she was near in tears, and tightening her grip around Quill's shoulders. Quill struggled to get free from the mare's surprisingly strong grip, and was soon helped by Isis placing a hand on Blaze's shoulder. Blaze soon blushed when she realized that she was suffocating the dragoness like she used to do all the time two months ago.

When Blaze finally let Quill free, the dragoness almost stumbled back, but was saved by Frost stopping her fall. However, before Quill could thank her mare, Frost spun her around, and sealed her lips in a deep kiss.

Quill was cut off by her mare's sudden movement, and found herself returning the gesture, soon reclaiming dominance over it. Though, Frost pulled back before her mating instincts could fully take control. "Quill," she started in a low whisper as she ran her hands down Quill's back. "What happened in there?"

For a moment all Quill could do was blankly stare into Frost's shining eyes as she felt something different about them but soon her words processed in her head. "H-huh? Oh, nothing, I just kind of got mad at some old memories."

"Memories like?" Isis started walking towards the couple with Blaze following close behind. "If they were painful memories I must apologize," she continued, bowing her head towards both of the lovers, and raising it to fully answer their questions. "The spell was my doing but I didn't mean to do any harm."

Frost sensed the worry and remorse coming from the sphinx and knew she really didn't mean any harm to either of them, neither did Blaze. "It's okay," Quill started, rubbing her slightly sore throat to get rid of prickly soreness out, but knew that it was only going to heal in a short while. "They're nothing but some memories of when the dragon migration came around here."

"You were in the migration?" Blaze asked, remembering the once in a lifetime event of the dragon mass-migration that happened not too long ago. She had wanted to follow and study the dragons, but Wolf had stopped her when he said those dragons would roast her on the spot.

She was slightly miffed that Wolf stopped her from making the once-in-a-lifetime choice, however, after a bit of thought, she did finally see his side of the argument. But to hear that the twins were in it made the curiosity in Blaze spark. "How long did you two stay? Did you meet any elder dragons? How did they live their lives? Ohhh, tell me everything!"

Silence was Blaze's answer as everyone, even Isis, took a step back from Blaze. None of them expected the fury of questions. However, Quill was able to regain some composure to begin to processing Blaze's questions. "Um, we were only there for two days, I did, dunno about Spike, and…"

Suddenly, Frost sensed a massive drop in Quill's emotions, going down towards bitterness and anger, but pushed it aside as she continued to answer. "I-I kind of didn't 'agree' with the dragoness lifestyle they had." Blaze's excitement died down a little when she saw the bitterment in Quill's eyes and started to worry that she brought something up that Quill didn't want to. "T-they were...egg care-takers, nothing more."

"Oh, I see," Blaze started with a slight frown at the somewhat disappointing news. Just like Quill, Blaze thought of a dragoness a proud and powerful creatures, but then she thought of something else. "So wouldn't that mean that Cyclone would have been like that as well?"

Again, Frost felt Quill's emotions shift from bitterment to a growing rage, and quickly thought of something to quell her dragoness. "Most likely," Frost answered quickly to get the mare's question out of the way so she could take Quill somewhere quiet. "Quill sweetie," she began, wrapping her arms around Quill's midsection, and moving her mouth towards her ear. "Could I speak with you…" Frost moved closer towards Quill's ear to whisper, "in private?"

Quill slightly tilted her head towards her mare to see that her eyes were shining slightly, still with a different feel to them. "Uh...s-sure Frost," she answered with a slight nod. Quill then turned towards the two adults, who was looking at the two lovers with a large amount of curiosity. "Hey Blaze, is it cool that we fly up to a cloud while Spike and Cyclone are still testing?"

"Sure you two, just no magic okay?" Both Quill and Frost nodded their heads in an answer towards the mare that they both held high respect for. "We'll call you if something comes up," Blaze continued, waving the two of them off with a bright smile.

Quill and Frost returned the smile and nod before unfurling their wings and taking off towards the nearest cloud that was high enough from the ground. Isis watched the two fly off while Blaze walked over to their circles and lit her horn. Slowly, two lightly pulsing fire-fragments were lifted out of the dirt, and floated towards Blaze's hand.

"Well mistress," Isis started, looking back down from the sky and towards her mistress. "How did they do?" she continued to ask, walking over to Blaze as she still studied the light pulsing in the fragments, and knowing there were two parts to Blaze's test. Both lovers seemed to have passed the first part fairly well, however, what her mistress had to say would prove if they really passed it or not.

Once right behind her mistress, Isis wrapped her arms around her body, and moved towards her ear. As Isis continued to rub her mistress' stomach, which was holding the future of High Moon in it, she took a small nibble on Blaze's hear. However, the mare seemed to be too focused in her studying to pay much mind to her sphinx's motions.

Soon, Isis ceased her rubbing, and released her mistress' ear so she could further add her input on the matter. "Quill seems to have more power than before and there's something different about Frost," Isis noted, knowing that it had to deal with something about the test, but wanting to hear what her mistress' verdict was.

Blaze continued to eye the two fragments as they orbited around each other with their own magical gravitation. Each blood-red pulse helped lead Blaze to an answer, however as she slightly feared, it seemed to be neither good nor bad.

"They passed," Blaze concluded before she sparked her horn to fuse the two fragments together as one slightly larger shard and still pulsed with her and Isis' magic. Again, Blaze began to slowly breath just like this morning as the magic trapped inside was pulling at her own dragon's soul, but she was able to retain control.

However, the same couldn't be entirely spoken for about the two lovers. Blaze could tell that she and Isis weren't the only ones to notice the difference in them. Whatever Frost had to 'speak' with Quill about was sure to be something about the test.

Blaze clenched her fist on the shard and placed it into a small pouch at her side before turning around to face Isis. "But they only did just so."

/ Ch.38: Content/-/

High Moon Ch. 38:  
Content

A lush green forest, full of vibrant life, home to many animals to live and grow. Bright blue skies for birds to soar high through without any fears. Clear, calm streams for fish to swim through and mind their own business. A huge golden sun hanging in the sky, lighting the day before the eventual nightfall. Grass so soft one could lay on it forever without a single worry. Clouds so big that none would mind wasting a day counting every single one, trying to point out every shape their eyes could make of them.

To the north, there were wide empty grass fields that any could lose themselves playing in. To the east, the bright golden sun for those to bathe in its sublime light. To the west, flowing streams cut through the ground, and led straight to the great oceans. And to the south, tall trees reigned over the ground, and marked their territory of the forest.

That's all Cyclone could see, that's all she had seen for hours, and it was peace. Nothing, no one to mess with her, to force her to do something she didn't want to. All she had to worry about was what next to do with her own life; she was free.

Free from anything that would do her harm, free from any responsibilities, free to live her life the way she wanted to. Here, in this forested utopia, Cyclone had something that all dreamed about. Entire generations had been spent looking for what she had now. Minds, bodies, and lives were torn apart looking this golden land of Eden.

Anyone would lose every care in the world just gazing out to the empty fields, which only held hills and other streams within the green plane. No matter where one looked there was something else that reinforced the sense of pure harmony with Mother Nature.

This was paradise. This was the pure embodiment of peace.

This was Cyclone's worst nightmare.

For uncounted hours, Cyclone ran through the calming realm looking for some kind of way to get out. At first, she enjoyed the small paradise, but she could feel a deep hollow feeling growing in her chest; it scared her. It felt like some creature, of a savage nature, was ripping through the space where her heart rhythmically beat. That feeling continued to grow, deepen, and spread throughout her whole body.

From her core outwards, everything felt like it was being ripped apart, and replaced with something less than herself. She hadn't thought about it too long before Cyclone began to place all blame on the world around her. However, unable to fight, she did the only thing that had kept her alive to this day.

She ran.

Cyclone ran, and ran, and ran, even after her legs started to burn from overuse, and her breathing became ragged. She wanted to keep running until she found her way out of this tranquil nightmare. She only ended up wasting hours as she continued to run in a straight line, and only seeing grassy green hills.

Tears streamed faster down her face than the streams that she ran through. Air passed through her lungs like a raging storm fueled by the soft breeze of the meadows. As she ran, she tripped several times on roots sticking out from the ground, swearing that the trees were trying to convince her to stay there. The trees held strong as she finally fell to her knees in defeat and failure.

"Veil! Clan-Mother! Please..." Cyclone finally gave in, begging for this hellish torment to end. She couldn't begin to think of a way out of the endless fields. She wasn't strong like Quill, or even smart like Spike or Frost. So, how? How in the world was she going to be able to escape this beautiful nightmare? How was she going to beat her own greed without someone else to telling her when she was going too far? How was she going to survive on her own?

If it hadn't been for Veil running towards her when she was badly injured, or Spike coming to save the necklace that she made for Veil, or even the others giving her words of encouragement, she wouldn't have even made it this far.

Cyclone knew she was too weak to stand on her own, not once had she questioned that fact, and she knew that there was no way she was going to be able to leave on her own.

"C-Clan-Mother, p-please...I-I don't want to do this any more," Cyclone sobbed as tears freely ran down her face while she used her arms to hold herself since no one was around to do it for her. "I-I'm not strong enough to, this isn't what I want, Clan-Mother please."

Cyclone scolded herself for her own weakness, for always having to rely on someone else to provide for her, and to do things for her. Seldom did she get the courage to make her own choices, even then she still needed some input from others. As Cyclone continued to cry, cursing herself for all of her weakness, the bright blue sky darkened as pitch-black feathers fell like snow.

However, the crying dragoness failed to notice the sudden and drastic change on the world around her. The only thing she could manage to do was tend to her own feelings as the rest of the world seemed darker without someone by her side.

'Cyclone, stand. Your test is over.'

Cyclone started to follow the sound of Isis' flat voice, as it was the only friendly thing that she could make out in this empty paradise. As she stood up, a violent shiver went through her body as if she was physically sick, but Cyclone continued to force herself up from from the round.

She started to blankly follow the dirt path in front of her, not caring how she suddenly knew that it let her exit the rapturous nightmare. She just knew that she never wanted to ever face this horrid place again.

Everfree Forest

Back in Everfree, both Isis and Blaze had returned to their spots underneath the single tree in the dragons' testing site. Another two hours had passed after both Frost and Quill had emerged, and everyone was still waiting for the last two dragons to finish their tests. While both adults stuck to the shady tree to get away from the late afternoon light, the young lovers kept to the cloud that seemed to be growing larger as time moved on.

During this time, Wolf had paid a quick visit before heading towards Zecora's hut to do some business, and had food for everyone. Isis used some of her magic to preserve the excess food for when Cyclone and Spike finished their tests. Upon hearing the dog's voice, Quill quickly flew down to grab her and Frost some of the fish meat and fruits, exchanging a few words with Wolf before flying back up to the mass-cloud that continued to slowly grow.

When Wolf asked what was up with the dragoness and changeling, Blaze just said that the two had been up there for most of the time since they'd finished their test, and also told him that Isis hadn't sensed them using any magic. So there wasn't anything to worry about them. If anything Frost probably wanted some alone time with Quill.

After asking about the remaining two dragons, Blaze told Wolf that they too were fine, just taking longer than she thought they would. Wolf quickly bought his mare's half-lie and headed off to make his way towards Zecora's hut for some business that he said he had with the mare.

So now, Blaze and Isis were left alone on the ground while Quill and Frost continued to speak with each other above their heads. As she continued to ration her meal, Isis noticed another feeling from one of the domes of magic. Unlike the others, this one was faint, and very weak. She quickly knew what the feeling entailed and closed her eyes to focus her magic on the dome that was over Cyclone.

Isis slowly opened her eyes after allowing Cyclone to break free from the mental illusion. She felt ashamed that she allowed the dragoness to suffer as long as she had, never meaning any harm to any of the dragons, and surely hadn't wanted to upset anyone. However, she was under orders not to let any of the dragons out before it seemed that they could no longer continue the test.

At first, it seemed that Cyclone was doing just fine like the others, however that soon changed as she found herself panicking. From the looks of it, Cyclone wasn't just physically weaker than the others, but also mentally. This new information would prove more useful for properly determining what kind of role she could play in High Moon. Additionally, it helped determine what kind of training she needed to do.

Along with her physical and magical training, Cyclone would also need a few lessons on thinking while under pressure. Not that she would be required to, but if this became a problem later on, Isis would want to be ready. "Mistress," Isis said softly, gaining Blaze's full attention as her eyes started to show more signs of worry. "Cyclone is now finished with her test, but may need you." Blaze quickly snapped her attention towards the fading dome of magic, revealing a slightly broken-looking Cyclone.

Blaze quickly rushed over to the dragoness, catching her before she could fall, and holding her tightly as she sobbed into Blaze's shoulder. "C-Clan-Mother…p-please I-I," Cyclone stumbled out as she tightened her grip around Blaze's body, more tears streaming down her face. "I-I failed, Clan-Mother, p-please...don't kick Veil out because of me."

"Shh," Blaze whispered, rubbing the top of Cyclone's head while she gently rocked from side to side to calm the dragoness down. "It's alright Cyclone, I would never kick either of you out of High Moon." Reluctantly, Blaze forced Cyclone to cease her grip on her so she could look Cyclone straight in her teary pink eyes.

Just looking the dragoness in the eyes was enough to pull on more than a few heart strings. However, right now Cyclone needed someone strong to lean on, and Blaze knew it was her duty to fill that role when Wolf wasn't around to do so. "So stop crying, alright?" she asked rhetorically while she cupped the side of Cyclone's cheek, wiping away the tears away from her eyes. "You have beautiful eyes and they shouldn't be filled with tears."

However, instead of ending her tears, fresh new ones started to form, and the white dragoness again buried her head into Blaze's chest. "C-Clan-Mother...I-I'm so sorry," Cyclone muttered in Blaze's chest, staining her fur with tears, but unable to stop them after being forced to realize that she was too weak to stand on her own.

"Shh, that's enough Cyclone," Blaze again whispered while she continued to gently rock to and fro to get the dragoness to calm down. She quickly sparked her horn to lift the fire-fragment that triggered Cyclone's dragon-greed and noted that it still contained the same about of magic that it began with. Blaze began smiling, happy to see that one of her predictions was correct, but mildly upset that it was at the same time. "You didn't fail Cyclone, okay? Even if you did, I wouldn't think of letting Wolf kick you out."

Cyclone continued to shiver and shake as she kept the flowing streams freely running down her soft cheeks. However, she did manage to finally nod her head in Blaze's chest as she continued to cling to the pregnant mare.

Blaze sighed a little, feeling completely awful for what happened to the dragoness, and hoping that Cyclone could forgive her. "Come on Cyclone," Blaze started, helping Cyclone stand from the ground, and slowly leading her towards the shady oak tree. "Let's get you something to eat."

Isis quickly understood what Blaze was saying, and started to use her magic to pull out enough food for the dragoness while still leaving some for Spike. Once she got back to the stump, Blaze sat down with Cyclone in her lap since she still refused to let go.

As Cyclone began to eat, Isis looked at the dragoness with remorse as her sorrow was due to Isis' action, and the sphinx didn't know where to begin to ask for forgiveness. Isis then turned her attention turned towards the last remaining dome: Spike's.

"Mistress," Isis said to gain the attention of Blaze, awaiting further acknowledgement before she continued.

Blaze turned her head away from the still slightly shivering dragoness to look at the discontent on Isis' face, knowing what it was for. "Yes Isis, what is it?" she asked in a gentle voice while Cyclone continued to feed. Isis tried to answer, but only sighs came from her mouth. "Isis, please tell me what's the matter."

Before answering her mistress, Isis let out another long sigh, and turned her eyes to the ground. "Mistress, I believe we must end this test," Isis stated with another sigh. "I can no longer stand to see them so hurt by my illusions, and only the stars know what could happen to Spike."

Blaze nodded her head along with Isis. Out of anything that could have happened, she didn't expect this to occur, and it was indeed time to end this so they could move on. However, before Blaze could give the order to Isis, Quill started to glide down from the nimbus cloud, and landed right in front of Spike's dome.

"Not yet," Quill started, her words faintly reaching Blaze and Isis' ears while she continued to face the dome that held her brother trapped. "Not just yet, he's still fighting." Quill slowly turned around towards the three that were watching her and started to walk over towards them. "If you let him out, you'll just be given him another reason to think it's okay to quit. Spike has to learn that he's strong enough to fight on his own."

"Quill, that isn't a smart idea," Blaze started, having had enough of seeing each of the dragons in their own kind of pain due to the test. "None of you were supposed to being in there for long," she continued with a displeased frown while Cyclone cowered in her arms, somehow fearing that it was her fault. However, it was Isis who knew the fault was hers. "It's been a whole day Quill, I won't allow this to go on any further. "

As Isis got ready to end the illusion around Spike's dome, Quill again spoke up, this time with a little more force. "Blaze wait." Isis was still going to continue to carry out Blaze's wishes when the mare placed a hand on her arm. A moment went by before Quill was sure that she'd gotten the mare's attention. "Come on, give Spike a chance. You know how he is, always over-thinking things. One more hour, just give him one more hour."

Blaze closed her eyes to think about what Quill was asking of her. Since noon, they had all been outside in the empty field, and a few hours after that the dragons started their tests. However, Blaze had only planned for them to be testing for a few minutes to an hour at the most. Instead, nearly six hours had passed, and the sun was due to set soon.

Then she started to think about how each had done so far with the test. Frost seemed to have been able to outsmart her way through the false reality, however, still gave in to some of her dragon's greed. Quill used forced to break the reality, most likely due to her own bull-headed temperament refusing to go along with the test, but just like Frost she absorbed some of the magic from the fire-fragment. That said, the both of them seemed to remain unaffected by the added magic within them.

However, then there was Cyclone. Blaze knew from the beginning that she shouldn't have taken the test, especially with the condition she was in. After seeing what happened to her, she didn't want to risk anything. Quill had a point, though. If she allowed Isis to end the test now, Spike could see that as them not trusting him to be able to do things on his own, and could discourage him from doing anything.

"Alright Quill," Blaze finally breathed out after moments of long thought. She slowly opened her eyes to the firm stone-face that Quill was putting up, and found herself returning a much harder one. "One hour, Spike has one hour to beat Isis' illusion. After that, I'm ending this, and we're going to move on with everyone's training. Understood?"

Quill finally dropped the cold look on her face when Blaze finished. "Thanks Blaze," she quickly said before again opening her wings to return back up to the cloud where Frost was waiting for her.

Only Cyclone and Isis followed the dragoness' short ascent while Blaze kept her stare on the dome of magic in directly in front of her, still having second guesses whether she should have even considered Quill's request.

"Mistress," Isis started, turning her head back towards Blaze, but unable to get the mare to look her way. "You can't seriously-"

"Isis," Blaze cut in suddenly, startling Cyclone at how dark her voice was. It sounded like something that belonged to an elder dragoness rather a unicorn mare, but she didn't dare question it, as the mare was sheltering her from her own worries. "I want you to drop the illusion field from around Spike exactly in a one hour. Not a moment sooner, and not a moment later. Is that clear?"

A deep chill went down Isis' spine from her mistress' cold and dark tone of voice. The feeling may have been a cold one, yet it felt like a flowing stream of lava was running down her body, and threatened to cook her from the inside out. Isis didn't fear her mistress, but that didn't mean she wouldn't get a slight chill every time she heard that dark tone.

To think a cheery mare such a Blaze was capable of such foreboding tone of voice made Isis wary around Blaze right now, but she kept her composure. "Isis, I'm still waiting on you to answer me." Isis snapped out of her daze at the sound of Blaze's voice, which had only darkened as she was forced to wait on Isis to regain her composure.

"M-my deepest apologies mistress," Isis quickly stated, bowing her head to Blaze while her wings snapped shut against her back. "I will keep track of time mistress, upon the hour I will end Spike's test, and I will personally see to his health."

Blaze merely cut a glance towards Isis as she kept her head bowed, no doubt waiting for her to be acknowledged by Blaze, and turned her attention back to Spike's dome. "Very well," Blaze said, allowing Isis to raise back to her full height again, and starting to softly rub Cyclone's slender shoulder as she had been shaking this whole time. "Then how much time is left Isis?"

Isis quickly sparked her magic to allow her to see how much the sun had moved over the short time since Blaze agreed to Quill's request. This task proved to be slightly harder than she once remembered. In fact, ever since Isis had fully given her body to both her masters, she been having troubles keeping her connection with the sun's position in the sky, yet could still fully feel the moon's movements.

Of course, while she did not have the ability to affect the celestial bodies whatsoever, though she could still sense their movements as well as the presence of those that controlled such bodies. However, it seemed there was a slow change that was affecting this ability.

Thankfully she was still able to pinpoint the approximated change in the sun's movement across the sky.

"Mistress, approximately five minutes and forty-five seconds have passed." Blaze quietly nodded her head, not really questioning Isis' guess as it was the best thing she could go by as of now, reminding herself to constantly check with Isis about the hour time limit.

As Blaze was going back to her thoughts, a small nuzzle from Cyclone brought her back into the world around her. "Cyclone dear, what's wrong?" Blaze asked in a gentle soft voice, a complete polar opposite to what it was mere moments ago.

"I-is Spike going to be o-okay?" Cyclone weakly asked, not wanting to add to the mare's stress or worries. However, she was still concerned for the drake. He risked his life for her, helped her get used to her new way of living quickly, and showed more support than the others. On top of that, it didn't help that Cyclone obviously held some affection regarding the drake. "H-he's going to be fine, r-right Clan-Mother?"

For a moment, there was a blank expression on Blaze's face that worried Cyclone a little, but it quickly turned into a bright smile from the mare. "Of course he is, Cyclone," Blaze said, wiping the tears from Cyclone's eyes before they had the chance to flow again, and gently caressing her cheek. "Quill was right about what she said, Spike is stronger than he leads us to believe, and he is very smart. He'll be fine."

A pause came over the two as Cyclone stared deeply in the warm flame in Blaze's crimson eyes, finding a comfort that she never felt before. While Cyclone was lost in the mare's eyes, Blaze herself noticed something different about Cyclone's eyes. Before, they had only the look of loss in them that could drown anyone in a sea of melancholy, but now they were shining with a bright pink light of hope.

"I won't let anything happen to him," Blaze continued as she looked up towards Spike's dome of magic with a slight sigh coming afterwards. Again, Isis was reminded why Wolf believed he was a very lucky dog as Blaze continued to force a smile, despite being the most worried of all of them.

"I won't let anything happen to any of you."

Cyclone looked up towards the mare with a small sense of admiration. She could tell that Blaze was forcing the smile for her sake, but didn't think to question it. The mare had been more of a mother than the elder dragonesses back in her clan, most of which she doesn't want to remember. So, if Blaze was trying to keep her calm and happy by telling her what she wanted to hear, then that was fine for now.

Blaze had been nothing but straightforward with her and Veil this entire time, so she was entitled to a few times where she had to say things that she wasn't entirely sure were true. However, that didn't mean that she was lying. It just meant that she didn't know how the test would end.

Cyclone was still a little worried, but she had no other choice than to trust Blaze's words. "Okay Clan-Mother, I trust you." For a brief moment, Cyclone felt Blaze shake a little as if she was being forced to continue to do something, but again thought against talking about it. "So, um...h-have you thought of any names?"

Blaze quickly turned her attention away from Spike's dome and towards the dragoness, who was blushing slightly. "I-I mean for your cub, have you thought about any names?" Blaze giggled a little while she shook her head. In truth, she had thought about names for her child, but didn't think any of them were good enough.

"Well," Blaze started while she began to absent mindedly rock on the wooden stump with much of Cyclone's upper body still in her arms. "I have thought of a few, but I dunno know if they're good or not. Really, I wanted to name her after a very powerful mage that's spoken of in stories around my native lands."

"Could I hear it?" Cyclone asked, wanting to keep the mood happy while Spike dealt with his inner demons. That wasn't the only reason though, she also was interested in the mare's old life before coming to Equestria, and hearing a story from her native home would be a great start.

"Sure, well it goes like this…"

While both Isis and Cyclone were given a treat in the form of a tale from Blaze's home, Quill continued to watch Spike's dome with great interest. However, after being unable to eat anything for a whole day, combined with with a surge of gloomy emotions from her lover, Frost was feeling sick.

As soon as Quill and Frost had finished their tests, they had gone up to the cloud for some privacy, and Frost had wanted to feed on Quill to sate herself a bit. And while they did have se, it wasn't just mindless rutting. The young pair did care for each other quite a bit, much more than to force the love between them. Yet still, but Frost's mating instincts had played a large role in the last few hours.

After getting a good dose of Quill's love, and eating the lunch that Wolf brought, her and Quill spoke about their plans for the immediate future. Frost quickly acknowledged that she still had more training to do, as did Quill. The two also took the time to get to learn more about each other, which only served to cause Quill to fall more in love with her half-breed changeling.

With every story Frost told her, especially the ones where she would sneak out at night when she was younger, Quill fell more deeply in love with how free-spirited Frost actually was. Of course, Quill did her best to make herself not sound like one of Rarity's cheap romance novels, but it was hard to sound cool to someone that could sense your emotions.

However, Quill didn't have to keep up the facade much longer as Frost slowly fell asleep in her arms, enjoying remembering happier times, and feeling warm and safe in Quill's embrace. So, Quill left her marefriend to her dreams while she faced the harshness of the world around her, all while wishing she could hear Frost's soft voice to make her feel better.

For three hours, they waited for Spike and Cyclone to finish their tests. However, from the looks of things, Cyclone had failed the test, and Spike was still trapped in the illusion. But Quill didn't want Spike to think that he couldn't handle a simple illusion, especially since they had faced much worse than that just living with the elements. Though, Blaze was right, if this kept up, there was no guarantee regarding Spike's health.

"Come on bro," Quill growled, sitting with her legs crossed at the very edge of the slowly growing cloud, and shaking ever so slightly. This sucked, waiting for her brother to finish his test, not knowing when he'd be done, and unable to do anything to help him. It was hard for her just to wait these three hours. Frost's voice and movements had been enough to relieve her worries momentarily, but now she was fast asleep.

So, now, all of Quill's pent up energy was being used to count the seconds, and carefully watch Spike's dome. "You can do this Spike, I know you can." Those words came out, but, she couldn't be sure how much longer she could believe them. "You're way too smart to let some parlor trick beat you."

Quill still couldn't believe that had been able able to beat back Isis' illusion before Spike. Even Quill had believed that she would be the last one to finish, with Cyclone right before her, and Spike right behind Frost. She wished that was the case, and she had hoped that Spike would prove her right, but no.

That hadn't happened and each second was making her feel sicker. "Spike, you better not be messing around with me," Quill continued to speak to herself, hoping that somehow that the mythical 'twin-sense' was real, and that Spike heard her. Of course, Quill knew better than to believe something as silly as that. "Come on, come on Spike. You're smarter than this."

"Mmm...Quill?" Again, the sound of Quill's marefriend was able to steal her attention briefly. Quill turned her head around to look over her shoulder to see Frost rolling over to her stomach and crawling towards her. As much as Quill would rather just tackle the mare and hold her tight until everything was better, she couldn't. She had a twin brother to watch over.

As Frost started to wipe away the sleepiness that still lingered in her eyes, she was slightly displeased to see that Quill had her back to her, but let it go when she felt the worry coming from her lover. She continued to move towards Quill, feeling her worry growing by the passing second, fully knowing what it was for.

"Spike isn't done just yet is he?" Frost asked as she continued to slowly crawl on all fours towards Quill. Still, her younger lover refused to speak to her, as her full attention was locked on her twin's dome.

"Quill, you must stop worrying so. Spike is stronger than we believe him to be." Quill continued her waiting match with Spike's dome, only furthering Frost's worry for Quill. "Love, please speak to me." Frost slowly wrapped her arms underneath Quill's wings, kissing the side of Quill's neck.

"It is as you said sweetie, Spike is too smart and determined than to be defeated by mere illusions." Frost then started to toy with Quill's ear-frill using her tongue while her hands trailed over Quill's body. However, even with her best efforts, Frost still only got the bitter taste of worry and guilt from Quill.

Frost then tried to move the kisses down to Quill's wing-base, knowing that she was especially sensitive in that area. However, she was forced to stop when she started to feel a growing irritation from Quill, knowing that it was directed towards her.

So, she tried something that she guessed was normal for couples to do in situations like this: talk things out.

"Quill sweetie, why are you hurting?" Frost asked after she had moved back up to rest her chin on Quill's right shoulder and start a gentle rocking motion. A moment of pure silence was allowed to pass before Frost again broke Quill out of her heavy thoughts. "I understand that you're worried about Spike, as we all are. However...don't you trust him?"

"Of course I do," Quill quickly snapped, greatly displeased with what Frost was saying, but somehow managing to not yell at Frost. However, she still felt angry towards herself for even coming close to doing so. "S-sorry," she started with a downcast tone in her voice as she returned her gaze to Spike's dome. "It's just that...I do trust him, but..."

Frost tightened her grip around Quill after she let out a long sigh and resumed kissing the side of her neck. "Quill," she whispered before planting another kiss on Quill's neck with a small nibble of her fangs that got a soft sigh to escape from Quill's mouth. "I know you love your brother, that's why you're so hard on him, but you really must trust him more."

Another, softer sigh escaped Quill's lips as she turned her head down towards her hands. "I-I know Frost," Quill said with a sad tone as she continued to worry about her twin brother. "I really do trust him, but sometimes...I dunno. I guess I'm scared to lose my brother."

"You're not going to lose anyone Quill," Frost stated firmly, holding Quill tightly in her arms, and nuzzling her cheek with her dragoness'. "Like you said, Spike is strong and smart. Just give him time, he'll make it through." Quill started to lean into Frost's body, finding comfort within her lover's warm embrace, and never wanting to leave it. "He will, somehow."

XXX

Heavy footsteps echoed throughout the house as the dragon owner crept through the halls, carrying a tray of expertly-prepared food in his hands. He didn't remember when, or how, he got to the mountainside house that sat on top of a hill, but it didn't really matter.

All that mattered was that he was finally with the one he loved, and they were living their lives peacefully without any worries. Spike only wished that the years didn't seem like hours, just so he could spend more time with his love.

However, any time with the one he'd given his heart to was good enough for him.

Spike began ascending the stairs to reach his lover, who was resting in their bedroom. He had thought it would be fun to surprise her with breakfast in bed on this bright sunny morning. To make it much better, their bedroom window was positioned right at the horizon where the sun would rise every morning, serving as their alarm clock.

In fact, there would be times where Spike and his love would just sit in bed, and watch the sun make the slow crawl over their quiet hill. The smile on his face only grew when he reached the top stair, but suddenly dropped when he found someone leaning against the wall.

Spike's eyes quickly trailed up the stranger, tall and feminine in frame, a pair of dark-purple wings on her back with a green undertone, wearing nothing visible aside from black robes that covered much of her body.

Spike didn't know who this strange dragoness was, still unable to make the connection between her scale colors and his, and that didn't change when he locked eyes with her.

He found a pair of bright purple orbs, as if they were a roaring inferno, serving as a true testament to the flame that the dragoness carried. Along with the purple hellfire, a small tone of silver outlined the two eyes, looking like embers of wisdom that hid behind her rough exterior.

Spike narrowed his eyes at the unexpected 'guest', getting a vibe that he could only describe as 'dangerous'. "Who are you and what are you doing in my home?" he questioned with the deep, stern voice that he had grown into after all these years. A few moments gave way without the stranger answering Spike, which only served to further enrage him. "Don't make me ask again, who are you and what are you doing here?!"

"The fact that you have to ask," the stranger started, kicking off the white painted wall, moving to stand right in front of Spike with her arms crossed. "Is more than enough of a reason that I shouldn't trust you."

Spike cocked his head slightly at the dragoness as her purple and silver hellfire eyes stared straight at him. He didn't know this dragon, so why did it sound like she knew him? Better questions were, who was she, and how she know him?

"That didn't answer my question," Spike rumbled, still trying to keep his voice down so his love wouldn't hear the anger that was growing in his voice. The last thing he would want is for her to get in harm's way because of him. "Either tell me or get out."

Sighing, the stranger dropped her head, and started to shake it with another sigh. "Really," she quickly snapped her head back up towards Spike. "Do you really believe this? Do you really think your life would ever be something like this?" A fake chuckle burst from the dragoness as she turned her back on Spike like she was buying time to think. "Wake up, Spike. Get out of this false reality."

"What are you talking about and who are you?" Spike demanded, almost dropping the tray as his anger threatened to overcome him. He didn't know why, it was just a vague feeling in his gut, but he could feel a threatening aura coming from this strange dragoness, and it made his protective instincts come out. "Answer me!"

Again, the dragoness dropped her head with a long sigh before lifting it up to meet Spike in his green eyes. "Come on, 'Spikey,'" she said with a slight mocking tone that furthered Spike's irritation. "Don't you know your own twin sister when you see her?"

Spike stared at the dragoness with a blank expression. As long as he'd been living, he'd never heard he had a sister. Let alone a twin. However, that didn't stop the wave of sickness from clawing at him, enough to force him to drop the plastic tray of breakfast food.

The mocking smile on Quill's face started to fade when she saw Spike shaking a little and grew irritated when he nearly fell down the stairs. Spike was far beyond spooked about the news that had been dropped on him, eating at him like a virus.

"Spike," Quill said, reaching out a hand to Spike's shoulder, only to have it smacked away by the drake. "Spike, please, wake up. I can't live without you around. You were the first one I ever wanted to fight for, so you can't leave me. Not for this," she finished waving her hands around the hallway to place more emphasis on the illusion. "Spike...please, you're my brother, and I love you. Don't believe this world, fight it Spike."

"Get out," Spike growled in a low tone of voice as he was done with trying to understand everything that his 'sister' was telling him. "I don't have a twin sister. So," Spike paused another moment to fight back whatever was this horrid feeling was before snapping his eyes straight at Quill. A feeling of bitterness overcame Spike for a moment when he saw the signs of tears in the dragoness' eyes, but he quickly pushed passed that.

"GET OUT!"

Everfree Forest

While everyone waited for Spike to finish his test, Blaze continued telling her story, and both Isis and Cyclone were left somewhat in awe of the wandering tribal mage mare that went from village to village, healing the sick and defending the defenseless. She also spoke of each village allying, to create something much greater. However, that's when the story turned darker, as the village leaders didn't agree with the mage's plan, secretly banding together to be rid of her from the living world.

The ending only got darker as Blaze said that the mare was tricked into a deep chasm, finding herself surrounded by a legion of tribal warriors. As the mare fought hard to defeat the villainous tribe leaders, beings called Guardians - the ones that Blaze's native lands prayed to when in need - while watching the mage's tough battle, decided to help her.

Just as the mare was out of magic, and the army of warriors seemed about to defeat her, the Guardians blessed the mare with a small fragment of their magic. From what the tales told them, the mare was encased in a blinding white light, as if she embodied the sun.

By the time anyone could see again, all nine tribal leaders were on the cold hard ground, each one slowly leaving this world, moving to where eternal punishment lay in wait. Upon seeing the mage's new power, the remaining warriors quickly dropped their weapons, and bowed towards the mage as the first queen of the Sravana; Queen Majua.

However, this wasn't the mare's first name. It turned out that her first was really Yhi, which happened to be the name of one of the Great Guardians. Surprising her audience even more, Blaze had been named this herself when she left her village in order to seek out a life of her own. Just as Cyclone was suggesting that Blaze use Yhi as her child's name, both Quill and Frost came down from their cloud.

Frost stood by the other three while Quill took a seat right in front of Spike's dome. When the changeling was questioned about her dragoness' behavior, all Frost could say was that Quill had been acting like this for quite some time, and it was starting to worry her.

Blaze then turned her attention to the dome, knowing they had to end it soon. "How much time is left Isis?" Blaze asked the sphinx, knowing that it wouldn't be long before things would start getting bad.

Isis closed her eyes to attempt to pinpoint how much the sun had moved in relationship with time. "Mistress, five minutes and ten seconds are left," she finally answered after a short pause, only adding to the heaviness in the field. "Mistress, I highly advise that-"

"There's still time," Quill cut in, sitting alone, rooted to the ground in front of Spike's dome. A part of Quill wanted Frost to be sitting somewhere close to her right now, however, she knew her mare was giving her the space she needed to keep her thinking straight. "Not yet, there's still time. He'll make it through, Spike will show you."

While the dragoness refused to give up on her brother, Blaze knew better than to allow something bad happen to the drake. Yet she also knew not to cross Quill. "Isis," she murmured, turning her head towards Isis while she kept a single hand on Cyclone's shoulder to ease her shaking. "Not a single moment before or after, understand?"

Isis closed her eyes again and bowed her head to Blaze, again catching a glance of the sun's slow movement before raising her head again. "Yes mistress, four minutes thirty-seven seconds are left."

Blaze nodded her head while both Cyclone and Frost caught Quill's body tensing up as she started to grip her arms. "Come on Spike, I can't…"

XXX

"Spike please," Quill pleaded, not believing her brother. He just said that he didn't have a sister, and that she should leave. "You can't seriously mean that, right?" As Quill took a step towards Spike, he quickly hopped down a few steps, continuing to glare at the dragoness standing in front of him. "You're my brother, can't you see that? Would you really stay here with lies over living with your own sister?"

"Shut up!" Spike shouted at Quill, enraged at the growing hollow feeling that was taking over his chest, blaming it on the dragoness that was claiming to be his sister. "J-just stop talking. You are not my sister, I am not living a lie, and this is my home." For some reason, saying these words hurt Spike to a large degree, but he was too overwhelmed by the hollow rage to pay it much mind. "Leave, leave my home. Get out of my life!"

Quill again tried to reach out a hand to Spike, only for it to be violently smacked away by the enraged drake. The smack was hard enough to draw a small line of blood from her hand, that went unnoticed by the dragoness as she tried to reason with him. "Spike don't say that… This isn't your home, and you know it."

Spike turned his head away from Quill to stare straight at the light-brown stained wooden stairs. "Spike please, don't do this. This is not-"

"Spike?" A soft voice called out from down the hall, followed by a small cough. Spike quickly recognized the voice as his beloved and now realized that she could be endangered if the dragoness turned her attention towards her. "Is everything alright sweetie?"

Quill slowly turned her head back towards Spike, whose eyes had shot open wide as he realized that Quill stood in between him and everything he held dear. "Y-yes," he stuttered with a very grave tone as his mind raced to think of something to get rid of the dragoness before she could cause any harm. "J-just stay in bed, I'll be there in a minute."

"Is that what's keeping you here?" Quill questioned as she took a step back from Spike with a dark look in her eyes. It didn't take Spike long before he knew what Quill was thinking and that his worst fears were going to come true if he didn't stop the dragoness. However, right as he was going to rush the dragoness, Quill moved quicker, delivering a swift kick to Spike's stomach.

The strike was more than strong enough to send the drake over a couple of steps, only to tumble down the rest, coming to a hard stop at the final few steps. Spike fought through the pain covering his body to look up towards the top stairs, only to find that the dragoness was nowhere to be seen, and quickly assumed the worst.

"No, no, no! You stay away from her!" Spike shouted after he had started to rush up the stairs to protect the one person that mattered to him in this world. However, it was too late. Right as he started down the hall, a massive torrent of purple and black flames erupted out of his bedroom.

Followed by a high pitched scream.

Everfree Forest

"Isis how much time is left?" Blaze asked again as the sun started to make its final journey towards the horizon. By this point, everyone had joined Quill at Spike's dome, with her still sitting right in front of the slightly distorting dome of magic.

"Mistress, one minute and nine seconds," Isis answered Blaze, ready to end the test upon a moment's notice, but would only do so after the minute was over with.

Frost knelt down towards Quill and wrapped her arms around her young lover. Still, Quill remained unattentive to the world around her as her thoughts were solely focused on the dome and her brother inside. "Don't you give up on him," Quill repeated after muttering it to herself this entire time. "Dont you even dare think about giving up."

XXX

Suddenly, the hollow feeling in his chest grew colder and heavier, and forced him to his knees. "No," Spike choked, not believing his beloved had been ripped from his hands, all because he was too weak. "Why...why would you do this?" Spike snapped his head back up to Quill, who had red tears flowing down her cheeks, and a pained expression on her face. "Everything was fine until YOU came and ruined it all!"

"No I didn't," Quill muttered in a low raspy voice after the torrent of fire she breath out. Spike growled at the dragoness, beyond angry that everything was taken from him because of her. Right as Spike was going to jump at the dragoness he was kicked on the chin, sending him towards the edge of the stairs again. Before he could get up, Quill placed her foot on his hollow-feeling chest while she continued to cry blood.

"This is all your own fault," she again said, pushing more of her weight down on Spike's chest as a few drops of her blood dripped onto Spike's cheeks. "This happened because you were too weak to beat me, this happened because you lack the will to fight. This happened because of you, and don't you ever forget it."

Spike looked up to Quill as her hellfire eyes started to glow brighter, which seemed to cause the stream of blood to be given new life. "I'm disappointed in you Spike, I had trusted you to come to your senses, but I guess I was wrong."

/ Ch. 39: Of Talks and Lineage/-/

High Moon Ch. 39: Of Talks and Lineage

"End it, Isis," Blaze commanded as the minute quickly passed and the sun fell below the horizon. Without hesitation, Isis ended the illusion Spike was trapped in, allowing her magic to disperse back into the natural air around them. Slowly, the dome of magic faded away, leaving Spike standing with his eyes closed, a few tears having slipped out, trailing down his cheeks.

The moment the dome was gone, Quill rushed to catch her brother before he hit the ground, embracing him tightly. A tense silence followed as Quill continued to hold Spike to her tightly, even after his weight had forced them both to their knees.

"Quill…" Spike's weak voice made Quill jump before he pulled himself out of Quill's tight hold. Spike locked eyes with his worried twin, noticing a glint of silver in Quill's bright purple eyes, but held his tongue.

Spike felt conflicting emotions rush to the surface as he looked into his twin's eyes. They were so strong, he could tell he was close to just losing control and doing something that he would regret. He took a minute to calm himself, relying on the meditation tricks he'd been using for the past few months, eventually managing to think with a clear head.

"Quill, you're my twin sister, and you're more important to me than anyone…" Spike began, closing his eyes so he could focus on clearing his thoughts. "But if you ever, and I mean ever, force me to pick between you and a loved one…" he trailed off, not sure where he was going with it. "Just…" Once more, words failed him as his face cringed slightly in frustration.

Quill looked at Spike for several moments, her head cocked in confusion. The seconds ticked by as she struggled to think of where Spike's sudden change in demeanor was coming from. "You know I wouldn't Spike. Why would you even think that? Dude, what happened to you in your test, anyway?"

Spike seemed to choose not to answer that, busy struggling to regain his feet. Instead, he chose to tell her something he'd decided on upon in the few moments he'd awoken from the test. "I'm done," he let out with a heavy breath, smacking Quill's hand away when she tried to help him stand. The sudden movement forced Spike to stumble backwards a few steps before he was able to stand on his own strength.

"I'm done following in your shadow, Quill," Spike spat, almost as if he had to force himself to say those words. "I won't ever get strong enough to protect anyone that way. You're my sister and I love you more than anything, but I can't keep relying on you. Or thinking that your opinion is the final word on matters. I'm fixing the mess we made with the elements, Quill. With, or without your help."

Quill's worry for her brother evaporated instantly, replaced with a small knot of anger. "I've never said that you couldn't!" Quill snapped, tired of having the elements as a subject of their arguments, done handling the entire mess. "I'm not dealing with them, not after everything they did to us." Quill stood up from the ground with her hands tightening at her sides and her wings flexing outwards slightly. "Who even told you that you couldn't deal with it yourself? When did I say that you couldn't do it on your own? Why do you need me there?"

"Because, Quill, they raised us!" Spike shouted back at his sister, a small wisp of green flames escaping his mouth. "We wouldn't even be alive right now if it wasn't for Twilight. Don't you think that we owe her that much?"

Quill let out a small shot of purple fire towards the darkening skies, turning around so she didn't have to face her brother. "Yeah, that's great and all Spike," she began with mild honesty in her voice, as she was grateful towards Twilight for at least hatching their egg. "But don't you think eighteen years of forced labor is enough? Don't you think that we should be calling our own shots?"

"Of course I do Quill," Spike began, placing his hand on his chest as he started to feel some kind of pain growing in it. "But we can't just leave them broken because of it."

"And just why not!? They're full grown mares, they can handle their business just like we can handle ours," Quill said as she turned back to Spike with a visible throbbing vein on her forehead that matched the one on Spike's.

"That's enough you two." Everyone turned their attention towards the bushes to find Wolf walking out of them with both Lily and Veil right behind him. Cyclone quickly moved away from Blaze, running straight to her friend, nearly knocking her down in the process.

Wolf ignored the two newcomers' antics as he dealt with the twins. "Now, Spike, don't you think it's unfair of you to be acting so cold to your sister like that? And Quill, yelling at him doesn't fix anything." Spike sighed as he dropped his head with a small nod while Quill turned her face away from the dog.

Wolf stared at the remorse on both of the twins' faces; he already knew why they were fighting. It had been a disagreement they'd been having since they arrived those two short months ago. He could tell it had been eating at the two since they'd been going at it from time to time. Quill was still upset over how they had been treated, but her twin was the more forgiving of the two. "Spike, if you feel like there's some stuff that you need to work out, then go do it. But," Wolf paused for a moment, hardly believing that he was even having to say this. "But tell us before you leave, okay?"

"Okay, Wolf," Spike quickly answered, already trying to think of what he would say to the elements, even if he wouldn't see them for a while.

With one last nod from Spike, Wolf turned towards Quill as she continued to avoid his gaze. "Quill," he rumbled, getting the dragoness to flinch from his suddenly stern voice. "Don't you think that you owe Spike a few words?"

"Fine," Quill said with a slight sigh that came out as a small ember of purple and green flames. She turned her head to look at Spike and locked eyes with him. "Spike, I don't know where you think you got this new backbone of yours," she began with mild annoyance, continuing before anyone could say anything to her about it. "But don't you ever think about losing it. More importantly, don't forget who you are. You're Spike Dragul, number one potion-maker, and my twin brother. I will love you no matter what happens, just don't do something that'll get yourself killed."

Spike dropped his gaze with a chuckle as he couldn't expect any better from Quill, and didn't want anything else. "Geez," he muttered, scratching the back of his head with another chuckle. "Don't try writing a romance book, Barb."

"Barb?" Frost repeated with in a slightly confused tone, not knowing about the 'nickname' Quill had been given while she was living in Ponyville. She was, however, able to sense the sudden peak in Quill's anger.

"Spike," she growled low, purple and black embers escaping her mouth. Spike realized what he'd done, and immediately wished he could take it back. Only he knew that the nickname would always send Quill into a blind fury upon hearing it. After the growth in body and magic she had been doing over the past two months, Quill was now a walking forest fire waiting to happen.

"I thought I told you to never, ever, even THINK of calling me that," Quill hissed as she took a step towards Spike, small flickers of purple and green flames coming off her body. "You were lucky that Twilight was there to save you those other times. And I'm going to overlook it this one time," Quill continued in a low voice, continuing to advance on Spike.

"But if you ever call me that again, especially in front of Frost, I will rip your tail off. Got it?" She finished with a swift jab in Spike's rips with her elbow. "Or do you want me to tell everyone about the time I caught you playing 'dress up' with Rarity?"

Spike's face quickly flushed bright red at the memory of his first real encounter with the opposite sex-it had involved a changing room, lingerie, and an unlocked door. "You know what, it still was worth being grounded for three weeks," he said with a smirk on his face that betrayed what happened.

Quill began laughing along with Spike at the faint memory of one of the few good times they had in Ponyville. "Hey if it makes you feel any better," Quill whispered, wrapping an arm around Spike's neck conspiratorially, walking in the direction towards High Moon. "I kinda walked in on Fluttershy helping Rarity with a few...exotic things."

Spike's mouth dropped at the thought of Quill walking in on Fluttershy while she was changing into something that was meant for the bedroom, and couldn't help but be a bit jealous about it. "Now come on, let's get something to eat. I know you're hungry," Quill joked, getting Spike's stomach to growl as if on universal call.

Soon, everyone began laughing along with the twins while Wolf let out a sigh of relief. Only Cerberus and Cadjo knew what would have happened if he hadn't shown up when he did, but thankfully he didn't need to worry about that now.

Right now, he had bigger things to worry about, and one of those was getting everyone back on track with what they needed to be doing in High Moon. "Alright, now if everyone is in an understanding with each other," he started, getting everyone's attention as the twins had continued to exchange jokes with one another. "I think we should be heading back to High Moon."

With nods going all around, everyone began following Wolf back to High Moon. However, before she forgot, Blaze quickly sparked her horn, picking up the fire-shard from Spike's circle. While the others continued to tell jokes along the way, she studied the shard with interest.

From the look of things, Spike hadn't absorbed any of the magic, instead having a small portion of his taken. This threw Blaze off for a moment, but after looking over the drake for a moment, she didn't sense anything wrong with him. If luck was with the drake, it was the portion of his magic that was infected by his ghost-heart.

As she continued to look at the drake, she noticed that the gems on his wrists were pulsing with a vibrant purple hue; the final sign of his training nearing its end.

Smiling, Blaze put the shard away before she joined with the group's merrymaking. Even Isis was able to join in on the laughter despite the guilt that was lingering in her heart. As they made their way back to the temple, Blaze noticed the conflicted look in Isis' eyes, and knew how to make her feel better.

The moment everyone entered the temple, goodnights were exchanged all around as Lily took most of the members of High Moon back to the mansion ruins. The moment the group was down the stairs, Blaze quickly led both Wolf and Isis into their bedroom, leaving Quill and Frost to shrug their shoulders as they went into their own room.

After Isis had been led by Blaze into her masters' room, she stayed by the door, head down in shame. After a moment, she turned to leave, believing that she didn't deserve to sleep in the same bed as her loved ones after today. Wolf, who had already removed his shirt and sat down on the bed, saw the sphinx turning to leave, and motioned to Blaze to look at the sphinx.

Blaze followed Wolf's motion, eyes widening a bit as she noticed where the sphinx was going. "Isis, come to bed, we have a long week ahead of us," Blaze said as she slowly walked over to Isis, wrapping her arms around the sphinx's waist. "And I don't want you tired tomorrow."

Isis' body tensed up at her mistress' gentle touch, making her feel even worse for what happened with the dragons. "M-mistress, I don't think I should sleep with the two of you tonight," Isis stammered with a sense of hesitation and guilt from a day full of causing the young dragons emotional pain. Blaze chose to ignore sphinx, and started to lick the top of her neck. "I-I don't deserve the right."

Blaze slowly moved towards Isis' ear while her hands began to stroke her large wings. Isis sighed softly in response to her mistress' gentle motions, but remained firm in her belief that she didn't deserve to share the bed with Wolf and Blaze.

Wolf finally realized that something hadn't gone according to plan for the test today, and that Isis was blaming herself. So Blaze was going to do something she did to him when he thought that he'd screwed something up, toy around. And since Blaze only had good intentions, Wolf didn't think to stop her, since he did want Isis to feel better.

The blush on Isis' cheeks continued to grow when she saw her master watching her mistress playing around with her. For some reason, that made her feel even hotter. "But you want to, don't you Isis?" Blaze whispered after moving her hands to the base of her love's wings. When a slightly louder moan escaped Isis' lips, Blaze placed a soundproof barrier around the door so Quill and Frost wouldn't hear them.

"Come now Isis," Blaze continued, moving one hand down towards Isis' haunches, and taking a handful of them. Isis felt her knees growing weaker, and her nether regions beginning to grow warmer. "I enjoy resting underneath your soft wings, you don't mean to take that away from me, do you?"

"N-n-no mistress," Isis moaned, moving her arms around Blaze's neck for support, and leaning into the mare's hands some more. Her move only allowed Blaze to further toy with her as the mare resumed biting against Isis' neck. "I-I would never do something like that."

Blaze smirked against Isis' neck, as the mare knew that she had Wolf to thank for her skills of 'persuasion.' Suddenly, she removed herself from Isis' body to take the sphinx by the wrists, leading her towards the bed. "Good, cause you are sleeping with us tonight, and all other nights. Understand?" Blaze asked after turning the sphinx and placing her hands on her hips. Isis tried to speak but again was cut off by Blaze sparking her horn and using her magic to remove both of their shirts.

"M-mistress!" Isis shouted with an embarrassed blush as she tried to cover herself up with her hands and wings. However, she was quickly met with laughter from both of her masters, and the memories of them seeing her without more than a shirt. "H-heh, well should we go to bed?"

Blaze giggled a little at the sphinx before again taking her hand and leading her on the bed so they could cuddle with Wolf. Though the mare did want to have a little fun, starting off by pushing Wolf down to his back with a kiss while Isis licked alongside his chest.

Wolf returned the two's playfulness by running his hands down their backs to take a hand full of their asses. His move was rewarded with the two letting out lusty sighs before continuing to lick up his neck and underside of his jaw.

Blaze began using her magic to massage Wolf's shaft, getting a low growl from her dog in response. She didn't stop there as she trailed her hand down Wolf's chest to feel each inch of his strong body. After getting her fill of her dog for the moment, she moved it back over Isis' haunches to feel the sphinx's toned body.

In fact, that's when the two lovers turned their attentions solely on the sphinx. Blaze soon found a way to get onto Isis' back so she could further play with her wing-base while Wolf held her mouth sealed in a deep kiss.

Blaze started to press down on Isis' wing-base, as it seemed to be a weak spot for move was rewarded with Isis moaning deeply into the kiss while her wings flapped spasmodically. It seemed that if she focused on the tight muscles that formed the base between Isis' wings, that it brought more pleasure towards her sphinx.

While his mare continued to learn about Isis' sensitivity at the base of her wings, Wolf moved his hands down towards her haunches to start massaging them. It wasn't long before Isis started grinding her hips into Wolf in attempt to beg for the fire growing in her core to be ended.

Normally, Wolf would be more than happy to alleviate the sphinx, but they'd all had a rather long day. So, the two only continued to toy around with the sphinx before finally letting her breathe. "M-mistress, master, please...I want to protect them," Isis started after she was released from Wolf's mouth.

Blaze moved back underneath Isis' wing while Wolf was snapped out of some of his instincts at their sphinx's tone of voice. A few moments passed by as both lovers waited for Isis to continue with what she had to say.

"A-all of them, I never want to see them sad again." Neither of them had to think about her statement, as Wolf and Blaze knew Isis was speaking of the other pack members of High Moon. "Their smiles, their laughter, their joy; all of it is precious, and I want to protect it."

Wolf quickly moved to place another kiss on Isis' lips and started to rub his claws into Isis' hauches. Blaze sidled over to nibble on her sphinx's ear as a hand moved towards the base of her wings again. Isis lost herself in her masters' embraces as her wing's grip around them started to tighten.

Blaze moved herself from Isis' ear so she could speak, "And you will, all of us will make sure they never stop smiling." Soon, after a few more tender moments, both females found good spots to rest their heads on top of Wolf's chest to get much needed sleep. Like the previous night, Isis' wings proved a warmth that could only be matched by the fire in each other's hearts.

The same could be spoken for the younger couple just across from them as Quill rested her head on one of Frost's breasts while her hand held the other. Throughout the day, Frost finally got to see what kind of sister Quill really was when she wasn't trying to be tough.

On the outside, one would think that Quill was nothing but mean to Spike, but clearly this wasn't true. Deep down, Quill deeply cared for her twin brother more than other siblings would, in spite of however much she might say contrary to that.

The both of them might have future plans to take the throne from Frost's mother, but for now, they had a family to take care of, and that's what was going to come first.

High Moon city ruins

While most of High Moon was slowly falling asleep, the two newcomers lie in bed together, with Cyclone resting her head in between Veil's firm mounds. Not as soft or as warm as Blaze's, however, the familiarity of them was enough to make up for the lack of softness.

The test taught Cyclone a lot about herself, that she kind of already knew. Mainly, she didn't like the mere thought of being alone for too long, and definitely couldn't stand to see anyone upset or sad. That's when her ideal role in High Moon revealed itself to her; a mediator. Alone, Cyclone couldn't do much, but she could support those that could stand.

If this was to be her design in life, if she was to be someone that held a family together, then who was she to question the path four Makers design for her? Cyclone was okay with this fact. She don't have any desires for power, knowledge, or some other grand life goal like that.

She was happy with where she was right now. Cyclone knew she had a lot of work to do, but in the meantime, she would take any peace and joy she could get. Besides, she needed to get stronger anyways. How can one be a mediator if they aren't able to keep up with those around them?

"Cy, you sure you're alright?" Veil asked as Cyclone's arms gripped tightly around her midsection. The dragoness had been like this since they made their way back to the temple, and still hadn't told her what happened during the test or how she did. Though, the fact that Cyclone wasn't in a heap of tears told her that she hadn't outright failed the test, but Veil still wanted to know what happened.

"At least tell me what happened all day," Veil begged again, deeply worried about her friend's silence. However, she soon would get her answers as Cyclone lifted her head from Veil's chest to look her straight in the eyes. That's when Veil noticed something fairly different about Cyclone's soft pink eyes. She couldn't place her finger on it, but there was something...brighter about them, like a shining ray of hope.

In fact, the more she looked into Cyclone's eyes, the more she was filled with this hope. Hope that told her everything was going to be alright, despite them having nothing to their names any more.

"Veil," Cyclone started as she rose further from the hound, breaking Veil out of her trance like state. "Let's not leave." Cyclone started to move her hands from Veil's back and further up towards her shoulders to gently rub them. Veil again was trapped by Cyclone's shining eyes to the point where she couldn't think past what the dragoness was saying to her. "I-I know we've only been here a very short time, but I don't want to leave."

Veil smiled softly at the dragoness as she had came to the same thought herself earlier today and had wanted to talk about it with her friend. "And we're not," she whispered, wrapping her arms around Cyclone's back so she could be closer to the gentle light in her eyes. "Cyclone, I'm tired of it just being the two of us. We're staying here with Wolf's pack." Veil began dragging her nails up and down Cyclone's back as the dragoness got closer to her face.

"Let's stay here...with our family."

The next morning

The sun shone brightly as everyone in High Moon moved about finishing their tasks that needed to be done by the end of the day. With the rapid plant-growth potion made, Spike suggested that a greenhouse be made for them so they could better store the fruits and vegetables during the winter.

After asking if he could lead the construction, Spike listed much of what he believed that he needed: a spot somewhere in High Moon that the sun hit for most of the day, a large enough area that would allow them to grow more if needed, and the materials needed to build it.

Isis was quick to say that there was a shrine built to be in the constant pathway of the sun, believing that it could easily be converted into a greenhouse. However, she did say that they would need something to trap the heat from the sun within the greenhouse, so the plants would be able to survive during the winter.

Quill then offered to fly to Ponyville to call in a few favors that some colts owed her. That way they could get some plastic tarp, anything else she thought would be of use for the project, as well as other odds and ends.

Wolf waved the dragoness off, telling her not to cause any trouble while she was in town. After seeing her off, Wolf turned his attention back to what could be done on their end.

Spike, Isis, and Frost all took turns listing any information they had about greenhouses and building them. That's when Spike remembered about the book the librarian allowed him to keep, and quickly led the two females toward his room in the mansion.

This left Wolf, Veil, Cyclone, Lily, and Blaze to prepare for the fast-moving project. Blaze then said that she could still make a larger amount of the potion, and that she could also work on a spell that would better protect the greenhouse from storm damage. Cyclone quickly said that she'd help Blaze in anyway she could.

With that settled, Lily left to see if she could aid with the construction of the greenhouse while Wolf and Veil headed out to see if they could find any materials that would help with it. Wolf knew with Frost, Isis, Lily, and Spike tending to the greenhouse that it was in good hands, and he was going to do whatever he could to assist with this.

The first order of business was getting the necessary materials. They already had enough stone to make virtually whatever they needed, and since Isis could use her magic to manipulate the stone, and reshape it, they didn't need to go to a rock quarry. Quill had already left to get the plastic to cover the top.

So, all they needed now was to gather wood for...some reason.

"Hey Alpha," Veil started while Wolf was finishing hacking away at a tree and its branches. "Why are we gathering wood again?" Veil asked Wolf as he picked up a few logs that his claws had cut. "I mean...from the sound of things, everybody it all covered. So, I don't see a reason for the wood. Shouldn't we be gathering food instead?"

Sighing, Wolf lifted the logs of wood before waving his hand over towards the other pile of tree branches for Veil to grab. Veil did as she was told, but still waited for the Alpha's answer. "I think Isis said something about making the greenhouse stronger, I dunno. Whatever works is best," Wolf answered as he and Veil started down a hill and up the path towards the construction site. "Tell you what, you can ask her yourself."

Wolf and Veil walked towards the shrine that was now being changed into a greenhouse. That's when Veil was given a quick display of Isis' magic. The sphinx's hands were encased in two orbs of red and blue light while bits and pieces of stone, encased in the same colors as the sphinx's hands, began lifting from the ground and shrine itself. Each piece of the ancient stone seemed to meld into the next one, shaping to whatever the sphinx desired it to be.

Once the lights had faded, the shrine was slightly wider and taller than it once was, and had several levels of of rectangular rings that were cut in half by a set of stairs leading upwards. All in all, it was still in the shape of the shrine only now it was in a more rectangular shape.

"Nice job, Isis," Wolf congratulated her, walking over to the sphinx with Veil close behind, and placing the cut pieces of wood down on the ground. Wolf was more than impressed with the versatility of the sphinx's magic, knowing that it would be a great asset to the reconstruction of High Moon. Isis opened her mouth to thank her master for his praising words but instead collapsed in his arms. "Whoa, Isis are you alright?"

Isis attempted to stand on her own with the help of Wolf, wrapping her arm around his neck to keep herself upright. When Spike and the others realized that something was wrong with her, they all ran over to the sphinx's side. "Y-yes master," Isis started with a faint breath as though she'd just ran a race. "I'm f...fine, just a lit-little tired is all."

Wolf looked down towards the sphinx as she tried to force an assuring smile on her face, then towards the half-finished greenhouse. "Alright," he said after a moment of quick thought, looking down towards the others. "I think all of you could use a break for awhile. We'll finish this thing when Quill comes back with the plastic."

"Very well," Lily said, as she too was feeling quite tired and slightly hungry as well. "Spike, would you like to accompany me towards the south fields to pick some berries?" Spike nodded his head and started to follow Lily towards the southern fields to pick some berries to have for lunch.

"Guess that leaves me and Veil to salvage for stuff," Frost started, wanting to do more exploring around the city ruins, and to check out what was known as the 'archives' as well. It also couldn't hurt to get to know Veil a bit more as well too. "What do you say, Veil?" she continued, turning towards the hound with a friendly smile on her face. "Want to...how does Quill put it, hang out?"

"Uh...s-sure Frost, that's sounds cool," Veil answered, not sure about the changeling mare, still having questions for her. But, if she and Cyclone were going to stay, then Veil would have to get used to being around the mare more often. "Lead the way, I guess."

The two walked off towards the direction Frost remembered Isis telling her that led straight towards the archives, while Veil trailed behind her. With the last of the group gone, Wolf picked Isis up off the ground, and went to find somewhere she could rest.

It wasn't long before he found a shady tree that was thankfully near a clear stream. He moved into the shade and set the sphinx down. "Th-thank you master," Isis sighed, carefully sliding down out of Wolf's arms to sit on the ground against the tree.

Wolf merely nodded his head towards the sphinx as he walked over towards the stream to catch a fish or two. "I'm truly sorry for this inconvenience," Isis continued with an apologetic tone of voice as she scolded herself for allowing her body to fail like that. "I suppose that I've been using too much magic in too close of a time period."

"Don't worry about it Isis," Wolf reassured her as he knelt down towards the stream to spot any passing fish. "We've all been busy doing things as of late, so it's only expected that we'll be a little tired." Wolf's eyes continued to scan over the flowing stream, which headed down towards the great lake deep within Everfree forest, before rushing off into the sea and towards the Dragon Empire. "We all need a break some time or another. You're no exception."

Isis continued to watch her master study the stream's movement to find them a quick meal while everyone waited for Quill to show back up. She already knew of the dog's compassion and devotion towards the pack, her, and Blaze. However, Isis still had one question that was left unanswered.

"What about you, master?" Isis asked, now having the dog all alone to speak freely with. "Surely you would like to rest. You've been working near non-stop for quite some time now, and it can't be healthy for you."

Wolf chuckled at his sphinx before taking two swipes at some large orange fish, knocking them in the air, and catching them before they hit the ground. A wide and satisfied smile stretched across Wolf's lips when he recognized the two large and fat fish as the Goof-fish, or the simple-minded fish.

"This will definitely do," he said as he walked back to Isis and handed her the fish to hold while he started a quick fire to cook them. He gather up some sticks from the area along with a few stones to get started setting up a small fire.

"Now, back to your question," Wolf continued after he had a good spot set up. "I do take breaks and stuff like that," he said, looking back over his shoulder towards the resting sphinx. "I, or really we, have just been busy is all." While he spoke, Wolf looked for something that he could use to light the fire, but Isis was able to solve this.

"Master," she started, using a small amount of her magic to levitate the two fat fish before standing up off the wobbled behind Wolf and wrapped an arm around his neck to use him as a strong support to aid her in standing. As Isis rested her chin on Wolf's shoulder, she looked down from her master's eyes as her hands slid down towards the braces to bring them to his attention. "I do believe it's time that I show you the power in the gems of your bracers."

Wolf stared down at the still-pulsing red and blue gems on his wrists, feeling slight shifts in the natural magic in them. "What about them Isis?" he asked, not seeing anyway for him to even access the magic with the bracers. "How can I tap into them?"

"Simple, master," Isis stated, leaning further onto her master's back so she could take both of his wrists in her hands. As she did this, her breasts pressed firmly against Wolf's back, causing her nipples to rub against the thin fabric of her shirt. She ignored this as she leaned into Wolf's ear. "You've said that you can 'sense' the natural magic of the world, right master?" she asked with a curious tone, suspecting an answer, but not quite sure if it was correct or not.

Isis was still surprised when she had heard Wolf tell her yesterday that he had a small ability to 'sense' magical energy. Though, after some thought, she speculated that it was being around a mare as powerful as Blaze that gave him this ability, but there was something else she suspected about her master-something that came from his bloodline.

It was faint, and she was still unsure primarily because she hadn't been around him for very long, but there was still something there. In addition to the minor abilities that he had picked up being around Blaze for all these years, Wolf was more than capable of using natural magic, and the star fragments were going to help.

"Well," Wolf started, still trying to understand the skill himself as he couldn't remember when he acquired it, or how to control it. "Yes, there would be times where I could..." he again paused, thinking of the best way to explain the extra sense he acquired from his time with Blaze. "It's like I can see things that should be heard, hear things that should be seen. I don't know how to rightfully explain it."

"That's alright, master," Isis said, rocking on their spot on the ground in a slightly whimsical manner. "That just means you're more in tune with the natural order of the world than most, and this has given you an extraordinary ability." Wolf turned his head towards his sphinx with a questioning look on his face, which Isis quickly moved to relieve him of. "Master, you can see and hear things only beings such as myself should be able to, but you don't have the skills yet to do this on your own."

Wolf looked back towards the pulsating blues and red from the gems on his bracers. Ever since he'd got them from Isis, he had known that there was magic coming from them, but Blaze and Frost hadn't seemingly noticed anything special about them. So that could only mean one of two things: one, the magic was laying dormant, or two, it was something different altogether.

"Okay," Wolf said with an unsure tone of voice as he turned his head back to Isis, who still had a happy smile on her face. "So," he again started, this time with a chuckle at Isis' smiling face. "Just how do I hone these 'skills,' Isis?"

Isis continued to giggle, enjoying her master's happiness as it was his time to feel peace. "Quite simple," she started as she moved her hands to interlock through Wolf's fingers, still rocking gently. "You just need to open your mind, and allow all of your senses to take hold. Only then will you be able to properly use the power within the gems."

"Hm...open my mind huh?" Wolf asked as he turned his attention towards the gems on his wrist. Isis' words made little sense to him, however, Wolf was willing to give it a try if it would help High Moon in the long run.

"Yes master," Isis started with a calming hum to keep Wolf's mind from feeling over-burdened with what she is telling him. "Allow things to move around you, become aware of your surroundings." As the sphinx continued to speak, Wolf closed his eyes to somehow awaken this extra sense within him. "See the winds carrying the power of the world."

Focusing on not only the sphinx's words, but everything around them, Wolf started to slowly breath in and out as he thought it would make concentrating easier. Slowly he began to see it, the streams flowing behind him, and the fish swimming through. He could hear the movement of animals miles away from them. Then, he started to feel a force rushing past his fur; the wind.

Not only the winds, but the magical currents that he heard about from Blaze. It was these currents that magical creatures drew their power from. It was these currents that Wolf could feel, hear, and seen anything in his immediate area.

Slowly, and carefully, as if he was afraid to lose this sight, Wolf opened his dull-green eyes, revealing a slight glow to them. In doing so, Wolf was given a slight start when he found the world around him changed.

Trees, plants, and other vegetations were brighter in their colors. Sound was sharper and clearer to his mind, as he could hear each drop of the stream behind him. Also, the most off-putting of it all were the thin lines that held the likeness of spider webs. They flowed around everywhere, passing through everything as if they didn't exist.

"Isis," Wolf managed, still trying to take in as much as he could without breaking the concentration that he had. "What is this? What am I seeing right now?" he asked, unable to think of the right answer on his own until he thought back to what Isis told him moments before. "Is this how the world really appears? Is this what is supposed to be seen?"

The soft smile on Isis' lips only grew when she saw her master achieving this difficult task far quicker than she had first thought. She knew this wasn't the proper time to think of this, however, it was Wolf's ability to learn and adapt faster than the others that had initially attracted her.

"Not entirely master," Isis started with a small shake of her head and a quick nuzzle against Wolf's neck. "That it is the way the world should appear, however, it is not the way we perceive it. How something is, and how something should be, are two very separate things, but sometimes they are so different that they are one and the same."

Wolf turned his head slightly at his sphinx, whose eyes was now illuminated with a crimson and deep blue glow. Wolf began to wonder just how long Isis had been planning during the nine years of him being in High Moon.

"Oh, and how so Isis?" Wolf asked as he was starting to get the hang of this extra sight, to the point where he could focus more on one particular thing. Now, he tried to keep the sight focused only on the thin lines of silver light. "Will I be able to see through walls and the such?"

Isis giggled at her master's joke, finding his way of lightening up the mood to be more refreshing than a nap. "No master, I fear you will have to continue to dream of that," she retorted, getting a chuckle out of Wolf as she joined in. "However, this will give you the ability to use the bracers on your wrists," she continued, getting Wolf to look back down towards the braces.

That's when he noticed that the thin silver lines were being drawn towards them and when the passed through they became longer and brighter than before. "Isis, these threads," Wolf began to examine the glowing silver lines, moving about freely with the push and pull of the winds. "Are they the embodiment of this 'natural magic' I keep hearing so much fuss about?"

"Why yes they are master," Isis said with a bright smile at her master's quick mind. She shouldn't be surprised by it, over the eight years, Wolf had displayed a knowledge that most didn't understand. It was an insight to understand things that couldn't be understood, it was something that allowed him to make quick judgments at the drop of a bit.

"These thin threads flow freely throughout the world," Isis continued to speak as she moved a hand towards one of the threads, only to have it weave through her fingers like it didn't existed. "They come and go as they please, it is this all magical creatures draw their power from. From this exchange, they give out more of these threads."

"So...when someone uses magic," Wolf started, again taking the time to think about what he was going to say. "These threads feed off of what's left from the magic? Like the stories of the first ones," Wolf asked, remembering the legend of the first canines to walk this earth: the Navajo Wolves. "This is a thing of Cerberus' first children. How, how can I have their abilities? Unless..."

Isis slowly moved her hand back down towards Wolf's to take it while rocking to keep Wolf as calm as she could. "Yes master, this extra ability is proof that you are a descendant from the Navajo Wolves that once walked this earth in high numbers."

Wolf closed his eyes and took in a deep breath that came out as a small chuckle. To even think that he had the same blood as the fabled guardians of the forests, and the first children of Cerberus, was enough to cause Wolf to have a slight wave of anxiety come over him.

The anxiety wasn't from fear or worry, just the massive amount of information that was entering his mind at once was a lot for him to take in. However, chose not to worry about his bloodline, instead on how to use his hidden abilities.

"Okay, so I'm a descendant of Cerberus," he began with a sigh, beyond unsure what this truly meant for him and his cub. "As much of an honor as it is to know this, I still want to know how that's supposed to help me light a fire so we can eat lunch?"

That's when both Wolf and Isis turned their attentions back towards the two Goof-fishes that were still floating in Isis' magic, waiting to be cooked. "Yes, my apologies master," Isis started, having already forgotten about the two juicy looking fish after the long talk with her master. "Anyway, just follow your instincts, the gems will do the rest."

Sighing and nodding his head, Wolf turned back towards the pile of sticks, and started to focus on whatever he could to ignite them. As he held his eyes close to build his concentration, threads of silver light started to gather towards the gems on his wrists, shining brighter than the sun itself.

Suddenly, a bright red spark flew from Wolf's hands, towards the pile of sticks where it lifted a bright crimson and white fire before dying down to a normal orange and red one. Wolf opened his eyes to look at his hands to see the threads of silver light leaving them with a brighter look to them than before. As he followed their unbound moment, Wolf noticed the threads splitting into copies of themselves.

Wolf then turned his attention towards Isis as he had more questions about what was happening right in front of him. "Isis is this…" However, Wolf was stopped by a sudden wave exhaustion and drowsiness came over Wolf as he collapsed in Isis' arms.

Expecting her master's sudden collapse, Isis gently allowed Wolf to fall to the ground, and laid his head in her lap. Isis continued to smile down towards her master as he had learned something that took months, if not years, to master.

Still though, Wolf tried to fight through whatever was causing his sudden exhaustion, but barely managed to keep one eye half open. "I-Isis...wh-what-" Again, Wolf was silenced, but this time by Isis placing a finger on his lips.

"Shh master," she whispered in a quiet and calm voice as she moved her hand to her master's chest and the other gently started to rub his head. "Just rest, you deserve it more than you allow yourself to acknowledge."

Unable to fight back the soothing words from his sphinx, Wolf slowly allowed his vision to grow darker as he drifted off to sleep, unknowingly awakening the bloodline that had been hidden within him this whole time.

/ Ch 40: Of Talks and Hearts/-/

High Moon Ch. 40:  
Of Talks and Hearts

"So," Veil started as she and Frost finally made it to the building where the archives were located. The journey was an informative one as the two females took the time alone to get to know each other. As it turned out, Veil and Frost had plenty in common, such as both enjoying the moon's light over the sun's heat.

One conversation they had was of each other's plans. Veil honestly didn't have one, as she just thought of calling High Moon her and Cyclone's new home. Admittedly, Veil never was one to think about what the future held for her. The way she looked at it was, if she still breathing, and the ones that she cared for were alright, then she was happy.

Frost shared her sympathy with the diamond hound, knowing the feeling of losing a home. However, Frost had better plans for herself and High Moon. When Veil asked what Frost meant by this, the changeling then went on to say that she and Quill were looking for a way to get stronger to take her mother's throne.

Veil wasn't too sure about the changeling's ambitions, as it seemed like an impossible task from what Frost had said about her mother, but that didn't mean she disliked Frost's goals. The idea of taking power away from those that would abuse it wasn't new for Veil.

However, this wasn't like a den of diamond dogs trying to take on an alpha. This was a half-breed mare and a younger dragoness taking on an army. This was something of pure suicide.

That's when Frost said she and Quill were trying to get stronger, so they wouldn't have to fight that army. Their only target was her mother, anyone else was collateral damage. In fact, Frost truly wanted to avoid any unnecessary fighting.

There wasn't a need to take on the entire Everfree army along with her mother. If that was the case, then Frost and Quill would face defeat without a single hope of winning. All they needed was a way to strike at Frost's mother. And if it truly did come down to it, Frost had one more plan up her sleeve. However, as a backup plan, it would take far longer and cause far more bloodshed.

So that was one of the reasons Frost brought Veil to the archives, to look for something that Frost could use as an ace in the hole. A secret hand that Frost could lay on the table to achieve her goals. If her guess was correct, such a thing would be found inside of the archives.

Even with the run-down building in sight, Veil still wasn't so sure about Frost's dreams. From the sound of it, Frost definitely had quite some time to plan it out, and that was without adding Quill into the equation. That said, it wasn't Veil's place to question the mare's ambitions, especially since she had already spoken about it with Wolf. So if the mare had Alpha's approval, Veil figured that there wasn't any harm with helping her.

Pushing the twin doors open, Veil and Frost walked into the ancient library, taking in the sight of the the vast rows of books. Dust collected on many of the tomes, all weathered by time, but still somehow standing. Frost was impressed with the resilience of the books, while Veil still didn't know what to make of it.

"Frost," Veil said as she looked around the archives, eyeing the many tomes and old bookshelves that held the leather bound books. When Veil looked back to Frost, all she saw was the mare dragging her hand across the backs of the books, as if she was looking for a specific one. "What are we looking for? I mean, you gotta have something in mind, right?"

For a moment, Frost didn't answer the hound as her eyes continued to sift through the rows of ancient texts. Veil was correct that Frost had an idea of what she was looking for. But Frost seemed to have not found it with the first shelf she was looking at. So she continued to move through the rows of books with Veil following behind.

"It's nothing really," Frost finally answered the hound's question as she moved over to another bookshelf that was being eaten by small thin vines. However, Frost didn't mind the vegetation there. In fact, she welcomed it as it was a true testament towards Mother Nature's resolve. "There's a...spell, for lack of better terms, that was created by the changelings a long time ago. However, unicorns saw better use of the spell once they learned it."

Veil tilted her head and ears as she was slightly confused by the mare's words. She may not have the same kind of knowledge when it came to magic, but she knew enough to know that unicorn and changeling magic were two different things...right?

"Hold on," Veil began, still with a look of confusion while Frost continued to search through the rows of books. "I thought that unicorn magic and changeling are different?" she half-asked, only going by what she guessed.

However, Frost started to giggle a little before moving on towards another bookshelf. "You would only be half right," she began, gaining Veil's full attention as she continued her search for the tome she was hoping to be here. "Changelings may be different from ponies, yet we are still equines none-the-less. Therefore, we both are able to do the same thing."

It took a moment, but soon Frost's words started to click inside of Veil's head. "So, you mean that unicorns can do what you can do…"

"And I can do what they can, and then some," Frost finished for Veil as she pulled out a tome that caught her eye. Frost was only able to read the book thanks to Ancient Equine being the same thing as modern day changeling text; one of the few benefits of being a princess was she could read the ancient text as if it was in fact modern day literature.

"However, that's not what I'm here for," she continued, closing the book, placing it back on the shelf, and turning to Veil to answer her worries. "There is a spell, think of it like a...'trap.'" When Frost felt Veil's emotions become further lost, she waved the hound to continue to follow her while she explained.

"Okay, so trap isn't the word I was looking for," Frost corrected, still scanning over the many books that somehow managed to survive throughout the centuries. "Alright, you've heard the saying 'as thin as a spider's web,' right?"

"Er, no, not really," Veil said with a shake of the head, never having heard anything like that before. Then again, being a runaway beta hound from a traditional diamond dog den, Veil wasn't too...educated in things such as that. "But it does have something to do with a spider's web?"

Frost gave a small shake of her head with a soft giggle following after as the two of them started to climb the stairs to the second floor. "Yes, and no," she started, turning her back to the rail, and gently leaning against it. "Yes, it is using a spider's webbing as a comparison. No, I'm not directly speaking about one, though."

Another moment passed as Frost could feel that Veil was starting to get it, however, Veil was still quite unsure of what Frost was speaking of. "Here, I think it's better if I just show you." Frost quickly shifted her weight off of the railing and held out her left hand towards Veil.

At first, there was nothing for the hound to see aside from the black fur on the changeling's hand, but that soon changed. It was small at first, but Veil began to notice the fine, shimmering lines coming off of Frost's hand.

"What in Cadjo's name is that?" Veil asked as the lines of shimmering light streamed further up from Frost's hand. From what she could tell, it looked as if the lines were something like a spider's web, but further observation revealed them to be thin lines of ice.

Upon sensing the hound's slow change of emotions, Frost quickly moved to put them to rest. "Don't worry," she said to get Veil to calm down before she began to panic even further. "It's just my ice-magic mixed with a little changeling magic," Frost continued, sparking her horn in the ice-blue aura, moving the threads of ice around in a small dance.

"H-heh, I knew that." Frost didn't even need her changeling ability to tell that the hound was lying, just the cheesy smile and cocked head was enough to give her away. "So, if you can already do that, then what would you need from this spell?"

"Well," Frost started, now just playing around with the threads of ice, forming a variety of shapes and other creations. "To be honest, I could go without this spell, and just hope that everything works out."

While Frost continued to speak, Veil was deeply impressed with the mare's flexibility with her magic. She wondered if Cyclone would be able to do something like it when she got her magic under control. It would be cool to see the dragoness do so much more with her magic.

Heck, after the six years they had been friends, Veil would be happy to see Cyclone smile. The more Veil thought about it, the more she wondered what Cyclone was going to do once she was done with her training; what would be left for her to do?

"However, I would rather not leave it to chance," Frost stated firmly as she continued her trivial flexing of her magic while she had an attentive ear to lean on for the moment. And really, Frost did need to use as much time as she could to plan every single step out. If she did find this spell, that was only still a small, and extra, part of it. Frost would still need a means of getting close to her mother. "See, the spell would allow me to drain the magic of my opponents, and add it to my own."

"So, you're after more power?" Veil bluntly asked, as she was still thinking about her friend more than the mare's words. "That's what you really want? Power?"

Frost quickly frowned at the thought of having meaningless power on her side and shook her head. "No, never," she spat with a sound of pure disgust in her voice. Right as she finish saying this, the threads of ice took the shape of heart. "I would never look for power without a reason to hold it. That's a waste of time and energy."

"Oh, s-sorry," Veil started, mentally kicking herself for what she said and thought about the mare until now. "It's just that...there's no good in craving only power, my old den learned that the hard way."

As Frost looked at the hound, she saw her biting down on her lips and holding her left arm with a look of discomfort. Whatever thoughts, or memories, Veil had of her old den must have not been good ones, and Frost made a note not to bring it up as much as she could.

"Do not worry," Frost smiled reassuringly as the threads of ice quickly melted into water. "I already know that no good come from wanting nothing but power. Trust me," she paused to walk towards Veil and place hand on her shoulder to get her attention. "I've already lived through that with my mother, and Wolf has already spoken with me about it."

"Alright," Veil started, returning Frost's smile before continuing their stroll through the archives. "So, what would you really need from this spell if not just power?" Veil asked as she was now helping Frost look through books, even if she couldn't read any of the text. "You said it yourself, power without meaning is a waste of time. So, what will you be gaining with this spell?"

Again, Frost giggled at the hound for her ability to learn quickly, and nodded her head as she went through another book that appeared to be a journal of some kind. "An edge," she started as she placed the book back and turned towards Veil. "I'm looking for an edge over my mother, something that would place the odds somewhat in our favor."

"By what?" Veil asked, not getting Frost's plan, and not able to make the quick connection. However, after a few more moments of thought, she soon came to an idea herself. "You don't mean to drain your mother's magic and add it to your own, do you?"

"Well..." Frost paused for a moment, as if she had to think about her answer before telling Veil. "No, not entirely. Just enough to be able to beat her, but not to where I lose sight of what is important." Frost already knew that with power came risk, so there wasn't a need to take all of her mother's magic, but just enough to where would be possible to defeat her.

Veil thought for a moment. She knew she didn't have much of a right to question Frost about how she was going to achieve her goals, but she couldn't just allow her to do everything while turning a blind eye. "So what will you do with the excess?" she asked as she placed her hands on the bookshelf in an absent minded manner. "You're not gonna still leave your mother with magic right? I mean, that would give her the chance of coming back to haunt you, unless you plan on killing her."

Again, Frost merely shook her head with a long sigh. "N-no, I hadn't planned on killing my own mother, especially since she did raise me until I turned fifteen." The two paused for a moment, a mutual remembering of a past that they didn't want to, ending with their families breaking apart. "However, I can not allow someone like her hold a single drop of magic within her body. Not a mare like my mother."

"Then what are you going to do?" Veil asked as the matter was becoming quite dire-sounding. She knew that she wouldn't play any part in overthrowing Frost's mother, however, she didn't think it was right to let the changeling charge into battle like that. "There has to be away to stop her from using magic, right?"

Frost turned her head towards Veil as she was feeling concern and worry from her, along with a small ping of hope that was telling Frost that Veil was trying to help her be fully prepared. "You're right Veil, there is more than one way," Frost replied, moving towards another bookshelf next to the one she realized was a shelf of journals. "However, each way is...less desirable than the next."

"Well let's hear them," Veil suggested as she turned her back to the bookshelf and picked a random book up. "Maybe it'll help you plan stuff out more. You know," Veil paused, waving her free hand and the book around as if she was trying to fight an idea out. "Give you more options or something like that. Something more to work with, you know?"

Frost giggled as she read an interesting entry that she believed was left by another changeling. "Yes, that would help, wouldn't it?" She placed the book back on the shelf and turned her back to rest on it. "Well, there are a number of ways I can do that. One, I could find some way to seal her magic, so she couldn't use it."

"And that's the safest way?" Veil asked quickly, wanting to help Frost to fully plan this out. However, much to the hound's dismay, Frost shook her head, sighing. "Oh, I see, but that's a clean way of doing it? Like, without having to kill someone."

"Yes, that is the 'clean' way of doing it," Frost sighed again, sadness in her voice. Veil was right. That was the easiest way to defeat her mother without having to kill her. However, just allowing the mare to live could have repercussions. "Although, it's not a favorable one, but…it's a way."

It was easy for Veil to tell that Frost didn't want to allow her mother any chance of coming back for revenge, but she still didn't want to kill her own mother. "Okay...so what's another way?"

"Yes, right," Frost said shaking herself out of her thoughts so it would be easier to think about her future moves against her mother. "One other way is to simply get rid of her horn." The flat answer was again followed by a sigh, as that plan was almost as undesirable as killing her mother. "There are means to do so without the bone growing again, however, even that would eventually kill her of starvation."

"How's that?" Frost looked over towards Veil as she was displaying honest confusion. For a moment, Frost was confused as well-then she realized what it was. Veil probably didn't know much about changeling biology. Frost couldn't fault her on this, as most information about changelings was kept secret from any non-changeling, at least within Equestria.. "Changelings don't need magic to digest food, do they?"

"No, hardly," Frost laughed and shake of her head, again unable to fault Veil for guessing this, but still finding it funny none-the-less. "No, that's not the case, yet it is somewhat the truth. See, changelings draw our strength from the emotions around others, and we use that like it's food, but really we can live by normal means."

"So...if you weren't able to feed off emotions," Veil began slowly, still trying to piece together what Frost was telling her. "You wouldn't be able to use magic?"

"Not entirely, because thanks to my dragon-blood, I'd still be able to use magic, but I wouldn't be too happy about it," Frost paused for a moment, thinking back to times where her dragon-blood had made itself known when she went too long without feeding on some kind of 'healthy' emotion.

"Anyway, my mother is a full-blood changeling, meaning her very life-force would drain if she went too long without being able to feed on some kind of emotions." Upon saying this, Frost suddenly realized that sealing her mother's magic would also have the same effect, only quicker.

"This pains me to say, but," she again paused, swallowing the pain that was going to come with these next words. "But, either way I look at it now, the outcome will be the same." Frost didn't have to acknowledge the confused look on Veil's face, as she could sense every drop of it coming from her. "Veil, no matter what I do, there's just no way I can defeat my mother without her dying as a result, and I fear that my father will have to follow as well."

Moments passed as Veil was trying to understand what Frost was telling her. Frost had already just told her that without her mother's magic, she couldn't feed off emotions, which would slowly kill her. As opposed to ending it on the spot so she didn't suffer, or have the chance to haunt Frost. No telling what was up with her father.

"I-I see," she started, unable to think of a way for Frost to not have to spill her mother's blood in some form or fashion. "So, how do you want to do it?" The question got Frost to slowly turn her head towards Veil, a look of pure disgust and sickness on it. "Like, I know either way she is going to feel pain, but at least there is one way for her not to be in too much pain...r-right?"

"You're right," Frost started, turning around to the bookshelf again to resume looking for the spell she needed. "I can't allow that mare to live, but I refuse to allow her to suffer." Frost began to quickly shift through the many books, even using her magic to help assist her search.

Veil looked towards the changeling with a sense of worry. Sure, she didn't have the happiest of lives, but Frost barely had one, from what she had told her. 'And now, it must feel like she has the weight of the world on her shoulders,' Veil frowned to herself, feeling bad there wasn't much she could do to help Frost.

Frost's mother was a dangerous mare, so dangerous that she could plunge all of Equestria into the dark ages if she wanted. If the mare was so powerful that it forced Frost to look for a way to end her existence, then all Veil could do was support her.

The two continued to search around the archives, looking for anything that Frost could use to tip the edge against her mother. However, this task proved to be difficult for Veil, as she couldn't read the ancient text. Instead, she began running around the archives to bring as many books as she could.

However, this still proved to be useless as Frost couldn't find anything that would come close to helping her. At most, she found one cloaking spell that she guessed would come in handy, but it still wasn't the spell she was looking for.

As Frost and Veil were placing the books back, Frost started to worry that she'd never be able to stop her mother, and that Equestria could fall because of it. "What about Alpha-Mother?" Veil asked as she placed the last of the books back and faced Frost before they started to leave. "I'm sure she would know something about what you're looking for, or at least where you should look."

Frost took a moment to think about what the hound was saying as she was out of ideas. It was true, Blaze would know what kind of spell she would be looking for, however she knew someone that would be able to show her more. "Hm...actually, I think Isis would be able to help me with this," Frost said as she and Veil made their way through the rubble lying on the floor and out the twin doors.

"Heh, yeah that does make more sense," Veil chuckled, scratching the back of her head. All she been able to gather about Isis was that she was some kind of immortal guardian, and that she been around High Moon since it was built.

With that settled, Veil wanted to move the conversation towards something she been meaning to ask Frost. "Hey Frost," she started, getting her attention as they made their way up a hill where an apple tree provided them a place to rest. "Can I ask you something?"

Frost, using her magic to pick out several ripe apples, turned towards Veil with a questioning look on her face. "Alright Veil, what is it? I owe you for helping me today," she said with a grateful smile on her face as she was able to get through to the hound, who had allowed her to whine about her old life.

"Yeah, don't worry about it, what are pack-mates for anyways?" Veil joked, waving off any of the mare's sense of debt as she was doing it because she wanted to. "But there is something I wanted to ask you about. It's about Cyclone."

Frost quickly understood what the hound was going to ask her, gesturing towards the base of the tree so they could sit and speak. Frost knew that this conversation would come up, since she had offered to help Cyclone gain control of her dragon-magic.

Veil quickly took Frost's offer, taking a seat on the ground next to her as they both took an apple out of the icy-blue magical orbit Frost had them in. A moment went by as Frost sensed that Veil was fighting herself to get her question out, and she allowed her to work up to it.

"Frost, p-please tell the the truth," Veil finally managed, her hand trembling with the bright red apple clenched inside of it. "I know that Alpha-Mother already said that she would be fine, but I need to know," she paused again, still fighting to get her question out. "I-is Cyclone really going to be alright? Is e-everything going to be fine? Frost, I need to know...p-please."

Frost looked over towards the shaking gray hound as she was gave off something that was worse than worry: fear. Fear of losing her only friend, fear of losing everything that got her going each day, fear of losing someone that got her smiling. It was the fear of losing a loved one.

And all of this was making the changeling physically sick.

"Veil, calm down," Frost commanded in a stern voice so she wouldn't feel like she was going to throw up. It took a few moments, a few moments more than Frost would have liked, but soon Veil managed to calm herself down. Not a lot, but at least enough to where she wasn't shaking and Frost wasn't feeling sick. "Now Veil, I know you're concerned for your friend, but Cyclone is going to be fine."

Frost allowed a moment to pass, as she could feel Veil's fear change into doubt and worry. "Listen, I know Cyclone isn't the...strongest of dragonesses, but that's okay," she said, scooting closer towards Veil. She put a calming hand on Veil's shoulder before softly speaking, "Yes it is true, Cyclone is weak, far too weak for her age, but that doesn't mean she going to die."

"I know that," Veil spat out, having once thought the same thing herself. "It's just that...I-I look towards Quill or even Spike and I see how much of a difference there is between them and Cyclone. It just worries me is all," Veil admitted with a sigh as the two younger dragons made Cyclone look like a newly born hatchling.

Frost took a second to observe the diamond hound before turning her head up to the skies while she leaned against the tree. Another moment passed as a gentle breeze passed through the fields, forcing a sigh out of the both of them in discomfort.

"That is very unfair to Cyclone, Veil," Frost started, keeping her eyes dead-locked onto a moving white cloud, and sighing at the slight confusion that was coming from Veil. "To compare the twins and Cyclone as though they they lived the same lives."

Another sigh left Veil's lips at the truthfulness behind Frost's words, she was right. Cyclone and her had to fight for a good portion of their lives to make it while the twins onced lived with ponies, who acted as if they were family. And while the twins and Cyclone both had little knowledge of their dragon heritage, the twins at least had some control over their magic.

For six years, Cyclone had lived a fairly docile life. So she was bound to lose control of her magic, especially after being forced to remove a chunk of her dragon's soul. "I know, I know," Veil muttered, taking hold of the golden necklace around her neck, remembering the day Cyclone went through a greed-growth and all Cyclone suffered through for her. "It's just that...why won't she do it? Why won't Cyclone take back what is rightfully hers?"

Frost turned her attention away from the cloudy skies to look down to find that Veil was holding the fragment of Cyclone's dragon's soul in her hands with a pained expression on her face. "Everything would be better if she just took this back. So why...why won't she do it Frost?" Veil continued to ask, almost pleading for an answer of why her friend was putting herself through so much.

"It's because she loves you," Frost answered, getting Veil to jump slightly from the revelation, her eyes shooting open wide with signs of tears in them. "It took me longer to realize than I would have liked to admit, however, she loves you Veil. Not the same love that I hold for Quill, or even the same love that Wolf and Blaze have, but something different."

"S-something different like…" Veil paused, unable to fill in the missing blanks for the changeling mare. "What Frost, you're a changeling, you should be able to tell me." Quickly, Veil looked for a way to take back what she had said. "S-sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

Frost shook her head, already knowing that Veil was feeling remorseful for what she just said. "No offense taken, Veil," she waved off Veil's worries, fixing her blue mane into place behind her ear. "You're right, I may be only half changeling, but I still should've been able to tell how Cyclone truly felt about you by now, but I can't."

"But you say she loves me right?" Veil asked with a hint of desperation in her voice, and an even larger feeling of desperation coming from her that made Frost feel uneasy. "Not the same way you love Quill, but still love right?"

"Well...yes," Frost said slowly as if she didn't want to answer the question, having good reason. With desperation came misjudgement, with misjudgement came regretful decisions. That's when Frost realized what Veil was thinking. "No Veil, don't even dare think that you can trick Cyclone like that!"

"Why not?!" Veil shouted, standing up from the ground with an angry look on her face. However, Frost didn't take it seriously, as Veil had tears swelling up in her eyes. "I-it doesn't belong to me, so why should I let Cyclone suffer? Do you really think I can take seeing her push herself like this?"

Frost closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, yelling back at the hound would make things worse than they already were so she restrained herself. "So, that justifies you forcing her to do something that she doesn't want to do?" Frost questioned with a sharp tone in her voice, knowing the beta hound was highly responsive to authoritative tones.

As expected, Veil's shoulders dropped along with her head. It was then Frost softened her tone, knowing that there wasn't a point in acting in such a way. "Does that really give you the right to turn your back on everything she gave you these past six years? Don't you think that she'd be more heart broken by taking back the very thing that she suffered so much for?"

Words failed Veil as she opened her mouth several times to say something, anything, that would give her justifiable reason not to listen to Frost. However, each time she did, she could only to close it moments after realizing her own faults. "N-no, I-I can't," Veil said, sitting back down to the ground, and leaning against the tree; the same kind she used to cut down in anger."Cadjo forsake me, I can't," Veil repeated again, letting the apple in her hand go, only to be caught by Frost's ice-blue magical aura.

With skills that came from using the same levitation spell since her fillyhood, Frost floated the apple back up to Veil, and kept it there until she held out her hands to catch it. "Then don't," Frost said as Veil slowly looked at her with a blank expression. "If you can't stand to see her upset, then make her smile any chance you get."

With that finished, Frost took a bite of her own apple to quell the hunger that'd been growing over the past couple of hours. "She's your friend right?" Frost asked after swallowing the chewed bits of apple in her mouth. "So, what's the trouble? Cyclone gave you that necklace because she wanted to, she stood by your side for six years, and she happily called you her home."

Veil looked up from the apple and at Frost to find her still eating her own apple while she held an aura of...wisdom that Veil didn't have. It was this same wisdom that many of the other members of High Moon had, as well. It was this same lack of wisdom that made her a beta hound.

"I don't know why though," Veil broke out with a weary sigh, finally taking a bite of her apple. Not the best, but out here, one couldn't be picky. "I'm nothing but a screw up, Frost," Veil bitterly shook her head as she thought back to the mockery of a life she had lived so far. "I'm just a beta hound with nothing to her name. I don't have any-"

"Veil, stop it," Frost suddenly snapped, looking at the hound with a deadly glare that could freeze stone. Frost wasn't going to allow the hound to dive deeper into the pit that she was digging herself in, unable to stomach the depressing emotions that she was giving off. "You are more than just a beta hound, you mean more than that to Cyclone. So, don't you owe it to her to act like you are?"

A moment flew by as another thought entered in Frost's head. "Better yet, become better than that," she challenged, crossing her arms underneath her chest, and using her magic to levitate the dull-red apple so she could continue eating it. "Why don't you try bettering yourself? Why don't you find some ways to help her out instead of pitying yourself. Surely, you owe her that much."

Suddenly, Veil broke out in a fit of laughter that caught Frost off-guard, as she was expecting something different. The laughter got to the point where Veil would've doubled over if she hadn't put her arm on Frost's shoulder to keep from touching the ground.

"Hah, you know something Frost?" Veil chuckled, as she slid her arm around Frost's neck, waves of cheer and hope emanating from her. "I like you, you're not like any other mare I've met before, and that makes you cool in my book."

Frost blushed from the honesty and the close contact with the hound. "Th-thanks Veil, that's um...good to hear?" she said with a mildly questioning tone while Veil munched down on the apple, no longer caring about its slightly off-taste. "And, you're okay in my book too," Frost said again with the same tone that got a giggle out of Veil. "So, um...oh right, there's something I wanted to talk with you about."

"Sure, what is it?" Veil asked in a nonchalant tone of voice while she continued to munch down on the apple as if it was the greatest one she ever had.

Frost giggled at the hound's lighthearted mood. Now that the more serious matter of their talk was over, they could simply enjoy one another's company. "It is concerning Spike," she finally managed, toying with her mane a little in a slightly nervous manner.

Veil raised an eyebrow towards the mare, not seeing how Spike was any of her concern, as she barely knew him or Quill. "What about Drake, Frost?" The question only seemed to get Frost to act more nervous, as if she wasn't sure of what would happen if she asked. "Come on Frost, you can ask me."

"Guh, by the threads," Frost muttered underneath her breath as she didn't know why she was acting this way. Maybe it was because she had never 'gossiped' before, but still, she should've been able to simply ask the question. "Veil, I know you haven't been here very long, but what do you think of him?"

Veil though for a moment as she continued to eat away at the apple until she reached the core. "I dunno," she said, tossing the apple behind her head and reaching out for another one that was still being suspended in the air by Frost's magic. "Yeah sure, he risked his life for my necklace, and tried to help Cyclone," Veil paused, giving off a sense of admiration before continuing. "B-but I don't know him well enough to say much. Why you ask anyway?"

"Well, it is just that I've been sensing something between Spike and Cyclone," Frost confided in a less nervous manner, however, still having a hint of hesitation. "Mind you that I've haven't had the time to think fully on this. But I do think that there is something between them." Veil began eating her apple slower, giving off a vibe of thought of her own. "It could just be that they are going to be really close friends, or perhaps..."

"N-nah," Veil broke in with a dismissive wave of her hand towards the changeling. "There's no way Cyclone would be into a guy like Drake," she continued, reaching out for another apple, but missing when Frost pulled it away. Veil turned towards the changeling to question her about denying her of the apple. "Hey, what the-" With the flat look on Frost's face, Veil was able to tell that Frost wasn't going to let her slide on this topic.

"Okay, fine, I'll talk if you give me that apple," she said with a displeased tone of voice that showed her defeat above her annoyance. Frost smiled at the hound, and gave her the greenish apple after she got Veil to agree to talk about Spike.

Veil snatched the apple out of Frost's magical grip and took a large bite from it. "Look," she started with a mouth still full of the apple, swallowing it before continuing on with explaining herself. "I got nothing against Drake, he risked his life to save the second most important thing to me, but I dunno. There's just something...off about him, I guess it just 'cause I'm thinking he should be something like Wolf. He doesn't seem anything like what an alpha should be. He seems...I dunno, weak."

"Or you just need to spend more time with him." Veil rolled her eyes at Frost's statement, still not seeing anything special when it came to Spike. "At least give him a chance Veil," Frost continued to push for Spike's sake. "He is an honest worker, and fairly smart as well. I mean, he is the one that suggested the greenhouse, and had plans for it."

Veil opened her mouth to say something against what Frost was claiming, only to close it when nothing came to her. She couldn't say anything bad about Spike, because he hadn't done anything bad. That said, it still didn't mean she saw any good in him.

"Yeah well...I still need something a bit more than that Frost," Veil said, taking another large bite out of the apple in defeat. "Just cause he's nice," she paused to again swallow the chewed bits of apple in her mouth so she would be able to speak clearly. "Just cause Drake is nice, doesn't mean I can trust him."

"So is that the trouble? You don't trust him?" Frost asked with her head tilted slightly towards the hound while she continued to use her magic to feed herself. "Well Veil, let me ask this: Did you trust Wolf when he offered you and Cyclone a place to say?" Veil opened her mouth to answer the changeling's question when she continued, "Did you trust me when you saw I was a changeling?"

"No, I didn't," Veil groaned with a slight snarl, knowing lying to Frost at this point was just a waste of breath. "To be honest, no, I didn't trust either one of you. I didn't trust you, 'cause of what happened in Canterlot three years ago. I didn't trust Wolf, 'cause I didn't want to go back to being under the control of an alpha...again."

Frost nodded her head, knowing that what her sister did in Canterlot three years ago had made it hard for any to show any willing kindness to a changeling. "I understand what happened shouldn't have, but that was the past, and I assure you all parties involved have been dealt with." Frost could only inwardly smile at the punishment that her sister was dealt after her failure.

"Anyway," she continued, forcing herself out of her rather cruel thoughts. "I just think that you need to spend some time with him. I'm sure that you'll become close friends, like we have?"

Veil giggled a little at Frost, undoubtedly, one of the coolest mares she had met before, and happy to call her friend. "Yeah, friend," she started with a playful nudge of Frost's shoulder with her hand. "I'll see what I can do," Veil said with a sense of pure honesty and truth behind her words, as she did want to get to know everyone a bit better, especially Spike, since Cyclone seemed to be fond of him.

Frost giggled from the hound's playfulness and went back to enjoying the peace of the fields. As she closed her eyes, the softness of the fall breeze seemed to blow away any of her worries regarding the coming future, while the shade from the tree kept her cool. Veil's company was especially welcome, as loneliness was something Frost never wanted to deal with again.

However, this peaceful moment was quickly broken by Veil.

"So," she started with a smug on her face, getting Frost to open her eyes towards her in curiosity. "You and Quill, huh?" Frost dropped her head with a fake sigh, knowing that the hound had many questions for her.

However, Frost didn't mind. She was more than happy to reveal to Veil why she loved her dragoness. It was only fair. Frost could see right through to everyone's heart, and they trusted her not to cross lines that had been drawn. /-/  
/ Ch. 41: Of Talks and Flames/-/

High Moon Ch. 41: Of Talks and Flames

Back in the temple, Blaze and Cyclone took the time to learn more about each other, having finished the larger batch of plant-growth potion. Since they had nothing else to do until someone came to get the mass-batch of potion, their small talk turned into long conversations, the topics of which ranged from mild interests, odd things the two found curious, all to pass the time. Soon, however, hunger forced the two of them to start fixing themselves up some lunch.

"Wow Clan-Mother," Cyclone said, walking back towards Blaze's work table from the small spot where Blaze grew fruit for both potions and consumption, placing a mixture of berries, pears, peaches into the mixing bowl for them to share. "That's such a romantic story."

Over the last three or so hours, Blaze had entertained Cyclone with the story of how she and Zecora met Wolf. This was two years after she had left her home country, and a few months before they found High Moon and parted ways with the zebra. Much of the story was Blaze's thoughts on everything, including what she thought of Wolf when he first met her.

Sure, at first, Wolf was your typical diamond dog, but he saved her and Zecora from becoming the broodmares of his old den. However, he only did this because he could tell that Blaze would make a powerful mate, and had wanted help finding a land to call his own.

In the beginning, the most they could find was hollowed out trees for them to sleep in for the night. During which, Wolf slept lightly, keeping a watch out for the two. Blaze said he would often wake up completely if either mare stirred too hard in their sleep.

Wolf never forced himself on Blaze, always saying that he was waiting for her to be ready accept him as a mate, and he wanted a land to call their home first. However, that changed when the three encountered a manticore.

Wolf had wasted no time charging at the beast, telling Zecora to take Blaze somewhere safe. Of course, the mares were somewhat reluctant to leave Wolf to fight a manticore on his own. They only left after Wolf had roared at them, and the manticore had noticed the two.

But Blaze couldn't leave Wolf to fight that beast alone. So, she turned back to help Wolf. Not because she owed him her life, but because-deep down-she had actually started to care for the diamond dog.

Wolf had kept them safe, fed them, and always made sure they were in the best of health. In return, all the dog wanted was some companionship. And Blaze had started to come to enjoy spending her time with the gruff dog.

"And now look where we're at," Blaze began winding her story down, leaning back in her chair with a content smile on her face as her hands rested on her pregnant belly to slowly rub the child still growing inside.

While the mare was tending to the growing child inside of her, Cyclone had finished placing the last of the fruits in the bowl. Blaze sparked her horn to pick up a dull blueberry that matched the color of her fur and brought it to her lips. "Would it be bad to say that I always wanted him too?"

Right as she was going to take a bite of the fresh pear, Cyclone looked from the delicious smelling fruit, and towards the slightly longing look in Blaze's eyes. "What do you mean, Clan-Mother?"

Blaze placed her elbow on her work table, and rested her head in her palm while using her magic to continued to feeding herself. "Oh...I don't know really," Blaze said, now playing around with two berries as the smile on her face continued to grow with the small hint of a blush. "We all look to be with someone, I guess, it just felt right to be with Wolf. Underneath that tough-acting alpha diamond dog exterior, he really did care for what happened to me and Zecora. He just didn't know how to show it."

"But you could see it, right Clan-Mother?" Cyclone asked, cuddling the pear in her hands, and rubbing it as though it was alive. Blaze looked away from the dancing berries and towards the dragoness rubbing the pear. It was then she thought back to yesterday and what Quill said about dragonesses in traditional conditions. "Clan-Mother, is everything alright?"

Blaze quickly hopped out of her thoughts to smile brightly at Cyclone. "Yes dear, I'm fine. Just thinking is all," Blaze said, waving off the dragoness' worries, and resumed eating the berries instead of playing with them. "Cyclone, I have to ask you something. Have you ever been in love with someone?"

"Clan-Mother!" Cyclone blushed brightly, quickly looking away before nodding her head. "Yeah, I had someone I liked, but...well, I just don't think they're interested in me." Cyclone's snowy scales stayed stained a bright crimson as she continued to avoid looking at the mare.

However, Blaze continued to push on this topic, wanting to see the dragoness be happy with this certain someone. "Cyclone dear," Blaze pressed on in a sweet and gentle voice that ended Cyclone's flusterness. When the dragoness looked up to the mare that was oddly acting like a mother to her, Blaze was curling a finger back to herself, motioning for the dragoness to come around the table. "Please come here, I just want to talk."

"Okay Clan-Mother," Cyclone mumbled, slowly sliding out of her chair, and creeping around the table. Eventually, Cyclone made the trip around the rectangular table, and stood right in front of Blaze.

The mare motioned for Cyclone to take a seat by her. After Cyclone had sat down in a chair next to the mare, Blaze quickly reached out to take Cyclone's hands and placed them around on her back, then placing her own hands on Cyclone's back. This forced Cyclone to bend down slightly against Blaze's soft and supple breasts, making Cyclone blush from the close contact with Blaze's fluffy mounds. However, she didn't object to the affection she was getting from the motherly mare.

Blaze began to gently rock in her chair while she hummed a slow tone. Along with the softness of the melody, Cyclone felt a wave of calmness passing through her from the warmth of Blaze's fur. It was then Cyclone started to really lean into the mare's embrace, basking in the warmth radiating from her, sighing in content.

"Cyclone," Blaze whispered with a soft tone in her voice that further eased Cyclone into her embrace. Cyclone could only best describe it as a wave of comfortness running through her body. Even the mare's soft hands rubbing her back were like a gentle wind brushing past her.

"Come now," Blaze continued, moving a hand up towards Cyclone's head to rub her round-tipped head-spines. It was then that Cyclone gave up with trying to fight the mare's touch as she nuzzled into her fur. "I know there must be someone that you must have taken a liking to."

Again, Cyclone's face became a flustered red, but this time she didn't stammer for a way out of answering. "Well...I-I do 'like' someone here, but they weren't ready yet," Cyclone said with sad sigh leaving her lips. She wanted to tell the Blaze about the one that caught her eye, but each time she tried, it would end with her in a stammering mess. "I think they just don't like me the same way..."

A soft giggle came from Blaze as she moved her hand away from Cyclone's head-spines to reach underneath Cyclone's chin, gently moving her head so she could look her in the eyes. "Oh that's no way to think." Even with Blaze's sweet voice, Cyclone still looked like she didn't believe her. "Believe it or not, I used to think I wouldn't find someone myself, but look at me now."

Blaze then moved her hand down to her belly to emphasize her point with her own pregnancy. Cyclone couldn't help but be slightly envious of Blaze. She was being blessed with being able to bring new life in the world. However, Cyclone knew that she'd get the chance; one day.

"Sure, it took time, but it was worth the wait." Cyclone looked back up to the bright crimson within Blaze's eyes. Both orbs were burning with a passionate fire that would nurture her child into this world and give them everything they needed to face it on their own. "The point is Cyclone, don't push yourself, but don't let your chance slip away. Understand?"

"Yes Clan-Mother," Cyclone breath out, laying her head back down on Blaze's chest, and tightening her grip around Blaze's back. Again, Cyclone gave into the mare's warmth with a happy and content sigh escaping her lips. "I understand, I promise I won't let you down."

Another soft giggle came from Blaze again as she moved her hands back to Cyclone's head-spines to gently rub them while her magic reached out to the dragoness' chair to lightly move it back to the table.

"I know you won't Cyclone," Blaze started, gesturing for Cyclone to go back to eating. Reluctantly, Cyclone removed herself from Blaze's compassionate embrace to start eating.

Blaze again sparked her horn to lift two apples out of the stone bowl and moved one over towards Cyclone. "And do you know what most mates like?" she asked with a hint of a slight purr as Cyclone took the apple from her magical grip.

Cyclone wiggled in her chair a little from Blaze's suddenly provocative tone of voice. The once calm stream was now replaced with a growing flame throughout Cyclone's body, and she didn't understand where it was coming from. "Wh-what would that be Clan-Mother?"

Slowly, Blaze brought the bright red apple to her lips, only to stop and whisper, "Power." Blaze then took a large bite out of the apple, sending another shiver down Cyclone's spine. She still couldn't understand where this sudden change in Blaze's voice was coming from. It reminded her of the elder dragonesses from her old dragon clan, especially the ones that craved strength and spoke true wisdom.

All of this was coming from a mare. A mare that had been acting like nothing but a caring mother to everyone. "Cyclone, whoever this one that you 'like' is," Blaze paused to hold back a giggle, for she already had a good feeling of who Cyclone was referring to, but pretended to not know. "I can tell you this, they're going to want a mate that can give them strong and healthy children."

"H-how can I do that?" Cyclone asked, unable to move her eyes away from the suddenly dark flame in Blaze's eyes. They still held the compassion that Cyclone had grown deeply attached to, however, there was now another flame swirling in them that started a flame in Cyclone's chest. "I-I'm not strong like you, or even Quill and Frost. S-so how can I attract a mate with my power?"

Once again, Blaze giggled, and used her magic to scoot Cyclone's chair closer. "Dear Cyclone," she started, rubbing her hand on Cyclone's leg with the same smile that told Cyclone everything was fine. "It isn't how much power you have, it's how you use it."

"How's that Clan-Mother?" Cyclone asked, knowing that there were other ways to attract a mate, but wanting to see what the Clan-Mother meant by using her power to do so. "Isn't it just how much magic I have or something like that?" she continued to ask as she was instinctively rubbing the apple in her lap, laying her head on Blaze's shoulder for comfort.

Blaze once again took note of the dragoness' maternal act, however, she pushed beyond it since it was naturally in Cyclone's blood, and there wasn't much for her to do about it. "Oh no, no, it isn't just that," Blaze murmured, moving her hand around to Cyclone's back to rub her right arm in a motherly move. "It's more of how you use what you have. Oh how did Quill put it that one time?" she paused to think about a phrase Quill used one time during her training a few weeks ago. "'Shake whatcha want to bake,' or something like that."

Cyclone started to giggle at Blaze trying to use a saying from Quill and how offbeat it sounded coming from Blaze's mouth. "Y-yes I guess that is what she could have said," Cyclone giggled out as she brought the apple to her mouth to eat while Blaze continued to use her magic to do so. "So, if I find a way to make what magic I do have look alluring, I'll be able to attract a mate?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean," Blaze said with a giggle of her own, now sliding her hand against the side of Cyclone's soft pink dress. "You have to find some way to make what you have attractive," Blaze continued, giving Cyclone a quick nuzzle that got the dragoness giggling a little. "That way you'll appear irresistible, but most importantly, be yourself. Whoever you want your mate to be, they should be able to love you for you. If not, then they are not worth the time."

"Okay Clan-Mother, thank you," Cyclone said with a small glimmer of a blush on her face as she never had this kind of talk with anyone, since Veil wasn't the 'touchy-feely' type. "But I don't know where to begin. The most I can do is light a fire," she continued with a downward gaze as she huffed a small azure colored flame to prove her point.

Blaze frowned at the depressed look on Cyclone's face and quickly thought a basic fire training lesson was in order to lift her spirits. "Hey now," she started, moving her free hand to lift Cyclone's chin so she could look her in the eyes. "I've already told you this Cyclone," Blaze continued as she rubbed her thumb on Cyclone's smooth cheek. "Your eyes are too beautiful to have sadness in them."

Cyclone's pink hope-filled eyes were forced to become transfixed in Blaze's own passionate crimson hellfires. Both radiating suns of red light spoked of an experience that Cyclone had only begun to touch and a power that she'd never be able to reach without help. She wanted it, she wanted to know everything Blaze knew, but all she would get was whatever the mare taught her.

"O-okay Clan-Mother," Cyclone said with a bright smile as she took hold of Blaze's hand with her own and nuzzled into the mare's hand.

Blaze smiled when Cyclone's sadness in her eyes was replaced with a brighter ray of joy that truly displayed how Cyclone should be. "Good, now, how about we work on making your small wisp of flame into a burning sun?" Blaze asked rhetorically, motioning for Cyclone to sit up from her seat with her.

However, the two didn't get any further as Blaze quickly wrapped her arms around Cyclone's shoulders, again trapping her in a warm embrace. Cyclone didn't mind though, she enjoyed Blaze's warm body closely holding hers. It made her feel welcomed, as though she belonged to something much more.

Once Cyclone started to lean into the embrace, Blaze moved her head towards the dragoness' shoulder to rest her chin on it. "Lily tells me that you were able to create a landscape in your mind," Blaze said in a faint whisper as she started a slow rocking motion. A moment passed as Cyclone was finding more than just comfort in Blaze's loving embrace. However, soon she was able to merely nod her head in response. "Good, do you think you can do that for me Cyclone?"

"Yes, Clan-Mother," Cyclone answered with with a calm sigh, closing her eyes, and again trying to picture the calm scenery of her hill. However, something felt different. Something felt...warmer from the hill. She couldn't see it, however, she could just 'feel' the difference, and it felt wonderful.

Cyclone had never felt more at peace than this moment; she was wrapped in Blaze's warm embrace, and had the tranquil heat from the hill strengthening her. She was so lost in this that she didn't feel Blaze taking hold of her hands and lifting them up and away from them. "Okay now," Blaze began in the same motherly tone of voice that kept Cyclone completely calm. "I want you to draw upon your fire Cyclone. Don't fear something that is a part of who you are. Embrace it Cyclone, become one with who you are."

Slowly, with each breath drawn, a small ember of bluish-white flames sparked above Cyclone's opened hands, growing with each heartbeat. "That's it Cyclone. Continue to allow your flame to grow just like that."

It was easy for Cyclone to listen to Blaze's words, so easy that it seemed like there was nothing but the voice and her fire. Now, keeping her breathing even and steady, the small embers of blue light started to grow and become more focused.

Blaze marveled Cyclone's divine and blooming flame of blue and pure white. Granted that it didn't have the same power as hers did when she was younger, or the same potential that Quill's did. Cyclone's flame was something else. It was not meant to light the way for others, it wasn't meant to fight off any dangers. It only had one purpose: to nurture.

"Oh Cyclone," Blaze started with a bright smile that showed a fang or two from her. Just being around such a tender flame was enough to start pulling upon the dragon's soul dwelling within her along with the dragon instincts that were embedded within the soul. "It's beautiful, your flame, your passion. It's burning so brightly."

Blaze moved her hands off of Cyclone's wrists and moved them to the sides of the wisping flames to help her maintain control over it. Gradually, small embers of red started to swirl around, and in, the small orb of sky colored flames.

"Open your eyes dear," Blaze said once she was sure that she was able to help Cyclone keep control of her fire. Even still, with the wisps of crimson, the sky colored flame looked to be a thing of dreams, keeping Cyclone's nurturing spirit within it. "You out of everyone deserves to see such a beautiful fire that you have."

Again, it took great effort for Cyclone to heed Blaze's instructions as she slowly opened her eyes to take sight of her fire. However, at first, Cyclone skook a little, as the flicker of blues and white reminded her of when her and Veil's house burned down, but Blaze was able to put an end to this.

"Do not fear your fire, Cyclone," Blaze whispered, again with the same soft tone of a mother, and the slow rocking that allowed Cyclone to be at peace. "This is who you are, it is a part of you. Don't fear yourself, my dear sweet Cyclone. You'll be swallowed whole by yourself if you do this." Slowly, Cyclone started to calm down from her sudden flash of memories, however she still had a look of fear in her eyes.

Sensing this, Blaze moved to nuzzle her cheek against Cyclone's, and started to croon the same soft melody to she used to calm any of the younger members, and sometimes Wolf, in time of stress. "This flame is a part of you, sweet Cyclone, this is who you truly are." Blaze paused for a moment to again whisper some more of the soft melody in Cyclone's ear. "Look deep within yourself Cyclone, see who you are."

Driven by Blaze's calm words, Cyclone started to look within the flame, and saw the pure embodiment of herself. Soon, the sky colored flame appeared to be the most wonderful thing Cyclone had ever witnessed...and it was hers. "Oh Clan-Mother, it's beautiful!" she cheered with a bright and wide smile on her face.

Cyclone couldn't believe that the small flame, only large enough to take the space between her palms, was hers. With Blaze's help, Cyclone brought the flame closer towards her chest to feel its soft warmth. "It feels so warm, Clan-Mother."

"That's because it's yours, Cyclone," Blaze said, continuing the gentle swaying, and resuming her humming so Cyclone could marvel her own flame for a few moments longer. She even sparked her horn to use her magic to dim the lit torches so the only light was coming from Cyclone's flame. "Nurture it Cyclone, cuddle it from anything that would try to harm it, and let it thrive."

As Blaze spoke these words, the flame in Cyclone's hands started to grow larger and brighter. By way of instinct, Cyclone moved the flame away from her chest, and held it outwards as it continued to expand to near twice it original size. Now the blue and white flame was floating above the space over both Cyclone's hands.

Cyclone's mouth was agape at the sight of her tender flame burning so bright and large in front of her. However, she could now clearly see the wisps of red and black mixed with her flame, and knew that Blaze was helping her. "See Cyclone," Blaze began, still using her magic to help Cyclone with maintaining the larger orb of fire. "This is the ability of your flame; to nurture. With the help of others, you can achieve something so great, and in return, you instinctively care for the other's magic."

Cyclone quickly snapped out of her daze to nuzzle against Blaze's cheek while she again brought the flame closer to her again to feel the warmth of her and Blaze's fire. "Th-thank you Clan-Mother, thank you so much. I would have never been able to do this without you."

"No, you did this yourself, Cyclone," Blaze said, returning the nuzzle, and planting a soft kiss on Cyclone's cheek. "I only helped, the rest was all you." Cyclone took in a deep breath and let out a long content sigh as she leaned against Blaze. Soon, together, the two started to end the manifestation azure flames.

Blaze continued to hold Cyclone in her arms as she finished the soft melody her own mother used to hum to her when she was little. All the while, Cyclone remained happily in Blaze's protective hold as she thought of using what Blaze taught her today.

The mare didn't have to speak any words, or even tell her want to do next. All that Cyclone needed was a gentle hand to help guide her in the right direction to get her started. And now, a flame of curiosity blazed throughout Cyclone as she wondered what else she could to with her nurturing magic.

"Clan-Mother," Cyclone started, turning her head upwards toward Blaze to look in her shining crimson eyes. "I-I want to know more." Cyclone then rested her head on Blaze's chest with a happy and content sigh leaving her lips. The darkened room was once again filled with softness of Blaze humming before being broken by Cyclone whispering; "I want to know what my flame can do."

"That was wonderful, Cyclone dear," Blaze said as she moved her arms underneath Cyclone's breasts. It didn't matter that Cyclone wasn't as strong as the others, what mattered was that she had the will strong enough to help tend to others. "We can continue if you are ready."

"Oh yes Clan-Mother," Cyclone cheered, not from the prospect of learning more of her fire's capabilities, but from being able to spend more time learning from the mare. Cyclone couldn't wait to see what other potential her flame had, and she had all day to spend it with Blaze.

Which they did.

The hours flew by as Blaze tested Cyclone's aptitude with her fire-magic. Of course, in light of how nervous Cyclone was when she took the greed test the other day, Blaze thought to make it as lighthearted as she could.

First up was target practice with some leftover fish. Blaze knew that if the fish were to stay any longer, they would end up spoiling, and get someone sick. So, she thought that Cyclone's nurturing and purifying flame would do the trick of safely and quickly cooking them.

It took Cyclone a moment to get all of them, but Cyclone was able to perfectly hit and cook them. After praising the dragoness for her achievement, Blaze noted that if Quill had tried that she would have turned the whole fish into ash, and thereby wasting them.

Next up was seeing how concentrated Cyclone could get her flame to be before she needed help. Blaze had her do this because she needed to see how much control Cyclone had on her own and to see if she would be able to raise the force of her nurturing heat.

Cyclone surpassed her expectations when she was able to get her fireball so small that the only color in the flame was a pure, hot white. That's when Cyclone started to quickly lose control again as the flame began to fluctuate in size, causing Cyclone to freak out for a moment.

However, Blaze was quick to end Cyclone's worries as her magic overcame the dragoness' with ease, and safely dispelled it. Blaze quickly held onto Cyclone's weight as the young dragoness started to collapse after the buildup of fire-magic was dispelled. With the dragoness safely in her arms, Blaze used her magic to keep the arcane doors open so the heat would vent out towards the city ruins.

Sparking her horn again, Blaze brought over her chair and the bowl of fruit, and sat down to begin feed Cyclone. "Cyclone dear," Blaze cooed as she kept Cyclone resting much of her upper body in her lap while her legs were stretched out in the chair she was previously sitting in.

"That was wonderful, you were wonderful," she continued as she used her magic to move a strawberry to Cyclone's mouth, continuing to gently move her hands along Cyclone's body and head-spines.

Cyclone slowly opened her mouth to accept the sweet smelling fruit, and began to softly chew it while Blaze levitated another strawberry for herself. The two then resumed eating their lunch while the room was still being dimly lit by a few fire-stone torches.

"Dear, you are a real natural, you know that?" Blaze asked after finishing her strawberry and started to float a few blueberries over to them from the bowl. "I couldn't be any more proud of you right now than I am."

Cyclone again took the berry in her mouth, this time with a bit more vigor as she felt her energy coming back faster the longer Blaze praised her for what she could do. "Th-thank you Clan-Mother," she started with a happy smile while her voice still was weak from the shouting she did when she nearly lost control of her magic again.

She had feared that there would be a more fatal repeat of her old home, however, Blaze was thankfully standing right behind her, and was able to sooth all of her worries with that calm melody.

"I-I don't know what would have happened if you weren't here," Cyclone continued, forcing her hands to move to take Blaze's left hand that was placed right below her chest. "I'm s-so glad that we could have this time together, Clan-Mother," she finished with a tired sigh as her eyelids started to become heavier.

However, right before Cyclone's hope filled pink eyes could close, she managed to pull enough strength to whisper, "I-I l-love you...Mother." It wasn't long after that when Cyclone's eyes closed shut as she drifted off to sleep.

All Blaze could do was smile down at the dragoness as she slipped her hand from Cyclone's and used it to gently rub her cheeks. It mattered not that both Cyclone and Veil had been there less than a full week, Blaze already felt the same motherly connection she had with the twins and Frost.

Even though she was pregnant with her first child, all of the younger members of High Moon felt like her own, and Blaze was going to care for and protect them as such.

"And I love you too my sweet dragoness," Blaze whispered, as she continued to rub Cyclone's soft, and smooth cheeks in her hand. It was then the black dragon markings started to emerge on her body as both her pony and dragon maternal instincts began making themselves known.

"Sleep peacefully. I won't allow anything to harm you." Blaze quietly giggled when a soft smile started to grow on Cyclone's face as if she could hear her words in her dreams. "I'll care for all of you. My dear sweet children."

/ Ch. 42: Of Talks and Colors/-/

High Moon Ch. 42:  
Of Talks and Colors

After a short walk, filled with friendly conversation, Spike and Lily made it to the southern fields of the High Moon city ruins. From there they would be on a path towards a field that Lily knew about that had the sweetest berries in all of Everfree.

It was during this walk that Spike spoke with Lily about her previous life before High Moon. Of course, the drake already knew of much of her life from the many talks they'd had during his and Quill's first two months.

For instance, Lily wasn't able to find High Moon until a few months after she had been separated from her old hive by a terrible storm, that had no doubt forced others of her kind to be separated as well. Lily normally would have been able to find her old hive, however, the storm seemed to have disrupted her hive mind with the other flutterponies.

Whatever became of her old hive was unknown. Lily also said that she could have joined a changeling hive, since the two insect equines were of close relations, but she chose against it.

Why, though, even she didn't know. Lily had nothing against the changeling race, but she didn't want to live in tunnels where the sun's light didn't reach. Spike could understand that she did this only for her health, and could only give his condolences in regards to the hard and unfortunate life she'd had.

Lily told Spike that so as long she was breathing, and had the ability to generate her magic, that she was fine with any life the Threads Weavers had for her. It was partially from this that Spike drew his admiration for the pony.

It didn't matter where she'd end up, or what was thrown into her life next, Lily would always find some way to make the best of what she had. Spike knew that everyone knew he considered himself a sacrificial drake, one that put others' concerns ahead of his own, but Lily was something more. She had been forced away from her old life, regardless of how boring she thought it, forced to say goodbye forever to everything she knew; and she still was able to keep going.

However, Spike already knew all of this.

So this time, Lily decided to entertain the drake with a tale of her race's many special abilities and traits. As Lily continued with her tale of her race's equine traits, Spike started to get an eerie feeling coming from the trees and bushes around him. He waved it off as a trick of his still-tired mind, though, and continued to listen to Lily.

From Spike's understanding, flutterponies thrived on natural magic radiating from the sun, and its light. It is from this that their magic is given form, and their life-force is drawn upon. This didn't mean that she'd die from not being in the sun for extended periods of time, though. It simply meant that she wouldn't be in the best of moods.

Much of this Spike had noticed previously, from times when Lily had stayed up some hours after the sun had gone down. Lily would seem more tired, yet still had energy to be slightly fidgety, and move quickly to find a place to sleep. The best way to describe this was Lily, and other flutterponies, were somewhat bipolar come night time.

Lily further said that there were other means of getting the energy that she needed to stay functioning properly. Certain fruits, spring water, and special types of flowers were some of the things that flutterponies could use.

When Spike asked if there was anything else that could give Lily a boost of internal magic, a bright red blush crawled across Lily's face, and for the first time in the two months he'd known the pony, she stammered like a filly.

"W-well...th-there is o-one other way," Lily trailed off with the blush growing brighter while she refused to look behind her at Spike. A moment of silence passed as Lily tried to regain some amount of composure, and reminded herself that she was the elder here, not Spike. "Yes, um, there is another way for flutterponies to regain some energy. However, it is more of the...intimate kind."

Spike continued to followed Lily further down the path while he tried to understand why Lily would be flustered to say something like that. But then it hit him, and he moved on the change the subject, quickly. "O-okay...so what else can flutterponies do?"

After breathing a sigh of relief, Lily continued to tell Spike everything she knew of her kind's magic, and how in-tune insect ponies were with nature. She emphasized this by kneeling down to a withered flower, placing her hands around it before buzzing her wings.

Spike's eyes were filled with the sight of rainbow-colored lights as Lily continued to gather magic from the sun through her wings. As usual, the sight was nearly breath-taking from the array of vivid colors that came from Lily's wings.

Once the light show ended, Lily stood back up and revealed the once-dead purple flower to not only be filled with life, but also to be even healthier than the other plants around it. The drake was left in awe as he knew, for a typical unicorn, magic like that was far beyond normal, but Lily did it effortlessly.

As they continued the walk, Spike started to wonder how ponies seemed so weak in comparison to other races and other equines. Sure, physically speaking, evolution created barriers separating the different races that only half-breeds like Dusk could pass through. But for equines, it seemed that normal ponies were left behind.

However, Spike then turned that thought down, knowing that not every country, or kingdom, was the same, thinking of the neighboring country, the Lunar Republics. From what Spike remembered hearing from Sketchy and Jinx, the Republics were home to all kinds of different races, and very different magic.

Not to mention, ponies there had a better overall aptitude for magical arts, and in some ways were superior to Equestria. 'But how?' Spike thought to himself as he and Lily started up a hill. It didn't make sense to Spike, since Equestria had been established for centuries, while the Republics had only been unified for less than a whole decade.

Yet, the Republics had been basically self-sufficient since Nightmare's defeat during the Nightmare Rebellion. How could a country only a fraction as old as the other, and so recently unified, be more developed in many aspect of worldly ventures?

'Is it because they're so different?' That had to be the reason. The Lunar Republics were close to twice the size of Equestria, and that wasn't counting the small islands around its edges. The sheer number of citizens must have made getting anything done quick and easy, if it was within the best interest of the masses.

Equestria was smaller because the Nightmare Rebellion had taken away some of its old territory. Not only that, the mass majority of ponies having irrational fears of other races didn't help. Ponies feared changelings for both the invasion and their underhanded tactics of luring ponies to them so they could feed, they feared diamond dogs for their mighty strength and tendency to lose control of themselves, and they feared dragons for their nearly god-like lives.

It was Equestria's fears that hindered it from growing. Ironically enough, it was the presence of the Elements of Harmony that aided in this. Out here in the Everfree, Spike learned one very hard truth about the world, one he refused to acknowledge back in Ponyville.

Life was strife, strife was drive, and drive was progress.

It was only from the hardships he and Quill faced in the Everfree that allowed them to grow and live the way they did. It was from these hardships that Spike found the will and want to continue onwards so that his life would get better. It was from this will and want that he started to make progress, no matter how one looked at it.

'Maybe peace for a long time really is a bad thing,' Spike again thought to himself as he and Lily finally made it up the rather steep hill.

"Well, here we are," Lily said, snapping Spike out of his thoughts as she walked over to a bush filled with snow-white berries. Spike eyed the berries with a curious look, since he had never seen or heard anything like these particular berries before. In fact, as Lily picked one up, Spike couldn't help but think about how delicious they looked.

Spike didn't know why, but it seemed that the color white was a trigger for him. Celestia, the castle maids, Rarity, and even Sweetie Belle. To top it all off, Cyclone, the one that seemed just a bit different from his other crushes, had pure white scales. Just about anyone that he had ever gotten attached to had some kind of white on them, but why?

Why was a pure, snowy white the color that would allure him the most? White wasn't even Spike's favorite color, it was green, like his under-scales, while Quill's was purple. So what was it about white that got him feeling like this? What was it about the pure and blank color that fascinated Spike so?

"What do you think, Spike?" Lily asked as she brought a handful of the white berries to Spike. As Lily slowly approached with berries in hand, a light heat started to rise in Spike's chest, and he didn't understand the feeling. "They are not in full season just yet, however, I wanted to bring you here. So, try one."

Spike blinked a couple of times as he missed a few of Lily's steps while he was thinking about the berries in her hands. However, that didn't stop him from reaching out to one of the larger berries, and picking it up in two of his fingers.

Lily, still not noticing the drake's deep thoughts, walked over towards a shady tree to rest her feet while Spike stood, staring at the berry. As Lily sat down, she finally noticed the blank, and uncharacteristic blandness of his posture.

"Spike, sweetie, is something the matter?" Spike slowly turned around to meet Lily's snow-white eyes, as white as the berry in his hand, and as white as everything seems to catch his eye. "If there is something troubling you, you know that you can talk to me about it."

A moment passed as Spike looked away from Lily to the berry, and back to Lily once again. "No, I'm fine, just thinking about stuff," he said with his reassuring smile as he walked over to Lily, sitting down near his close friend and mentor.

"Lily," Spike started once he sat down next to Lily, a slight chuckle leaving his lips as he brought the white berry up to his face. "Have you ever noticed that there's a specific color in your life that you just can't stop looking at?"

A strong breeze flew through the hilltop field causing Lily's long snow-white hair to be blown to her right side. Spike again looked at the mare's white hair with a feel of longing and want that he couldn't rightfully place.

"Woo, it is windy out here today," Lily said as she tried to fix her mane, which she had let down by advice from Blaze, into its rightful place behind her back. With her mane mostly fixed, Lily sat the berries in her lap and pulled out a strap of dark-brown leather from a pocket in her green skirt.

"Now, Spike," Lily started as she began gathering as much of her hair as she could so she could tie it back into a ponytail, making it easier to deal with when the wind came around. "What do you mean by a specific color in your life?" she asked the drake through the strap of leather in her mouth while her hands were busy gathering up her mane.

Again, Spike looked away from the flutterpony, and towards the berry still in his hand. "I don't really know," he said with a sigh leaving his lips and turning away from the berry to look at the grassy green of the ground. "Just about all my life, I've seen something, or someone, with the same color on them somewhere, and it's driving me crazy."

Lily looked towards the drake, who could only manage a fake chuckle while he continued to look down towards the ground with a slightly pained expression on his face. "The first mare that I liked, had white fur. Her sister had white fur, and the mares that used to take care of me and Quill back in Canterlot had white fur."

"Spike," Lily started, placing a hand on Spike's shoulder to get his attention. Spike turned his head only to be caught by the whiteness within Lily's irises, overcome by the purity of them. "You mustn't look into that too much. It is only a mere coincidence that you see the color white all the time. To prove this, what is the color of the clouds above us?"

Spike sighed a bit, which he tried to mask as a chuckle. Knowing the mare really was trying to make a point, he looked up to find that the skies were definitely covered with white clouds, and seemed like they would be for the better part of the day.

"White," Spike answered with another half sigh chuckle. The more time Spike was given to think of this, the more it seemed silly. Lily was right, colors were everywhere in this world. Who was Spike to say that one color was following him throughout his life?

"You're right, Lily," Spike said with a smile and a more honest chuckle coming from him. "Guess I was being a little paranoid." Lily smiled towards the drake as she nodded her head before going back to eating the white berries.

Spike took a moment to watch Lily chew the berries and see her wings jitter from them as she ate with a happy smile on her face. He then looked down towards the berry in his hand. 'Only one way to find out,' Spike thought to himself as he popped the berry in his mouth and started to chew.

Suddenly, Spike's mouth was filled with an immense wave of tangy sourness that forced his face to cringe slightly. He was about to spit the berry out, however, it rapidly changed into a sugary sweetness that reminded him of what gems tasted like.

"Wow, what are these?" Spike asked as he reached for another one straight off of Lily's lap and quickly popping it in his mouth again. "They taste just like gems - rubies, or maybe sapphires. Man, it's been so long since I had any of them that I can't remember what they really taste like," he said as he again reached out to pick several from Lily's lap.

One after another, Spike popped berries into his mouth. "Slow down Spike," Lily giggled as she playfully scooted some of the berries away from Spike's grabby mitts. "You'll choke on one if you keep that up."

Spike did as the mare told him to and started to slow down on his eating so that he really wouldn't wind up choking. "Heh, s-sorry," Spike started with a sheepish grin as he scratched the back of his head. "It just that, it's been so long since I had a gem...guess I'm just craving them is all."

Lily giggled at the drake as she knew that gems and other minerals like that were like candy or other sweets for dragons, and that they were something the twins should eat on occasion. "It's fine Spike, but don't go eating all of these just yet. Just wait until the winter, then you'll really think these are better than gems."

"What, really?" Spike asked, surprised that anything could taste better than meat or gems. Now he couldn't wait for the winter to come along so he could see what the berries tasted like when they were ready to be eaten. "Oh man, I can't wait."

Lily giggled again at the drake for his silliness. Over these last two months, she had always drawn energy from Spike's ability to overlook bad situations and other things that headed his way. It was always relieving to see him push through each day, constantly battling a darkness in his own heart, yet still able to wear a smile on his face.

"Spike," Lily began, placing her hand on Spike's leg to get his attention again. When Spike looked Lily in the eyes, a short pause occurred as the smile on Lily's face grew softer and the shine in her eyes grew brighter. "I want you to know something."

There was another pause between the two as Spike continued to look in Lily's snow-white eyes, the eyes of the mare he trusted as a guide and teacher. Lily, meanwhile, stared into Spike's green eyes, and felt something different about them. As if the emerald shine was trying to say that he was destined to become a guardian of much more than High Moon.

"Spike, I want to let you know that you are a very strong-hearted dragon," Lily continued, finding the same comfort in Spike's eyes as she did in Wolf's. "You are kind, and very resourceful, and you always have the interests of others before your own. I also wanted to let you know that I'm proud of you."

Lily turned slightly to wrap both of her arms around the drake's head and gently brought it towards her chest. "Spike, you're one of the strongest people I've ever met. Hardworking, smart, and kind. Anyone would be fortunate to have someone as amiable and sweet as you are as their own." Lily sighed as her grip slightly tightened around Spike's head for a moment before she continued with a slight chuckle. "You are a great drake Spike, and an even greater friend."

Lily's words struck deep within Spike as he blushed, with his mouth slightly agape. Not once had anyone, including Celestia or Twilight, ever told him what Lily just did. Sure, both alicorns had said that they were proud of him, but that was from doing what he thought was the right thing.

Doing what one thought was right wasn't something to be praised or recognized, it was just the right thing to do. Everyone in High Moon needed him to grow stronger, and he did so. Not because they told him to do so, nor was he ever forced to do the large amount of mental and magical training he had to. There was only one reason Spike did all that he had up until now, and that was because he felt like he should.

Spike didn't need someone to hang over his head and tell him what he should have to do to better himself. He did that because it would help everyone else out, not just himself. Spike sought out no personal gain from anything that he did.

Learning not only about potions and the variety of plant life, but about his dragon heritage, and the true story of his past... All of these, on the surface, would be considered pursuits of self-gain that Spike had undergone over the two months, but that was wrong.

Spike did this not for himself, as much as everyone said he should, but he did it for everyone around him. To grow stronger, to become smarter, and to be wiser. He did all of this just so he could help others around him. To help Equestria cease their fears of dragons.

"W-wow, th-thank you Lily," Spike said as he leaned into Lily's warm embrace that was fighting off the chilling winds of the hilltop field. Spike closed his eyes to further enjoy the mare's warmth as he found it, and her, soothing to him. "N-no one has ever said that to me before."

To his displeasure, Lily ended the embrace with a happy smile on her face. "Well, someone should have a long time ago," she said with a pat on Spike's shoulder, resuming eating what was left of the berries with Spike. "I meant those words Spike, and everyone knows this as well. Even Quill, despite the way she shows it."

"Heh, yeah...yeah," Spike trailed off, knowing the real reason Quill acted the way she did at times. "Quill isn't the best when it comes to touchy feely stuff. That's why she always flips out, it's cause she can't rationalize her emotions and it makes her angrier than she already is." Spike took a moment to laugh at this thought, as Quill had constantly proven that might can win over mind.

"Yes, I've noticed this too," Lily said, popping another berry into her mouth to get the same jolting thrill that she enjoyed. "I must say though, she is a very interesting dragoness. Unable to stay still for anything. She sort of reminds me of Blaze, a little. Always fascinated by things and driving to learn as much as she can."  
"Yup, that's Quill alright," Spike said with a smile on his face, knowing more than anyone that Quill constantly pushed to learn something new as fast as she could. Even when they were living in Canterlot, Quill would push a little harder to learn something new from Princess Celestia or Twilight. Of course, this was long before he and Quill lost faith in the two alicorns.

Spike leaned his head back against the tree as more memories started to find their way into his head. Each one of a moment where he and his sister weren't fighting, times where it was just him and her hanging out or just being next to each other in peace.

"I guess in a way," Spike chuckled as he rubbed the top of his head-spines that he found were smoothing out and bending backwards each passing day. Another chuckle left his lips as he knew how ironic he was going to sound. "I'm actually jealous of her," he finally admitted as though it was a horrible sin.

Lily quickly began frowning when she heard the sad and slightly resentful tone in Spike's voice. "Oh Spike, what could you possibly have to be jealous of your sister?" she asked with a small playful nudge with her elbow to his shoulder. "You said it yourself a few weeks ago that Quill does not have the capability to focus that you do."

"Hmph, where do I start?" Spike fake laugh with a weak smile on his face. "Wings, magic that doesn't try to kill her in her sleep, and a strong and brash heart that only has good in mind. Let's not also forget about having a lover, that she saved. Sometimes I wish I could be as strong as Quill."

"Spike," Lily admonished in a low tone of slight disapproval. "Now you know that you shouldn't think such things." Spike snapped his attention from the ground and towards Lily at the tone of voice she had and saw the disappointment in her eyes. "You are you, not your sister. You can't do everything she does, and she can't do everything you do. Remember that, Spike. The both of you have your own lives to live."

"Yeah, I know, but still," Spike answered with a sheepish grin on his face, knowing that it was dumb and selfish for him the be envious of Quill's life. "I know that it isn't right or fair of me to want what Quill has. But there are times I look at her and just wonder how she seems to make the best of any situation. She even got a marefriend before me," Spike exclaimed, throwing his hands up in mild frustration, and rolling his eyes in an exaggerated manner.

Lily started to giggle slightly at the drake's fuming, again finding Spike's silliness to be funny. "Well," she began with a conspiratorial tone, a slight smirk was on her face. "I heard that you had the chance to find love, what happened there?"

"Pfft, yeah, that wasn't going to work out," Spike said with another obvious eye roll and puffing out a small stream of his normal green fire. "It was with a friend, that I kind of knew. Sure, she's a really sweet mare, but...I dunno, I just couldn't say yes to being with her. It would have ruined a close friendship of hers with another mare." Again, the bittersweet memories of Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo came to Spike's mind, as well as the events that came afterwards.

"To be honest," Spike continued with a more serious tone of voice that forced Lily to pay extra attention to his words. "I guess Quill was right when she said that I would just be using her as a replacement for her older sister. And frankly, I just don't want to deal with that kind of drama," he finished as he rubbed his face with his hands.

After some time, Spike realized that only more trouble and drama would come if he tried, in the future, to pursue Sweetie Belle or any of the Crusaders. What Dusk said was right, if Spike being with any of them caused their friendship to fall apart, then it wasn't worth pursuing. Also, Spike didn't believe that he truly had it in him just to be with any of the Crusaders, especially since he was living in the Everfree.

From what happened during the camping trip, Spike honestly thought that he had had enough drama for one decade or so, and decided that he wasn't going to do the same thing again. Best way to do that, was to make the first move when the time was right.

"Sides, I kind of hate to say it, but I've honestly already moved on." Spike sat back up from the tree, placing his elbow on his thigh, and laying his head in his palm. "Is that bad? To move on with my own life while they're still dreaming about what might have been? Is it not fair for me to move on with my life while they can't?" Spike asked Lily since he didn't trust himself enough to make the right choice, considering that he couldn't say no, even when that was the best thing to do.

"Spike, you must understand," Lily started after she moved her legs in a criss-cross manner so she could sit more comfortably underneath the great big oak tree. "You can't always make everyone happy with you. Sometimes you need to make hard choices. For better or worse, you need to choose which one that will help you and others that you care for."

Lily's response was met with a sigh from Spike as another chilling wind brushed passed them, along with the same slightly-off feeling he had been having since they started the way towards the hill. He didn't know how to explain it, but it felt as though there was someone watching them from afar, yet he couldn't sense any malice behind it.

"I know that some of these choices may be hard to make Spike, but again, you can't appease everyone," Lily continued, breaking Spike out of his thoughts. "They have to be made Spike, you can only live your life; not the lives of others."

"Okay Lily, I'll remember that," Spike said with an honest smile on his face as he ate the last of the berries. "It really means a lot to hear that you think I'm strong and stuff. Though, I think Cyclone and Veil should be the ones being told this," Spike continued, surprising Lily with what he said.

"Oh really?" Lily said with a mildly surprised look on her face, however, knowing that she should have guessed that Spike would think of someone else of being stronger than himself in some kind of form or fashion. "Well yes, I must agree with you that they are strong-hearted. To lose one's home and still be able to move on the way they have is something to be commended for."

Spike quickly nodded his head in agreement, as he couldn't put what Lily said in any better words. "Yeah, they're cool in my book." Lily slowly arched an eyebrow at what Spike had just said, not familiar with the phrase he used. "I mean, I'm impressed by them is what I'm saying. To have everything taken from them like that, then having to do work right after that. It must have been hard for them."

Lily slowly started to nod her head as she could relate to what the two newcomers likely felt after having their home ripped from their lives, yet still having to move on. "Loss is hard for any to pass through. However, what I believe made it easier was that they had each other, and that they were safe."

A moment of pause came over them as Spike continued to admire the two's drive while Lily noticed something. "Hm," she thought out loud, still working through the situation. "I don't know about you Spike, but I'm seeing a pattern here. Don't you?"

Spike tilted his head slightly in thought of what Lily was pointing out. He quickly realized that Lily was referring to when he and Quill got to High Moon, and how they had each other to support them. "Heh, yeah it is kind of the same how me and Quill got here."

"Yes, it is," Lily started with a mild giggle as she found the coincidence to be somewhat humorous, despite the reasons behind it. "Yes, those two are very strong. Veil with her devotion towards her friend, and Cyclone with her hope. They are very interesting pair, especially Veil."

Spike raised an eyebrow towards Lily as he wondered what she could have meant by Veil being the more interesting one of the pair. However, he had gotten to know Cyclone fairly well from their short stay so far, while he hadn't had a chance to talk with Veil one on one. In fact, he was due to get to know Isis and Frost a bit more as well. Seeing that High Moon would be his home for the foreseeable future, it would be best to get to know his fellow pack mates.

"However, Spike," Lily started, once again breaking him out of his thoughts. When Spike turned away from the bush filled with white berries to look back Lily's way, he found that she was pointing at the bracers on his wrists. More specifically, the vibrant purple gems on them. "I believe that you are growing stronger each day."

Spike gazed deeply into the two limiters on his wrists. To think that in less than a mere week that he would be able to condition his body to hold all of his magic! "Awesome, won't be much longer now will it?" he asked after confirming that the coloration was in fact following a pattern that he could predict. "I'll finally be able to get back to being able to use magic, right?"

"Yes Spike, you will but," Lily paused to place a hand on Spike's shoulder to gain his attention yet again. "Don't neglect your body again. Just because you were able to beat your ghost-heart once, doesn't mean it can not come to strike you again," she said with a deathly serious tone that forced Spike to take a hard swallow. "I no longer want you to be meditating, Spike. You already have control with your magic, you just need to put it into practice now."

"I understand, Lily," Spike answered with a slightly nervous nod of his head. "I'll see if I can do some more training with Wolf or Frost, along with any jobs Wolf may have for me," he said, nerves still coloring his voice. Spike was glad to finally be getting close to being free of the limiters, but the thought of being put through whatever Quill went through scared him a little.

Spike was no fighter, at least in the real world, so he knew that he'd have troubles keeping up at first, but there was no way he could go back now. Spike needed to face this new hardship that was coming at him from the horizon of his life; he needed to take it by the reins and hang on with all his might.

Suddenly, Spike's attention was broken from his thoughts due to the flutterpony standing up next to him while she brushed off some of the grass on the back of her shirt. "Good, now come along Spike," Lily said as she turned towards the growing drake with a pleasant smile on her face. "We should be heading back if we are to get this greenhouse done today."

"Alright Lily," Spike said, getting up from the ground to follow Lily back towards the site where the greenhouse was located. Spike followed Lily along the path at a leisurely pace, allowing him time to have to himself to think about everything that she told him. Granted that it was an odd occurrence that the color white seemed to follow Spike wherever he went, it seemed it was just that; an odd occurrence.

/ Ch. 43: Of Talks and Debts/-/

High Moon Ch. 43: Of Talks and Debts

"Q-Quill, come on, it was a joke."

It had only been a few hours since Quill had arrived in Ponyville to call in a few favors from some of the colts and fillies that owed her. Normally, this would be a very simple and easy task that she would happily rush through to get away from the town. However, it seemed that some of the colts that owed her weren't ever intending on her to come crashing down on their hangout spot, demanding them to pay her back.

"Y-yeah," one colt, named Snails, cried out as Quill had both him and his friend, Snips, by the collars of their shirts, holding them high in the air. "Ca-can't ya take a joke, Barb?"

Upon hearing the 'nickname' that some ponies were known to call her, Quill yanked the two down to eye level to glare straight into their eyes. "I thought I told you two to never call me that," Quill threatened in a low growl that was emphasized with a menacing snarl, baring all of her sharp teeth. "But never you mind that, you two owe me an ass-ton of things, and I'm here to collect."

"W-well what you want us to do?" Snips questioned in a fearful tone of voice while Snails was too busy shaking. "It n-not like rolls of plastic are easy to find you know," he retorted, trying to sound tough so Quill wouldn't think of them as pushovers, but failing as he still was shaking. "Like, wh-where are we going to find something like that?"

"You're joking, right?" Quill asked flatly, dropping both colts on the dirty alleyway ground, and hopping up to sit on a closed dumpster. "There's a store for everything here in Ponyville, so don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about."

Both colts started to get up from the ground but, thankfully, knew better than to try and run away from Quill. Upon seeing the absolute terror in Snips and Snails' eyes, Quill softened her expression with a slight sigh, and made a note to take it easier on them since they hadn't done anything. It wasn't fair, only the elements and Celestia were the objects of her distrust, not all of Equestria.

"You guys get an allowance?" Quill asked the two with a lighter tone of voice, getting affirming nods from the both of them. "You know where the store I'm talking about is, right?" Again, both colts nodded their heads simultaneously as they held onto each other with misplaced fear. "Then why are you still here?"

"Do-don't worry Quill," Snips began with a forced a cheesy smile on his face, bullets of nervous sweat dripping down his face. "W-we'll get you the stuff, rolls of plastic, right?"

Quill leaned against the hard brick wall with her eyes closed, letting out a sigh of light gray smoke. "Yeah, as much as you two can get if you want to be debt free," she answered, not looking at them. By the time she opened her eyes again, both colts were almost out of the alleyway, frowning at the way she acted.

"Hey guys," Quill called as she looked at a small murky puddle in the broken cracks of dirt. A short pause happened before Quill hopped off the dumpster, turning towards the end of the alleyway to see both colts looking her way with questioning stares. "It's good to see you again."

"H-heh, yeah you too Quill," Snails said, now no longer fearing Quill after seeing that she was still the same dragoness they remembered. Only stronger, a lot stronger. "Don't you worry a bit, we'll get you that plastic if it's the last thing we do," he continued in a mock macho voice while he tried to stick out his flabby chest.

"Yeah, we'll get it for ya," Snips added, doing the same as Snails, only with a skinny chest instead of a fat one. "It's only fair that we pay you back for not telling the Crusaders that we'd spied on them while they went skinny dipping that one time."

"Then get going," Quill chuckled as she waved the two off. Both colts nodded their heads quickly before running off to head to their houses to get the money to buy the plastic for Quill. "Meet me at the bridge leading towards Fluttershy's house," she called out to the two before they could leave the alleyway.

Quill giggled to herself when she saw both of them run off into opposite directions, only for Snails to run after Snips since their houses were next to each other. If Quill missed anything from her old life in Ponyville, it was the cheerfully funny ponies that she knew. However, there wasn't a single thing that she would have changed over the last two months.

"Come on Quill, now's not the time to be getting soft," she mumbled to herself as she opened her wings to fly off, having a few other things around the town to collect.

Since she was pulling in favors, Quill thought that it would be best to call in a few more to get some other stuff for High Moon. And the best place to find all of the fillies and colts that owed her would be the prime hangout place in Ponyville: SugarCube Corner.

Banking left, Quill came to a stop on top of a cloud above the street of the bakery. As predicted, a number of ponies were either inside the bakery or out on the the patio, eating some of the well-made food, or chatting with friends to plan things out for the weekend.

It wasn't long before Quill was able to count out quite a few ponies that owed her something just from the outside patio, with no telling how many were inside. 'Time to collect.' Quill hopped off the cloud, using her wings to skillfully glide down to the ground.

All conversation stopped when Quill suddenly landed in the middle of Ponyville's biggest hot spot. At first, Quill acted like everything was normal, and that the silence wasn't because of her. She was still-more or less- the same dragoness as before, so why should she act any differently?

"So," Quill said quietly, walking towards a table with a pair of fillies that owed Quill. As she got closer, Quill could see the look of nervousness in the fillies' eyes, and couldn't help but give a toothy grin. It felt good, to have them frozen in fear at whatever she might say or do. Not that she was going to hurt anyone, but still.

"I'm here to call in some debts-now, are you going to pay me back, or..." Suddenly, Quill slammed her hand down on the round wooden table, causing the fillies to jump slightly. "Do I have to give you another reason to?"

A moment passed before one of the fillies opened her mouth to answer Quill, but was stopped by the door to SugarCube opening. When Quill looked towards the open door, she half wished that she hadn't, as the elements were walking out.

Another silent chill came over the hotspot, freezing everyone in their places as Quill locked eyes with the ponies she used to call family. "Heh, well, well, well," Quill started, letting the table back down onto the ground, and turning around to sit on it. "Look who it is, the Elements of Harmony. How have all of you been?"

For a minute, none of the mares could answer Quill's question, as most of them were still getting over how much she had grown while Twilight was too busy thinking of why Quill would show up. "I've been doing just fine, so has Spike," Quill answered after waiting another quiet moment. "If you're wondering, I'm here to pick up a few things for a little project we're doing for the pack. So if you can excuse me..."

Quill hopped off the table and turned back towards the fillies, ready to call in those favors they owed her when Twilight finally thought of something to say. "We've been fine Quill," she answered quickly to stop whatever Quill was going to do. "You and Spike aren't the only ones that have done some growing."

"Then where is Rainbow?" Quill retorted, not seeing the rainbow-maned mare anywhere, and expecting her to be with the elements if she was anywhere nearby. "How come she isn't back in town just yet?"

"That's cause we're going to see her in Canterlot," Pinkie Pie said with a cheerful voice as she bounced towards the table. Quill turned her attention to the mare, only to see a bright smile plastered on her face. Quill smiled back at her; with Pinkie, it was nearly impossible not to. "We got a letter saying that she'll be in Canterlot with her cousin, who is visiting her boyfriend in the Solar Guard for the weekend. Twilight thought that it would be a great time to fix everything and make everyone smile!"

"In Canterlot, huh?" Quill asked rhetorically, making a note in her head to find some time to fly to Canterlot to see about Rainbow. "Well that's good to hear guys, I'm happy that you've moved on from what happened two months ago," she continued with a sincere tone before turning back towards the fillies. "Now if you mares will excuse me, I still have ties that need to be cut."

"Quill, wait," Twilight cut in before Quill could say anything to the fillies, waiting until Quill turned her head towards the princess. "If you guys still need some stuff, I-I have everything packed that I thought you could need."

"Yes dear, we all packed stuff for you and Spike," Rarity added in with the most cheerful smile she could manage with the given situation.

Quill again moved her head away from the elements and back to the still frightened fillies. Quill was of half a mind to just turn back to the fillies and finish up what she'd started, however, the urge to put an end to her old ties won.

But just barely.

"Alright," Quill sighed, still looking at the fillies for a moment, silently telling them not to move before turning back to the elements. "Okay girls, thanks that would help a lot, but I do have business that I want to end first. I'll meet you guys at the bridge heading towards Fluttershy's house."

Twilight continued to keep her eyes fixated on Quill as she, and the others, had noticed that something was different with her. They couldn't help but wonder what had changed Quill in such a short time.

"Sure Quill, we'll meet you over there when you're ready," Twilight said as she walked towards Quill and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't do anything illegal, okay Quill?"

Quill shook her head at Twilight, who was smiling the the best she could. "Right, sure Twilight," Quill started with a flat chuckle, finding it amusing that Twilight was still trying to be a mother figure to her. "I won't hurt any of your precious ponies. So as long as they hold their end of the deals," Quill finished with a sharp turn back towards the fillies to give them a toothy grin. "Right Photovine, Melody?"

"Ye-yeah Quill," Photovine, a dark lavender unicorn, said with a quick nod of her head that made her messy dark-pink mane cover one of her eyes. "I owe you for those sweet sky-light shots of Ponyville at night anyways."

With a nod, Quill then turned towards the dark-blue filly that was trying hid behind her blue and white mane with a small blush. "S-sure Quill...and I-I still owe you for getting me introduced to Vinyl and Rave a few months back."

"See Twi?" Quill asked in an attempt to be rid of the elements so she could get back to work. "I got this covered, you guys just go on. I'll catch up with you in a bit."

Twilight took a moment to look at Quill to see if she truly meant those words, but couldn't see anything wrong with it. "Alright, Quill," Twilight began, turning away from Quill to lead the elements back to her house to pick up the stuff that she had prepacked just in case either of the twins came to Ponyville again. "You girls wouldn't mind helping me, would you?"

"Actually darling," Rarity started with a slight blush on her face as she uncharacteristically scratched the back of her head. "I have something that I want to grab first." Everyone, including Quill, raised an eyebrow at Rarity, but didn't get an answer out of the white mare before she got ready to teleport off. "I'll meet up with you all at the bridge."

With that said, Rarity disappeared in a bright blue flash, supposedly off to retrieve whatever she was going to get for Quill to take back with her. "Well, okay," Twilight began, as unsure as the rest of the elements about Rarity's sudden retreat, but waving it off as her trying to be fully prepared. "See you at the bridge Quill."

Again, the elements started off to Twilight's house, and were down the street in a matter of minutes. And out of earshot of Quill. "Good," she grinned, turning back to the two fillies. "I'll be needing a few things from the two of you," Quill continued, reaching into her dark purple denim shorts to pull out a small purple book with a green tear decal going down from the top right to the bottom left.

She opened it up to find the two fillies' names in it, as well how much they, and others, owed her. 'Heh, Spike isn't the only one that's 'organized,' Quill thought to herself before stopping on the page where she had the two listed, and what she had in mind for them to get. "Let's see here…"

It was going to be a long day.

A few hours later…

"Alright Pip," Quill said as she handled the large butcher's knife she was able to get from Pipsqueak, rubbing a finger on the stainless steel blade. She soon placed it back in a holster, which was also happily gifted by Pip, attached to her brown belt that held a number of other things Quill had been able to get.

Everything was a useful item to make life a bit easier in High Moon; towels, robes, tools, book bags, and other materials that would make life more manageable. Then there were some things that were just for fun: music players, CD's, sketchbooks, and a few more cooking books.

"I don't know where, or how, you got this thing, but thanks. Spike's been needing something stronger than his magic," Quill continued with a happy smile at the way everything was turning out for her. "You sure you want to give me this book though?" she asked, pulling said book off a strap that was holding it to her side. "Looks pretty old, and I'm sure that it's really hard to find something like this in Equestria."

"Oh that old dusty thing?" Pipsqueak asked rhetorically, leaning against the side of his doorframe. As he did this, Quill couldn't help but notice that Pipsqueak wasn't the same colt she had met on the her Nightmare Night in Ponyville all those years ago. He had a strong upper body with legs to match now. From the look of things, he was one of the lucky few that was blessed by puberty rather than cursed by it. "Don't worry about it Quill, I found things like that all the time when I lived in the Dragon Empire, and all the dragons there didn't seemed to care if I had some for myself."

"Oh right," Quill started, hitting herself upside the head, as if jogging her memories. "That's right, you used to travel a lot when you were younger," Quill continued with a sheepish grin, embarrassed that she had forgotten that Pipsqueak had one of the coolest lives she'd ever heard of. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure Quill, what is it?" Pipsqueak asked, always enjoying time with Quill and Spike whenever they came around.

Quill paused for a moment as she thought about what she was going to ask, and made sure that it would come out the way she wanted it to come out. "How did it feel," she began asking a question that had been burning in her head ever since she'd heard that Pipsqueak used to live with dragons. "To walk with others that were different from you, and you different from them?"

"Huh...that is a good question," Pipsqueak mused as he tilted his head upwards to think for a moment. "Well, I never felt out of place. Sure, they're dragons, they live a lot longer than I could ever hope to, but I never felt out of place," Pipsqueak answered with a slight shrug of his shoulders before he turned his head back down towards Quill with a cheerful, yet unreadable, smile.

"Guess you could say, sometimes I feel like a dragon."

Quill looked into Pipsqueak's eyes for a moment as she started to sense something off about the colt, but couldn't think of what it possibly could be. "Huh, is that so. Then what would you do if you didn't feel like a dragon?" Quill asked, breaking Pipsqueak out of his daydream. "What would you do if you didn't feel like you belonged?"

"Oh that's easy," Pipsqueak said with a dismissive wave of his hand and a quick chuckle. Before answering, Pipsqueak kicked off his door frame to stand in front of Quill with his arms crossed over his broad chest. "I would go somewhere I felt like I belonged."

Quill's eyes locked with Pipsqueak's, she again felt something off about them. It was something she had also noticed with Blaze at times when she was using magic. "Th...then why come here?" Quill questioned, remaining deadlocked with Pipsqueak's eyes so she could try to understand what this feeling was. "Why come to a country that is primarily made up of ponies?"

"I needed a change of pace is all," Pipsqueak answered with a smile as he got ready to close the door to let Quill get back to the things she needed to do. "Be seeing ya around Quill, you're not the only one that has things to do."

Before Quill could question Pipsqueak about what he meant, he had already closed the door, and left her wondering why he suddenly ended the conversation. However, she soon shrugged it off as he just really had other things to do today, and she was probably asking questions that he didn't really want to answer.

And since she had collected over half of the many debts that ponies owed her, she figured she might as well head over towards Fluttershy's house to pick up whatever the elements had for her. "Better not be some trick though," she mumbled to herself before spreading her wings open to take flight over towards the cottage near Everfree.

As she took the slow flight there, Quill mused over all of the old faces that she had to see again. Sure, some weren't too 'happy' with her, but at this point she couldn't care less what some ponies thought. Quill was living her life the way she wanted to, and if ponies didn't like her for that then tough. If they still liked her then that was fine too.

Quill didn't ever need or want their approval anyways. She was going to do the things she wanted, and all they needed to do was stay out of her way. Simple.

"So why can't they just make it simple?" Quill questioned as she flew under a cloud before pulling back up to gain some attitude to make her flight shorter and without a chance of running into any pegasi. "Why can't life be that simple…"

'Nothing good comes from it being easy or simple, young one.' Quill blinked a few times from the sound of her ancestor's voice echoing out in her head, as she hadn't heard a single word from her since she'd found Frost in the Everfree days ago. 'I know you are questioning my sudden appearance, however, my time is short so I must speak quickly. Quill, the things you have accomplished up until now, have they been easy to do?'

"Pfft, what are you kidding?" Quil flatly asked as she lazily flew about as she slowly started to approach Fluttershy's home. "No, just about every day for the last two months, I thought I was going to wind up dead. I'm just glad me and Spike ran into Lily when we did."

'Hmh, yes that quite was the good fortune wasn't it?' the elder mused for a short moment before continuing on with what she had to say. 'Although, it was from this that you and your twin began to grow, and time is growing short for me.'

Quill slowly started to come to a stop on top of a cloud with an expression of pure loss and confusion regarding what her ancestor just said to her. "Whoa, what is that supposed to mean?"

Silence. Quiet, empty, silence was the only thing Quill heard from the elder dragoness, and for some reason, it scared her. "Wait, what are you talking about? What do you mean time is growing short?"

'Young one, do not act as though you didn't know the day when I would have to leave would come eventually. I must join the four Makers soon.' Quill knew her ancestor was right, as much as she hated it. She sighed in discontent. 'Do not fret Quill, you will continue to grow without me. You will come to learn of the true power that you hold.'

"I know, I know," Quill sighed as she sat down on top of the cloud with her legs crossed underneath her. "It's just that this is a little sudden don't you think? Like, I'm going to miss you and stuff. I still don't even know your name."

Quiet laughter sounded out in Quill's head as her ancestor couldn't hold back her amusement any longer. 'Very well,' she started as the world around Quill started to fade into a dim blackness while smoky white lines were drawn from the clouds themselves, taking the shape of an elder dragoness hovering in front of Quill with her massive wings. Quill was taken aback by the massive dragoness, wondering to herself if she would one day become like that.

'After the many milestones you have surpassed young one, I do believe that you earned the right to know my name,' the ancestor continued as she moved one of her gigantic, smokey claws closer towards Quill's head. 'You have learned so much in this short time. We will talk to each other again, young one. Continue to grow, learn, and live as you see fit.

As Quill's ancestor's clawed finger started to reach for her forehead, she closed her eyes, and bowed her head to allow her ancestor's finger to touch the very center of her forehead. 'Live as you will, sweet Quill.'

"Okay, th...thank you," Quill said with a slightly saddened tone in her voice. She had only just learned of her ancestor's existence two months ago, had only spoken with her a few times, and she still hadn't left just yet.

So why was she crying?

She didn't know, she just felt sad. The kind of sad that came with saying goodbye to someone after being around them for all your life. The kind of sad that came with having someone leave you forever.

"See ya later, Sol Argento," Quill choked as she desperately tried to wipe away the tears from her eyes, only to have more replace them. Quill hated crying, for anything. She believed that it showed her as weak, and she feared others would pick on her about it.

Sure, at this point in her life, something like that was plain silly, but she couldn't help it. It was just a part of who she was, and hoped to be.

'Goodbye Quill Dragul, may your life hold many fortunes. I will see you once more before I make my journey to the lands of the four great makers.'

Once again, silence sounded out in Quill's head, and it was pure madness. It was a madness that Quill couldn't understand where it came from, but it was a madness that wasn't going to stop her from living.

"Come on Quill," she muttered to herself as she stood up from the cloud floor and wiped away the last of her tears. "You still have a life to live, and others to protect. No reason to stop now. You'll talk to her again." Quill then leaped off of the cloud and soared straight towards the bridge near Fluttershy's house.

Once she was at the road leading towards the bridge, Quill skillfully landed, and began to walk slowly before reaching the small stream that would lead her straight back to the temple. It wasn't long after that before she caught the sight of Twilight and the other, still curiously minus Rarity, standing on the bridge waiting for her, two duffel bags resting on the ground against the side arched bridge.

"Two bags, Twilight?" Quill asked with an arched eyebrow towards the group of mares as Pinkie continued to wave to her with the same goofy smile. However, Quill's attention was focused more on the two green and purple duffle-bags. "Twi, I took more than that when me and Spike came to your house the first time around," Quill continued walking up to the two bags to see that her name was written on the purple one while Spike's was written on the green one.

'Cute.'

"Oh you'll find more than just two duffle-bags worth of stuff in here," Twilight said with a confident smile that only told Quill that she did something to them with her magic. "You know that infinite-spatial spell I've been working on for Rarity?"

Quill's ear-frills perked up a bit when she heard that Twilight was able to learn a spell without the assistance of her and Spike, but she did her best not to let this be known. "Oh, is that so? That's great to hear Twilight," Quill said with honesty as she hopped up to sit on top of the railing for the bridge. "So where's Rarity?" Quill asked, placing her elbow on the bridge's railing to rest her head in her hand while they waited for the glamorous mare. "I have a feeling she wouldn't like it if I just took off without her giving me...what is she getting anyway?"

Shrugs and head shakes all around was Quill's immediate answer as none of the elements knew what had possessed the mare to suddenly leave the way she did. "We don't know either Quill," Twilight said, getting a sigh to come out of Quill when she heard the mare's answer. "She certainly was in a hurry too. Rarity hates using teleportation."

"Lemme guess," Quill began with a slightly flat tone of voice as she didn't expect Rarity to change much. "Cause it'll mess up her 'beautiful' mane?" Both Pinkie and Applejack started to laugh at Quill's joke while Fluttershy and Twilight tried to hide their giggles. "No but seriously, I need to be heading back real soon. Knowing Wolf, he'll want this greenhouse thing done by today."

"This Wolf, who is he anyway?" Twilight asked, only having seen the dog one time, and only for a brief moment at that.

Quill opened her mouth to answer Twilight, however, she soon closed it, thinking for a moment. "Wolf, he's kind of like...a pack leader," Quill started, not sure if the elements should know about the existence of High Moon, or if Wolf didn't mind her talking about it. "More like, our pack leader. Him and his marefriend, along with another mare have been showing me and Spike how to survive it out in Everfree, and we just sort of stayed with him."

"Okay, but why?" Applejack asked, not seeing why Spike and Quill would choose to stay with a diamond dog's pack over staying with them in Ponyville. "Ah mean, why would you want to live in the Everfree instead of here?"

Quill started to giggle at the farm-mare before she stood up on the railing with a smirk on her face. "Cuz AJ," she started with a small flex of her wings and a small flare of purple flames coming off her body. "When we lived here, I wasn't able to do this."

Suddenly, Quill flared out her wings, and rocketed off skyward with streaks of purple and green fire trailing from her. All four elements watched in awe as Quill quickly ascended with a single flap of her wings before reaching a peak in her incline, moving into a sidewinder flip.

Following the flip, a sudden flare of green and purple flames shot out from Quill's body as she started to freefall straight towards the ground. With the exception of Pinkie, who had somehow gotten a bag of popcorn to eat, all the mares watched in fear, thinking Quill was falling right to her death.

However, they were proven wrong when Quill snapped open her wings, and partly slowing her fall to where she was able to sit on the same spot she had before with a small huff as her rear end landed on the stone railing.

"Woo! Yeah Quill, that was amazing!" Quill giggled a little from Pinkie's cheering while the others were still trying to understand how, and where, Quill learned such moves. "Oh my gosh Quill, you never did anything like that before."

"Yes, and I say it was quite dangerous," Twilight said, seeming to be displeased with Quill's daring moves. Not that Quill cared much for what the mare thought about her stunts. "Quill, you could have seriously hurt yourself or burnt someone with that fire of yours."

"Seriously, Twi?" Quill asked with an arched eyebrow towards the mare. Of all the things Twilight thought was dangerous, she was more worried about Quill's magic and flying skills than the fact that she was living in the Everfree. "I've fought of packs of timberwolves, helped Wolf scare off manticores, and we even managed to trap a hydra in a garage a few weeks ago."

The look on Twilight's face only went from disapproving to horrified at some of the things that Quill had been up to. "Twi, when are you going to realize," she continued, hopping straight up to stand on the railing, and holding out her hands out to her sides. "I'm not the same hatchling that you remember?"

Upon saying these words, Quill ignited two large purple and green fireballs right above her hands. "I've learned, and done, too much to be treated as a little kid anymore, Twilight. And so has Spike. In fact, he's probably done a lot more than I have. So, can you do me and Spike the favor of treating us like adults?"

"Yeah, okay Quill," Twilight said, slightly shaken from Quill's impressive control of her magic, and-for some reason-fearful of what she could do with it. "We understand that you and Spike aren't kids anymore, but we don't want you guys hurting yourselves okay?"

Quill sighed from the shaking tone in Twilight's voice. "Yeah, Twilight, I know. Wolf already makes sure that we know that anyway," she said as she hopped back down to the railing to lay down on its edge, all while lifting the two fireballs above her up in the air, controlling them with simply her will. "Listen, what I said two months ago was…kind of out of line, but all of you can't say it wasn't coming. Just know that we'll never forget the things that ya'll did for us."

"Aw, Quill that means so much to hear," Twilight said as she and the others started to move towards the dragoness for a hug, only to be stopped by Quill pointing a finger out towards them. "Um, Quill...is something the matter?"

"Yeah," Quill started, slowly turning her head towards Twilight to stare at her and the elements with a flat look. "Don't do that. Not that I don't like you guys any more or anything like that, it's just that, don't you think all of you are way too old to be doing group hugs every other day?"

Each of the elements started to blush in her own way, with Applejack trying to hide it with her hat, Fluttershy using her mane while both Twilight and Pinkie tried to play it off. "That brings me to another point. When are all of you going to find someone to get with?"

"Qu-Quill, that isn't something you should-"

"Just answer the question Twi," Quill cut in, not letting the mare finish the flustered sentence, nor not wanting to hear it from her. "Here, I'll go first. You know that dragoness that was with me and Spike a few days ago?" Slowly, Twilight and the other elements started to nod their heads as they did remembered the blue and purple dragoness that was constantly standing near Quill. "Let's just say...I've made her a real dragon a few time this week."

Twilight's jaw snapped open wide at what her ears were hearing from Quill's mouth. Normally, she would tell Quill off, going on and on about how dangerous it was to be with someone she barely knew. However, it was no longer her place to do so any more.

Quill and Spike were their own dragons now; they were all grown up.

"O-oh, well she seems like a nice dragoness," Twilight started, still trying to find the right words that didn't sound like she was trying to tell Quill how to live her own life. "So, u-um, how did you two meet anyway?"

"Pfft...aw isn't that cute," Quill started with a laugh from noticing something about Twilight's speech patterns. "Twilight, I know you better than Celestia does, don't you think dodging questions like that is a little silly with me? You know what?" Quill continued, sitting up and ending the show of her fire. "I'll just leave you to think about that yourselves. Ya'll are fully grown, beautiful, mares, I'm just sure you'll find someone."

Right as Twilight was going to respond to what Quill was saying, the sound of flapping wings caught Quill's attention, and forced her to turn towards the forest. When she did, Quill was happy to see that it was Cinder making the sound as she flew towards her.

"Hey girl," Quill said with a slight smile after Cinder landed on her shoulder, nuzzling the phoenix. "Sorry for leaving you this morning, I was kind of in a rush, and I didn't think I'd be here that long."

Cinder seemed to not mind as she shrugged her wings before turning her attention towards the elements. Without much warning, Cinder flew from shoulder to shoulder of each of the present elements, giving each a quick nuzzle before moving back to Quill's shoulder.

"Wow Quill, Cinder looks healthier than she did before," Fluttershy said with her normal animal enthusiasm. "She has been getting enough exercise right, and a balanced diet, along with Peewee, right?"

Quill started to giggle at Fluttershy, finding this side of her more appealing than her overly shy one. "Yes Flutters, they have," Quill answered as she moved to rub the underside of Cinder's beak, getting a happy chirp from her. "Wolf and the others had been helping us keep Cinder and Peewee active with whatever we can find for them to do."

Fluttershy nodded her head in understanding as Applejack spotted two familiar looking colts awkwardly running towards them. "What in tarnation?" Quill, along with the rest of the elements, had their attention drawn away from the growing phoenix, and to the dirt road. "Now, what on earth are them colts doing here, and what are they doing with those rolls of plastic?"

"Well, it's about time they got here," Quill said as she slid off the bridge's cobble-stone railing, and walking towards the end of the bridge. Once there she placed her hands on her hips and took a mock hard expression. "Sinps, Sails, what took you guys so long, and please don't tell me you guys got lost."

"W-we would have been here faster, if someone," Snails started, glaring straight at Snips, who was still trying to catch his own breath. "would stop trying to get with Silver Spoon."

Quill raised an eyebrow toward the taller clot, not understanding why he would try to get with a filly like Silver Spoon. She could only guess that it had something to do with Diamond Tiara no longer living in Ponyville.

"I am not trying to get with her," Snips shouted back at Snails with the hint of a blush on his face and his hands clenching at his sides. "She just seems lonely without her best friend, and I just wanted to make her smile."

Snails rolled his eyes as he used one of the rolls of plastic to lean against. "Yeah, right, and I want to sing in a girly dress." The glare, and blush, on Snips' face started to grow to a volatile level; one Quill could easily see coming. "Face it man you gave better chance with trying to get with a grown mare than with a stuck up filly like Sil-"

"Snails!" Both colts jumped in fear from the roaring sound of anger in Quill's voice. When the two of them looked over to her, they found that Quill was glaring at the both of them with a fire of rage in her eyes. Even Cinder, who was still on Quill's shoulder, seemed to pick up on her master's anger, and was flexing out her wings in a threatening manner.

"Where do you get off telling Snips who he can't hang out with?" she questioned with a commanding tone of voice while a menacing line of black smoke started to seep from her nose. "How is it any of your business if he does like Silver Spoon? And if he doesn't, Snips is just being a good guy by trying to make her feel better about losing-from what I can tell-her only friend."

Snails opened his mouth to answer the suddenly enraged dragoness in front of him, but he couldn't think of any words that would lessen Quill's rage. Not paying the shivering colt any more mind, Quill walked over to Snips, and placed a hand on his small shoulders.

"Snips," Quill started, with a much softer tone of voice. Even Cinder took a softer body-language, hopping over to Snips' shoulder, and nuzzling his cheek. "Remember, no one can tell you how to live your own life. Just don't do anything stupid."

"Ahem." Quill cut a glance back towards Twilight to see her with her hands on her hips with a stern expression on her face.

"And don't break any laws," Quill continued, more to get Twilight off her back than to help Snips. 'Seriously, ever since she became a princess, Twilight has developed this weird obsession with not breaking any laws.' Once she got an approving nod, Quill turned her attention back to the colt, and again smiled. "Just do what you want to, not what someone else tells you to. You got it, Snips?"

Slowly, Snips started to nod his head with a growing smile on his face. "Ye-yeah I do Quill, thanks," he said with the utmost amount of gratitude he could give to the dragoness. Quill returned the nod as Cinder hopped back onto her right shoulder. "Um...I think I'm going to…"

"Go on," Quill started, waving the colt off with her hand, and taking the rolls of plastic in her tail as she turned back towards the elements. Snips stood there for a moment, just to gaze at Quill, who had changed in more ways than one. He then turned his attention towards his closest friend, Snails.

It was then that he realized that nothing would ever change if he just kept doing the same things with the same colt every single day of his life. "Snails, you're my bestest friend ever, but we've got to grow up some time." Snails continued to glare at the ground with an unhappy look. "Sorry man..." Snips sighed as he turned to make the long, lonely trek back to Ponyville to find Silver Spoon again.

"Snails, you know he's right," Quill said as she placed the rolls of plastic into the green duffle bag, along with some of the other stuff she'd gotten during the day. "The both of you can't keep going the way ya'll are. I hope you can see that."

"Yeah, whatever," Sails grumbled before turning around to run down the dirt road, right past Snips.

Quill continued to look down the road with an unreadable look on her face while Cinder let out a loud screech. "Yeah I know girl," Quill started, gently rubbing the side of Cinder's cheek to get her to calm down. "We'll head home soon Cin, we just got to wait for Rarity." Thanks to Lily, Quill and Spike had learned that the phoenixes had grown attached to their home in High Moon. To be more exact, the Everfree Forest: their natural habitat. "Where is that mare anyway, can't one of ya'll call her on your crystal-phones?"

"O-oh, I guess I could do it," Fluttershy said as she reached into her back pants pocket of her tight blue jeans. Once the mare had her yellow-colored phone out, she began to look through her contact list to find Rarity's name. It wasn't long before she found it and called the seamstress.

However, as the phone continued to ring without an answer, Fluttershy, along with the others, began to worry about the mare. "O-oh my, Rarity would never let her phone ring more than twice," Fluttershy noted with an anxious tone of voice as she again tried to call the mare once more.

"Well that's just great," Quill started, folding her arms over top her chest with a flat look on her face. "What in the world could she be looking for anyways?" Twilight was going to try to answer Quill's frustrated question, or at least get her to calm down a little when a bright blue flash suddenly startled everyone and forced them to cover their eyes.

Once everyone was able to see again, all eyes were on Rarity as she slowly walked up the arch of the bridge with her face hidden behind her strangely straightened mane. Everything about the mare screamed sadness, her body movement, her lowered tail, and sluggish posture.

"Geez Rarity," Quill said in a shock tone of voice, not once having ever seen the mare in such a state before, genuinely concerned for her. Quill moved to shorten the distance between Rarity, however, Cinder seemed to not like the air that the mare was giving off, and she flew over to Pinkie's shoulder with a defensive screech following.

Quill took a moment to look back at her bird with a look of confusion before turning back to the mare, placing her hands on Rarity's shoulders. However, it took the mare a moment to recognize Quill's touch as she tried to continue walking as if she was in a trance. "Rarity," Quill said loudly, shaking Rarity out of her state. "What in the world is the matter with you? Why are you-"

"Please darling," Rarity faintly spoke, reaching into her purple pants, and pulling something out of them. Before Quill could again question the mare, Rarity gently pushed Quill's hands off her shoulders, and placed the hidden object in Quill's right hand. "Please, give that to Spike for me. He deserves it far more than I."

"Okay Rarity, but just what is it?" Quill asked as she tried to look down towards the object, only for Rarity to keep her right hand closed. However, Quill was able to get a small peak of it and caught the sight of a gold colored chain and something red shining in the sunlight. "Rarity, what is going on with you?"

Still not answering any of the dragoness' questions, Rarity gently moved Quill's hands to her side, and started to slowly back away. "Quill please, tell Spike that I'm sorry for everything that happened, and I'm sorry for all the things that I've put the two of you through. Everything that has happened over the years...I'm sorry for all of it; I'm sorry for me."

"Rarity what are you-" Again without answering, Rarity used a teleportation spell to flee the scene. For a moment, all anyone could do was stand for a moment just to think about Rarity's sudden actions and the motives behind it.

"Quill, wh...what did Rarity give you?" Twilight asked in a nervous tone of voice, having a bad feeling that what happened two months ago could happen again. "Quill?"

Now, however, it was Quill's turn to be unresponsive to the things Twilight said as Quill was fixated on the mysterious object in her hand. Said object was something that Quill honestly had hoped to never lay eyes on again; the trigger of Spike and her's greed-growth all those years ago; a catalyst for the ponies in Ponyville to have a reason to fear the twins; a gift her brother gave to a mare he once loved.

'Rarity has to be kidding me right now.' Quill sighed as she ran a claw over the heart-shaped Fire Ruby necklace that Spike gave Rarity a few days before their birthdays. The act of Spike giving the mare something that he had toiled and starved over for weeks forced Quill to honestly believe that there was some hope for Spike's dream of being with her.

However, that train of thought had crashed after the greed-growth was over, overhearing Rarity talking about it with Fluttershy several days later. She was afraid of what Spike and Quill would be like when they grew up. Even still, Spike had sacrificed a lot by giving the ruby to Rarity.

The fact that both the necklace and ruby were in the shape of a heart made the situation laughable, if not ironic, to the fact that Rarity was trying to give it back. To make matters worse, this would not only bring up bad memories of Rarity, but also Sweetie Belle and the other Crusaders.

One thing was for sure though. 'He going to be devastated when I break the news to him.' Sighing again, Quill placed the necklace into her pocket, and shook her head. "Hey, uh, Twi," Quill said slowly, turning towards the confused looks on the elements' faces. "Sorry, but I got to take off. We still have this greenhouse to finish, and then I got...I got other stuff to get done today."

Sensing her master's discontent, Cinder flew from Pinkie's shoulder, and landed onto Quill's to nuzzle the side of her cheek. Quill smiled faintly, glad to see that her bird was so worried about her. "I'm fine Cin, I just hope Spike will be too," she sighed as she turned to the two bags. Quill quickly fastened the purple bag to the free space between her wings while she held the other within her arms.

"Quill, wait," Twilight started, reaching out for Quill's shoulder to stop her from suddenly taking off without answering any of her questions. "Please Quill, tell us what Rarity gave you. Maybe it would help us understand why she is acting like this."

Quill turned one eye towards the alicorn, only to see the pleading look on her face along with the rest of the elements. "Fine," Quill sighed, turning around so she could look Twilight in the eyes. "Twilight," Quill reached into her front pocket again, this time to pull out the necklace that the elements quickly realized that was the very same one Rarity made out of the Fire Ruby Spike had given her. There was a collective gasp from the elements, as they couldn't understand why Rarity would part with the necklace. "I really think you guys need to see about Rarity. Not tomorrow, not a hour from now, but right now. I really think she is hurting right now and needs you guys."

"O-okay Quill, we'll get Rarity to talk to us," Twilight said, letting Quill's shoulder go, and nodding as she mentally confirmed what she and her friends had to do. Quill returned the nod before she turned around to face towards the Everfree Forest. "But what about you Quill, what are you going to do?"

Again, Quill turned her head around to Twilight to look her in the eyes one last time. Quill started to frown when she saw the same lost look on Twilight's face from the time she, Frost, and Spike found her locked within the library. She knew no good would come of it if the elements fell back into the same rut that they were all stuck in for two months, and she knew that it had to stop now.

"I need to speak with my brother," Quill started, dropping her head in a slight sigh, and turning back towards Everfree again. Sensing the imminent departure, Cinder flew off of Quill's shoulder, eagerly beginning to fly back to High Moon. Quill turned back to her bird flying off into the tree canopy, and took it as a sign that she no longer had business in Ponyville.

"You guys just worry about taking care of your own," she said before she too opened her wings to fly back to High Moon, readying herself to confront her brother regarding a past memory that she still could not fully remember: their greed-growth. /-/  
/ Ch. 44: Of Talks and Memories/-/

High Moon Ch. 44:  
Of Talks and Memories

The flight back to High Moon was far shorter than Quill would have liked as she landed right outside the temple doors. Her mind was still trying to understand Rarity's rash actions and where all of it came from. However, nothing could began to rationalize it. Nothing she could think of would make sense.

Why now? Of all times to do something like this, why now? Why make a desperate move like this when Spike wasn't even there? Was it because she was still too weak to do what she needed to do? Why did she even give it back in the first place? What was the meaning of all of this?

"Damnit Rarity," Quill mumbled to herself, her fists tightening at her sides while Cinder landed on her shoulder, a concerned look in her eyes. To get some kind of response from her master, Cinder nudged Quill's head with her own to get her to snap out of whatever thoughts that were running rampant in her head.

Quill turned to her bird with a tired look on her face. The look was something that Cinder truly hated to see on her face but, oddly, the bird had a feeling that it was going to get worse before it got better. "Go on in girl," Quill said, puffing out a cloud of dark-gray smoke towards the stone ground. "I'll be in, in just a sec."

Having no choice, Cinder flew off of Quill's shoulder, and flew up to a perch in front of a hole that she and Peewee had been using as an entryway. However, before Cinder cawled into the opened space, she looked back down at Quill to see her staring straight at the door.

Cinder knew that Quill's thoughts were focused on what happened with Rarity and the thing that she'd given the young dragoness. But there wasn't much she could do about it now, so Cinder thought it best to hop in the hole to head back to Blaze's work area.

"Rarity, what are you doing?" Quill questioned, stepping towards the arcane-door to move it out of the way with the fire-stones on her wrists. Once it opened, Quill started to make her way down the dimly lit stairs that grew darker as she descended. Much like her thoughts.

A part of Quill wanted to hide or get rid of the necklace and just lie to Spike's face. However, lying to her brother wouldn't be a smart idea at this point in their lives, and she wasn't so sure if she could anyways. Lying to her twin about something this important wasn't something she was sure she'd ever be able to do. Still didn't make it any easier, though. Giving the ruby to Rarity had meant a lot to Spike, letting her keep it after everything that had happened had meant even more.

How was Spike going to react when he learned that Rarity gave the necklace to Quill, only for her to deliver it to him?

"I dunno anymore," Quill sighed as she reached the second arcane door, opening it so she could head back towards the greenhouse construction site via Blaze's work area. Upon walking in the dimly lit room, Quill saw Cinder standing on top of Blaze's work table, with the mare herself sitting in a chair next to it, while Cyclone was half-laying in another chair so she could rest her head in Blaze's lap.

When Quill's eyes found Blaze, she began sensing something off about her. It was the same way that she'd felt with Pipsqueak, but different somehow. Definitely stronger, and far more mature in comparison. However, the moment she started to step towards them, the feeling was gone, and Quill waved it off as her imagination getting to her after a day of flying around Ponyville.

"Blaze, I'm back," Quill said, walking to Blaze and Cyclone as she got ready to drop off the duffle bags so she could just take the plastic rolls to the city ruins. "I got the plastic rolls, and uh, a few other things that might help out around here."

Quill started to take off the purple duffle bag off her back while Blaze kept rubbing certain parts of Cinder's beak and neck, seeming to be unresponsive to whatever she said. A piece of Quill was happy that the mare couldn't pick up on her emotions like Frost could, but that didn't stop her from having a feeling that the mare somehow knew something was up.

"Quill."

'I knew it. I just fucking knew it.' Quill froze at Blaze's low tone of voice, using the same flat and dark tone from when she and the others were taking their tests. Something in that voice told her not to even dare moving without Blaze's permission. Something in that voice scared her a more than a little, yet at the same time still held the compassion that Blaze was known for.

All Quill could do was silently remain behind Blaze for a moment, that moment seeming to extend longer than should have. As Blaze continued to pet Cinder, Quill started to get an eerie feeling of what the mare was going to say next. "Cinder here tells me something happened in your old home." Blaze finally looked over her shoulder at Quill, making Quill incredibly tiny when she saw the powerful look in Blaze's passionate red eyes.

"Y-yeah...something did," Quill sighed as she dropped the two duffle bags against the table and stood back up to meet Blaze's crimson eyes. One look in the radiating red eyes was all Quill needed to tell that Blaze wasn't going to take a half answer like that. "I-It wasn't anything bad or something like that, just... messed up is all."

"You want to talk about it, sweetie?" Not giving the dragoness a chance to think of something to say, Blaze sparked her horn to pull one of the other chairs from the dinner table over to a spot right across from her.

Taking the hint, Quill walked around the chair Cyclone was using to rest her legs in, and sat down in the empty chair across from Blaze. "Hey Cyclone," Quill sighed as she caught Cyclone's shining eyes staring half-open towards her.

"Hi Quill," Cyclone answered back as Quill folded her arms over Blaze's table and placed her head in them. It was then Cyclone thought that it was time to get up from Blaze's soft and warm lap. Cyclone had noticed the change in Blaze after the phoenix had flown in as well, scaring her after the light-hearted day the two had spent together.

When Cyclone started to get up, Blaze took her hands from the white dragoness' head and moved one of them on Quill's shoulder gently. Blaze waited for a moment until Quill looked up from her arms and back into her eyes. "Quill please, tell me what happened."

Another sigh left Quill's lips as she sat back in her chair, causing it to creak in complaint while she reached into her pocket to pull out the golden-chained Fire Ruby necklace. The moment she felt the necklace in her hand, Quill pulled it from her pocket, and dropped it on the table without saying anything.

Both Blaze and Cyclone's eyes widened at the sight of the rare red gem inside the pure gold necklace. Cyclone looked at the gem with an instinctive want from her dragon heritage, while Blaze, having the same look as Cyclone, knew that the ruby held more value than the fire-stones she had accumulated for use around High Moon.

However, the both of them were able to maintain control over themselves, even when Blaze picked it up in her hands and brought it closer towards them. "Quill, it's beautiful," Blaze breathed, still taken aback by the sight of the bright red ruby in her hands. "Fire Rubies are extremely rare, and hard to come by," she continued as she ran her fingers over the polished gem. "And this shape…"

As Blaze and Cyclone continued to examine the ruby, Quill sighed again and went back to her same slouched posture on the table. Once Blaze finally looked up from the ruby to Quill, she then remembered Spike had told her that it was a Fire Ruby that started his and Quill's greed-growth a couple of years ago. "This wouldn't be the same necklace that triggered your and Spike's greed-growth, would it?"

Quill wordlessly nodded her head while a small line of light-gray smoke seeped out through her nose. "Spike was going to eat it on our birthday as a present to himself," Quill said with a small laugh before a frown returned to her face at the memories behind the necklace started to resurface. "But instead, like the overdramatic drake he is, he gave it to Rarity a few days before."

Cyclone tore her attention away from the alluring ruby to the conflicted expression on Quill's face. "Why on earth would he give it to her?" she asked, scowling. She remembered the confrontation she had with Rarity the other day, and how insistent the white mare had been on getting Spike to go back to Ponyville. "But that would mean…"

"Mean what, dear?" Blaze asked after Cyclone's face took on a look of pure shock, a small tint of jealousy glinting in her eyes.

"Teenaged drakes often give their best gems to someone they wanted, it was a way of showing their love for them," Cyclone added, using the memories of her childhood in a traditional dragon clan. For a moment Cyclone's expression turned into one of worry before snapping back into anger at who the recipient of the gem was. "But I mean...her? Really, Spike loved her? Enough to do all that? It didn't seem like..." Cyclone broke off, remembering what she had told the drake about their encounter with Rarity.

"Ha, yeah he loved her alright," Quill laughed in a mocking tone of voice as the lines of smoke became darker. She seemed to not have noticed Cyclone's near-slip. "He loved her enough to allow himself to be used as a pin-cushion. Loved her enough to be her personal garbage-drake. Loved her enough to listen to her whine about her troubles while he was still dealing with his own."

Quill's expression continued to darken along with the near pitch-black smoke lines coming from her nose. Cyclone started to worry for the younger dragoness, thinking back to times when Veil was acted in a similar manner. "He...h-he loved her enough to fight for her. Enough to dream of being with her every single night...he loved her so much that it's going to kill him."

"Quill, that's enough," Blaze said sternly, not liking the way Quill was speaking, or the thoughts that must have been going through her head. "I know you're worried about your brother, Quill, but you have to admit that he is much stronger and smarter than that."

Quill started to blankly nod her head before wiping her face with her hand to snap her out of those depressing thoughts. "I know, I know, it's just that...s-sorry," Quill sighed again as she again tried to find some comfort in her own arms, failing to her displeasure. "I'm just tired and frustrated I guess. I haven't had to think about that day for two years now and I still can't remember all of it. But Spike sure can."

"Quill, I know it's hard for you," Blaze started, placing the necklace in front of Cinder, moving her hand back onto Quill's shoulder afterwards. "But please, we can't help you if you don't tell us what is wrong." Again, a wordless nod came from Quill as she seemed to be trying to straighten herself out. "Now, why don't you start from what you can remember, sweetie."

"Okay, okay," Quill started, sitting up in the chair, and dragging her hands down her face before looking upwards to the stone ceiling. "The first thing I can remember was Spike polishing that thing, about...a week before our birthday."

Blaze nodded her head as she plucked the Fire Ruby necklace from Cinder's beak. "Good, dear, can you remember anything else? Maybe something that may have caused your own greed-growth?" Quill closed her eyes to remember the few days before hers and Spike's greed-growth.

"I remember...us talking about something…something important."

Ponyville, Golden Oak's Library; Two years ago

Celestia's bright sun was already high above the small town of Ponyville, a quiet earth-pony town; a place where one could escape the hussle and bussle of the big city life. Home to some of Equestria's many living wonders. The Elements of Harmony. The Dragul twins.

It had been close to two full years after the emergence of the Elements of Harmony, and a year after the crowning of the Lunar Goddess in the Lunar Republics. Though it wasn't as though the Elements or the Goddess were in Ponyville, unlike the Dragul twins. They were deemed too young by their caretaker, the Element of Magic, Twilight Sparkle, to partake in the battle with Nightmare Moon or even attend the crowning ceremony in the Republics. To top this, they were with the ones responsible for watching after the library in their caretaker's absence, which happened often.

Both were upset about this in their own way; one wanted to help defend Equestria from Nightmare Moon while the other scolded himself for falling asleep. However, that had been over a year ago. So there was no reason to pout about it, especially with their birthdays coming up in less than a week.

"Spike, what in the world are you doing over there?" Quill asked while she was laying down on the large reading couch in the main lobby of the library, reading the latest issue of her favorite comic book. While Quill was 'happy' that their birthdays were coming up, Spike was a bit more so as he had something extra planned for himself. "You've been huddled over in the corner for a few more minutes than I'd like to think about."

"I-It's not what you think," Spike quickly said as he stood up from the corner of two bookshelves with his hands held behind his back, sweating bullets down his face.

Quill continued to stare at her twin brother as he sweated worse than he had ever before and was easily able to see past his cheesy smile. "Yeah right, coal-head," she started, hopping off the couch with her comic rolled up in her right hand. "And I'm going to win a million bits so I can finally have a place to myself. What's behind your back?"

"You're still not thinking of leaving me and Twilight, are you Quill?" Spike questioned as the trails of nervous sweat ended upon hearing the same type of conversation that he and Quill had been engaged in for the last few months. It had started out as nothing but a joke before they began looking into when and how they could find a place of their very own.

Quill wanted to leave right away; the moment she had a plan for everything. Spike wanted to wait until they at least had Twilight's blessing before trying to live on their own. It was from this that the twins were given reasons to attempt to leave anyways, especially when tensions ran high.

"Come on we've talked about this, I thought that we-" A rolled up comicbook pressing against Spike's nose silenced him as he caught the heated glare in Quill's purple eyes. Tack that onto the small wisps of purple embers coming from Quill's nose, it was easy to tell that Quill wasn't happy.

"And we've also talked about not stepping on each other's toes any more, right?" Quill fakely asked before she turned back to the couch so she could flop right back down to continue reading. "I have my plans, you have your own, but that doesn't answer what's behind your back."

"Fine, no sense of trying to hide it from you, at least," Spike said, following his sister to the couch and taking a spot on an empty cushion. Quill shifted around on the couch, resting her lower back while she kept her feet on the couch, in spite of Twilight constantly telling them not too. Spike on the other hand sat up against the back of the couch as he fiddled with the object in his hands. "You promise not to tell anyone?"

"Spike, no one else is here," Quill started in a flat tone, still miffed about the note Twilight left behind saying that she'd be back from Canterlot after taking care of some 'business.' Business that would take three days to finish. She hadn't even told them in person! "And I don't have any reason to tell anypony, so what is it Spike?"

Spike took in a deep breath before turning towards Quill and opening his hands. The moment Quill saw the red ruby in his hands she started drooling. Of all the gems and crystals that she and Spike had eaten before, that one ruby had to have been the biggest one she had ever seen.

"Sp-Spike, where did you get that thing?" Quill asked in a somewhat breathless tone of voice as she gazed back at her reddish reflection in the ruby. "Wait a minute, is that what's called a Fire Ruby? Dude, those thing are rare as crap. How did you find one?"

Spike began chuckling at his sister as she beheld the ruby in his hands with pride and a smug grin on his face. "I try telling you to come with me and Rarity to dig for gems, but no~" Spike said, sticking his nose in the air with his eyes closed while he cuddled the ruby. "You've got to hang out with Rainbow Dash all the time."

"Hey, you leave Rainbow out of this," Quill snapped, shooting an angry glare towards Spike with a slight flex of her newly grown wings. "You have no idea what she goes through, and what I do in my spare time is my business!"

Spike moved back away from Quill once she started shouting at him. "Geez, calm down Quill, I was only joking," he said with a small ping of fear from his sister's sudden anger and aggression. After a moment passed, Quill calmed down enough to where her wings weren't flexing outwards as attempt to scare Spike. "I knew you and Rainbow were close, but geez, did you have to try and bite my head off?"

"Sorry, Spike," Quill sighed as she rubbed her hands down her face, feeling bad for yelling at her brother for something he didn't know about. He was right when he said that she and Rainbow were close. However, with that closeness, came knowing secrets that were best left hidden from the world. "It's just that...let's not talk about Rainbow, m'kay?"

Spike meekly nodded his head, still having a look of fear and worry in his eyes. "Yeah… so anyway, you got that from helping Rarity?" Quill asked to get the conversation moving since they didn't have anything to do for the next three days. "What, she gave you that as a treat?"

"Quill, please!" Spike hissed with a disapproving tone of voice with his own angry glare. "It isn't like that, and you know that," he said with a mild growl, which Quill overlooked. "I thought you said that you were through with her."

"I am through with her Spike," Quill quipped as she went back to her reading to keep her from arguing with her brother again. "If you want to waste your time with Rarity, be my guest. Just don't come to me when you need needles pulled out of your scales again."

"Come on Quill, she couldn't find her pincushion," Spike said, waving the ruby around in the air before going back to tending to it. "Anyway, I found this while helping her. It's not a treat. It's a birthday present to myself for all the hard work I do. I've been waiting for weeks for this baby to be ripe, and it's almost ready."

Quill looked up from her comic book to see Spike licking his lips as he stared at the gem with a hungry look in his eyes. "All the hard work you do, really? And it's a birthday present to yourself? Fine, whatever, guess you've earned it," Quill said before going back to reading her comic book so she could finish it already. "What with you being Rarity's pack mule."

"I am not Rarity's pack mule!" Spike shouted in anger, this time taking on a more menacing glare in his eyes. "I'm her friend, and friends help each other out Quill. Something you don't seem to get yet."

"Oh, oh, I don't get what it means to help someone out," Quill snapped back again flexing her wings in anger towards her brother while embers of purple flames left her nose again, only to be matched with Spike doing the same. "There's a difference between helping someone, and letting them use you, Spike. When are you going to get that?"

Both twins continued to glare at each other, growing more angry with the other by the moment. Quill couldn't believe what Spike was saying to her. She didn't know what it meant to be a friend? No, he just didn't know when someone was using him or not.

"Rarity is not using me, Quill!" Spike roared, waking their pet phoenixes up from their naps. "I'm choosing to help her, Quill. That's what friends do!" Quill rolled her eyes at Spike, knowing all too well that he wasn't helping Rarity because he wanted to be only 'friends' with her. "What would you know anyway? You're just still mad that you can't have her!"

"When are you going to get it, Spike?!" Quill shouted, still glaring at Spike while her fists tightened by her sides. "Rarity isn't ever going to love you. She is just going to keep on using you until she's able to find someone else to drag around."

"N...n-no she won't, you take that back!" Spike roared in a weak and cracked voice while tears started to form around his eyes. "Rarity does love me, she just don't know it yet. You'll see, I'll win her heart! I'll make her mine!"

Quill continued to intensely stare into Spike's tear filled eyes for a moment before sighing, as she closed her eyes to calm herself down. "Fine, you'll show me alright. You delusional idiot," she said before hopping off the couch and walking towards the door. "Cinder, come on."

Spike watched as Quill's pet phoenix flew from her shared perch with Peewee and onto Quill's shoulder as she quickly approached the door. "Quill where are you going?" Spike questioned from the couch. Quill stopped at the door to look back at the look of confusion on Spike's face for a moment before she turned around again. "Quill, Twi said not to leave the library. Quill wait what are you-"

"Out, Spike," Quill cut in as she grabbed the door knob to open the door. "Me and Cin are going out for some fresh air okay? You can live with being by yourself for two minutes, right? If you really need to know, I can't be locked up in here arguing with you all day," she continued before stepping out, but stopping to say, "We'll be back."

She didn't come home until after sunset.

Everfree Forest, High Moon Temple; Present day

Quill rubbed the side of her head after she finally finished the story of when she first saw the Fire Ruby and the first, and last, thing that she could rightfully remember. Afterwards, the days seemed to have blurred together to the point where she couldn't recall much of them.

"After that," she started, still rubbing her head as though she was suffering from a slight headache. "Me and Spike didn't talk to each other much until Twilight came home. Even then it was still hard for me to look his way."

Blaze looked at Quill as she continued to rub her head with a pained expression on her face. She then turned to Cyclone, who was toying with the necklace with a mixed look in her eyes. It was easy for her to see the hunger in Cyclone's soft pink eyes for a gem of that quality, yet she also seemed back and forth from jealousy to disgust, and back again.

However, there was no time for her to think too heavily on the white dragoness' warring emotions for the moment. "Cyclone, dear," Blaze softly started to get her attention, and to not further the pain in Quill's head. "Would you be so kind as to retrieve a lime-green vial from my chest over there?"

Cyclone sat up in her chair to look over her shoulder, quickly spotting the large dark-wooden chest on the other side of the dimly lit room. She then turned back to Quill, who was still holding her head with a growing pained expression on her face. It wasn't hard to tell that Blaze had something planned to help relieve Quill of the pain, that something was locked inside of the wooden chest.

"Yes Clan-Mother," Cyclone quickly said as she moved out of her chair to walk over to the chest on the other side of the room. Upon hearing the sound of Quill groaning, she quickened her pace so that she could do what she could to help. Once at the chest, Cyclone opened it up to find a large treasure-trove of potions, artifacts, cloths, and elixirs that Blaze kept in storage.

Most important at the moment, though, was a small lime-green vial standing out from the rest. "Cyclone dear, please hurry." Cyclone quickly snatched the vial out of the chest, closing it before running back over to the other two.

Blaze quickly sparked her horn to take the vial out of Cyclone's hand, popping the top and moving it over to Quill. "Quill, drink this. It's an herb that'll make you feel much better." Quill reached out for the small vial with another slight groan leaving her lips. When Quill brought the vial closer, she caught a heavy wave of a foul smell reached her nose, forcing her to cringe in disgust. "Be sure to drink all of it."

Having no choice, Quill brought the vial to her lips, and threw her head back to force herself to drink all of the elixir without having to taste in on her tongue. Once it was empty, Blaze again sparked her horn to take the vial away from Quill's hands, while the purple dragoness again laid her head in her arms on the table.

Sound of incoherent mumbling started to come from Quill along with a few trails of steam from her head. "Clan-Mother," Cyclone started, getting Blaze to slightly turn her attention towards her. "Wh-what's wrong with Quill? Why is she suddenly acting like she is sick?"

"Quill is fine, dear," Blaze started, rubbing Cyclone's cheek with the back of her hand, and smiling at her. "She is just a little tired and confused. A lot has happened to her today, she just needs a moment to 'cool off' as it were."

Cyclone looked back towards Quill as she was starting to shake and shiver a little, with the same amount of steam coming from her. "Okay Clan-Mother, is there anything I can do to help?" Blaze's soft smile grew at the sound of Cyclone willing to help in any way she could; a sign that their pack was growing closer.

"Yes dear, could you and Cinder head out to the city ruins to go fetch the others for me?" Blaze asked in a soft voice, sparking her horn to teleport an extra fire-stone from her bedroom to give to Cyclone. "Be a dear and tell Spike and Frost to come here for a moment so we can see about this whole necklace thing."

Cyclone took the fire-stone out of Blaze's magical grip, feeling powerful pulses throbbing from it. "Alright Clan-Mother, I'll-"

"Wait," Quill suddenly started, lazily turning her head over to look at the two, and taking a deep breath to get what she need to say out. "T-the green duffle bag, i-it has the p-plastic rolls in them. Ta...take that too."

Blaze gently placed her hands on the top of Quill's head to push the dragoness' head back into her folded arms. "Quill, you'll feel much better after you take a little nap, alright?" Blaze soothed while rubbing Quill's shoulder as she took hold of Quill's arm. "Cyclone will get the plastic to the others, you just rest."

While Blaze tended to the dragoness, Cyclone looked behind Blaze's chair to see the duffle bags that Quill was talking about, and picked up the green one, surprised at how light it was. "Quill, do you want to me to take this too?"

Quill moved her eyes off the stone and wooden table to look at Cyclone holding the Fire Ruby in her hands. "No, le-leave that h-here," she said, turning her head over away from Cyclone and Blaze. Cyclone then turned to Blaze, but only saw the mare shaking her head a little. "Just tell S-Spike I got to talk to him. Nothing el-else."

"Alright Quill," Cyclone said, only getting a groan of light-gray smoke from Quill. She sighed at the dragoness, worried to death about her sudden change. When she looked over at Quill's bird, she quickly saw that even Cinder was worried for her. "Come on Cinder, let's go and get the others."

Cinder continued to stand on the table, watching her master groan in pain, ignoring the newcomer's command. She was far too concerned for the one that had given her a home, fed her, and played with her all these years.

"Cin," Quill spoke, sounding even more tired than she did before, having to take a longer breath of air. She then turned her head to look Cinder in the eyes, getting the bird to flinch when she saw that her eyes had an undertone of silver outlining them.

Cinder was snapped out of her shock when Quill reached out with her hand to pet her head. "Go on with Cyclone already, girl," she said with a droopy and soft smile that Quill wasn't particularly known for. "I'll be fine, Blaze knows what she is doing. Right Blaze, everything is okay, right? I-I'm going to be fine right, tell Cinder that-"

"Rest Quill, you really must stop talking for now," Blaze said, placing a finger on Quill's lips, and gently rubbing her head to calm her down. "Yes you are okay, but you need to rest for a bit." In her delirious state, Quill couldn't help but listen to Blaze's calming words, and soon closed her eyes to get the rest she didn't know she even needed.

Once Quill's eyes finally closed shut, Blaze moved her chair to be right next to Quill so she could lay her arm around the sleeping dragoness' back. "Go on with Cyclone, Cinder," Blaze said, looking towards the purple and black phoenix with a growing maternal smile. "I promise that everything is alright, she just needs to rest for a bit."

After looking into Blaze's eyes for another moment, Cinder hopped over to Quill to give her a quick nuzzle before flying off to Cyclone's shoulder. "I love you Cin," Quill mumbled in her sleep with a wide smile growing on her face. "You are...my closest...friend."

"Hey, ow," Cyclone suddenly winced when Cinder's talons started to dig into her scales as her body tensed up. "Cinder, ease up will you?" Cinder shook her head and blinked several times, seeming to be confused, or not having fully heard Cyclone's words after what Quill just said. However, Cinder did start to ease her body a little, taking on a slightly pained expression.

"Hey Cinder, are you okay?" Cyclone asked, seeing that the bird had to have been completely worried about Quill. "You don't have to come if you don't want to." Cinder turned her head a little to meet Cyclone's soft pink eyes for the first time and somehow found some kind of peace within them, enough so to nod her head in soundless answer.

Cyclone again turned to met the crimson eyes of one she was beginning to look to for guidance. "She's right, Cinder," Blaze said, catching the lost look in Cyclone's eyes, and knowing that she didn't know how to fully approach the bird just yet. "You don't have to go with Cyclone, you can stay here with Quill and I."

Cinder slowly shook her head as she knew that she could trust Blaze with the one she cared for the most. "Well, alright girl, if you really want to." Still slowly, almost not wanting to, Cinder nodded her head while her eyes were trained on the sleeping Quill. "Okay, Cyclone, go to the city ruins. You should be able to find everyone if you leave throughout the double doors in the mansion. Cinder should be able to guide you."

"Okay Clan-Mother," Cyclone said as she secured the green duffle bag on her back and started for the arcane slab-door with Cinder resting on her shoulder. Once there, Cyclone moved the fire-stone towards the stone door, and waited for it to move aside.

The large circular slab started to hum as it began emitting a violet-red light, the same as the fire-stone, before it moved with the sound of stone grinding on stone. Cyclone again took a look back to Blaze, who was gently rocking Quill in her sleep while she hummed the same soothing melody as she had for Cyclone.

"We'll be back soon Clan-Mother," Cyclone softly said, so as to not wake Quill up from her fevered sleep. Blaze turned her head over to Cyclone, smiling softly. "I promise, I won't let you down."

"I know dear. You never could," Blaze said with a soft singing voice before she turned her head around to lay it against Quill's. Cyclone nodded her head with a determined smile before she started out of the room before the slab door could close. Once the dragoness was gone, Blaze resumed her soft humming to help further ease the pain Quill was going through right now.

"You're growing so fast, dear," Blaze whispered in the same singing voice that she'd used to say farewell to Cyclone. And just like with Cyclone, the maternal dragoness instincts inside of Blaze's dragon's soul was forcing her to succumb to its influences. "Growing so powerful in a matter of just two months," she continued as she moved her right hand down the side of Quill's body, tenderly rubbing it through her black shirt. "You'll be fine dear, whoever thought it best to mess with your memories will pay dearly."

Slowly, the black markings on Blaze's body began emerging at an increasing pace as she continued to softly hum against Quill's head. Blaze briefly opened her eyes to reveal that her irises had turned into two black slits while her eyes were shining with a bright crimson light. "I'll see to that myself. No one will harm my children and get away with it. However, for now, rest my sweet Quill, you deserve it."

Blaze soon closed her eyes again as she went back to humming her soft melody along with her gentle rocking. Quill wasn't the only one that had been through much these past few days, everyone in High Moon had been busy doing something or another, and it seemed that the strain was starting to catch up with some of them.

"You've all done so well. I'm just so proud of all of you," Blaze cooed into Quill's ear as the dragon markings lightly pulsed with a dull blood-red light on her body. "All of you have something to be proud of. You've all done so much, and you all will continue to grow and support each other."

Blaze removed her head from Quill's to look down at her with lowered eyes, which were still shining a vibrant crimson. The soft smile on the dragoness' face told her that Quill was no longer being haunted with memories that she couldn't even remember.

"Rest easy, my child," she said to her. The same thing that Blaze had silently spoken to both the twins over the last two months. Blaze then turned her attention towards the Fire Ruby necklace that had triggered Quill's sudden condition.

Sparking her horn, Blaze brought the necklace closer to her, gazing into the bright blood-red ruby with a sense of abhorrence. Of course, she didn't hold any anger towards the actual necklace or the ruby trapped inside, but instead towards the ill memories that the twins have of it.

Whatever they may be, Blaze was sure that it would cause some kind of conflict between the twins, but she'd be there to end it. "They are stronger than you," Blaze began, shooting the ruby daggers of hate, letting it fall back to the table.

The longer Blaze stared down at the ruby necklace, the more she could feel the dragon's soul inside of her reacting, forcing waves of maternal dragoness instincts to cloud her mind. "They are smarter than to fall for your tricks. They will overcome the hardships you dare throw at them. You will no longer exist in their world."

/ Ch. 45: Of Talks and Letting Go/-/

High Moon Ch. 45:  
Of Talks and Letting Go

Cyclone hurried through the dark tunnel with Cinder lighting and leading the way for her. The clan's mother was counting on her to get to the others to deliver the plastic as well as the message from Blaze. By the time she reached the curved path leading downward to the mansion, she was already running a bit short on breath, but Cyclone continued to push forward into the mansion behind Cinder.

Once in the parlor, Cyclone looked up the the wooden support beams to see Cinder flying around them and towards a door just left of the flight of stairs leading up the upper floors. Cyclone made her way over towards the doors, pushing them open before continuing to follow Cinder down the corridor.

It wasn't long before she found herself pushing open another door that led out to another downward path towards the city ruins. She had no clue where the others could be. "Cinder," Cyclone panted as the purple phoenix landed on her right shoulder. Cyclone took a moment to catch her breath as she couldn't remember the last time she had ran that much before.

When she looked up again, Cyclone scanned over the city. Along with stone and rotten wood structures, Cyclone saw where that Mother Nature had slowly been reclaiming the land for herself. "Cinder," Cyclone said, after being able to catch her breath, "Could you lead me to them? I'm still not familiar with this area."

Cinder chirped and flew off in the direction that Cyclone assumed the others were in. Following behind closely, she hoped that Spike wouldn't be too upset that she wouldn't be able to tell him much beyond Blaze's message.

Minutes later, Cyclone and Cinder finally arrived at the location the greenhouse was being built on. She rushed over towards the group with the green duffel bag still strapped firmly across her back.

As she approached the group, Cyclone was again out of breath, but managed to say that she had been asked to deliver the plastic rolls for Quill. Wolf told the Isis to go ahead and finish the greenhouse while Spike began questioning Cyclone on why Quill hadn't come herself. Isis began using her magic to manipulate the plastic rolls and the wooden logs to create clear covers over the four-layer rows that comprised the greenhouse.

It was a only few moments more before the glow around Isis' hands faded and the greenhouse was completed. Now all that was left was gathering soil so they could plant seeds, then adding in the plant-growth potion.

With the greenhouse fully built, Wolf consulted with Isis and Lily about what type of plants to seed, how many, and where. Meanwhile, Cyclone had told Spike about how his sister had been acting on her return, and how Blaze had put the dragoness to sleep before sending Cyclone out to get him and Frost..

Spike, of course, was upset at hearing something was wrong with his sister, and began unleashing a flurry of questions at Cyclone. She told him that that was all that Quill had said she could say, and that he'd have to wait until they got back. That didn't stop Spike from trying to get more information out of the white dragoness, though. His continual questioning started making her more and more anxious. Veil, noticing her friend's nervous jitter, snapped at the drake for throwing so many questions at Cyclone.

Spike apologized to Cyclone for the sudden barrage of questions, saying that he was only concerned about his sister's condition. Cyclone waved off the drake's apologies, knowing that she would do the same thing if Veil was in the same situation.

Upon hearing that one of his pack members was in some kind of pain, Wolf questioned Cyclone by what she meant, almost sounding as though he was barking an order at her. Isis was able to get her master to calm down enough to where he could at least start thinking straight again. It was Wolf's turn to apologize to Cyclone, which was again waved off by the dragoness.

Now in a more controlled voice, Wolf asked Cyclone about Quill's sudden change in condition. However, the only information that she was able to give was that Blaze had sent her and Cinder to get Spike and Frost, then bring him back to the temple.

After a moment of thought, Wolf told the two to follow Cyclone and Cinder back to see about Quill, and to take Isis. Isis asked her master if it was truly alright for her to leave with the greenhouse still slightly incomplete, but Wolf waved her off as there was something else in the city that he wanted to check with and that he didn't need her on deck for it.

Veil wanted to go with Cyclone, just to make sure that Drake didn't keep pestering Cyclone with questions, but Wolf stopped her when he said that he had a job for both her and Lily. With a slight growl, Veil did as she was told to, and said her goodbyes to Cyclone with another threat to Spike if he kept bothering Cyclone. Afterwards, she left with Wolf and Lily, heading off into a part of the city ruins she wasn't familiar with.

With her master gone, and his silent words of trust, Isis quickly took lead of the group, and began taking them back to the temple. During the short trek towards the tunnels, Spike was so worried for his sister that Frost was starting to feel ill from it.

When she finally let the drake know of this, Spike let out a small volley of apologies towards the changeling mare, knowing that his worrying was not only bad for his health, but Frost's as well. However, this forced Spike to ask Cyclone again regarding his sister's condition, but he was again thwarted by Cyclone repeating, "Quill just told me to come get you. She didn't want me to tell you."

Frost knew something had to have been wrong with Quill for her not to be able to finish her task. After training with her the day before their tests, Frost could fully understand that Quill never stopped a task until it was finished, if the way she fought was any indication. Now however, upon sensing Cyclone's worry for Quill, along with Spike's, even Frost was having troubles keeping her emotions in check.

"Cyclone, please tell me what's wrong with my sister?" Spike again questioned the white dragoness as he, Cyclone, Frost, the phoenixes, and Isis walked-or flew the in pet birds case-through the tunnel leading back to the temple.

"I-I'm sorry Spike," Cyclone stuttered. She tried to hide in front of the sphinx to her right, however Isis seemed to be too busy with her own thoughts to notice her silent pleas of security. "You're just going to have to wait until we're in the temple. But what I can tell you is that it sounds pretty serious."

"That's only making me worry even more Cyclone," Spike groaned as he began rubbing the back of his head in a nervous manner, tired of being left with oh-so-little information about his sister's condition. "Cyclone please, I'm begging you."

"I-I'm sorry Spike, I can't. It isn't my place to," Cyclone forcefully said as she again tried to use Isis to hide her. The dragoness' movement finally snapped Isis out of her thoughts. She then looked behind her to catch the knowing look in Frost's eyes.

Both were none too surprised that the other was able to tell Cyclone was asked to keep Quill's condition secret, and that it was a hard thing for her to do with Spike continuingly making her feel guilty about it. With a nod towards each other, both Isis and Frost moved to put an end to Spike's constant questioning.

As Spike was again going to attempt to question the dragoness, Frost placed a hand on his shoulder. "Spike," she started to gain his attention further, picking up her pace so she could walk alongside of him. "I know you're worried about your sister, as I am, but you must trust Cyclone's words until we are able to see otherwise."

"Frost is right, Spike," Isis added, placing a hand on Cyclone's left shoulder to gently pull her closer. "Your sister entrusted Cyclone with the concealment of her condition most likely to prevent all of us from worrying over her. You do not want to force her to break this trust, do you?" she asked, holding an air of authority about her that reminded him of the few times he'd met Princess Luna.

Upon gazing into the sphinx's mixed red and blue eyes, Spike sighed and lowered his head to the ground. "No, I don't." Peewee, who was resting on Spike's shoulder, tilted his head at Spike a little before nudging at one of his head-spines with his beak to get his attention. Spike looked up from the ground towards his pet, only to see that Peewee was giving him a small smile.

"Yeah, you guys are right," he said with a calmer tone of voice before turning his attention back to Cyclone. "Hey, uh sorry for trying to get you to break your promise, Cyclone," Spike said as he was rubbing the back of his head with a honest and apologetic tone of voice. "I was just so worried about Quill that I wasn't thinking right."

"That's okay Spike," Cyclone with a cheery tone in her voice that surprised the group a little. "I would have done the same thing for Veil if she was in the same situation."

Frost began sensing waves of happiness coming from the dragoness as her expression continued to change into a happy one that left the others surprised. "I take it then that the two of you are close?" Isis asked, taking her hand off of the dragoness, but quickly was given a start when Cyclone suddenly wrapped her arms around her waist.

"Uh-huh," Cyclone started, nuzzling into Isis' soft black fur, careful not to accidentally undo the white cloth covering her breasts. "We've lived together for six years now. Veil protected me and kept me safe. I owe her my life."

Isis continued to stare down at the short dragoness with a small hint of awkwardness, that soon faded away as she placed her arm around Cyclone's neck. "I see, well I hope that you and I can grow just as close."

"Sure," Cyclone cheerfully said as they finally made their way towards the end of the tunnel where Cinder slowed her flight to land on Isis' shoulder. Cyclone left the sphinx's warm embrace so she could open of the slab door with the fire-stone Blaze gave her.

The moment the door opened, all four moved through, heading straight towards Blaze and Quill while the phoenixes flew to the table. Spike and Frost rushed to Blaze's work table to examine the dragoness laying her head on the table. Knowing that his sister was a heavy sleeper, Spike turned towards the only one that could answer the many questions that were flying through his head.

"Blaze, what's wrong with Quill?" Spike quickly asked, turning to the mare who appeared to have fallen asleep herself. "Blaze, why is she asleep? Quill doesn't have ghost-heart like I do. Please tell me what is wrong with my sister," he continued in a begging voice as Blaze woke up. "Cyclone said that she was sick or something but wouldn't te-"

"Spike, calm down," Frost sternly said after assuring herself that her lover was in fact merely sleeping. Knowing that it wasn't helpful to question Blaze like that, Spike closed his eyes to use the meditation training to calm his nervous. Once Frost was sure that the drake had calmed down, she turned her attention towards Blaze while slowly stroking her lover's head-spines. "Blaze, just what triggered all of this?"

Blaze only answered Frost's question by sparking her horn to pull out a necklace from Quill's hands. While Frost and Isis had no idea what the necklace had to do with Quill, Spike's eyes widened in pure shock. Frost felt something she hadn't expected from the drake after seeing a necklace, regardless of how well-crafted or pretty it was. Surprise, mixed with a slowly growing horror.

"Blaze… how did that… is that what I think it is?," Spike said, reaching out to grab the Fire Ruby. He caressed the front of it, feeling the still-familiar contours of the heart-shaped gem. 'This can't be right, this can't be the same one. Unless…' If Spike's eyes could have gotten wider, they would have. His gaze snapped from the ruby over to Blaze. "Blaze, did Quill kill Rarity?"

Blaze's didn't immediately, answer, stretching her arms after her short nap, then stopping mid-motion as her mind processed what Spike had said. She let out a short snort of laughter, before saying, "No, Spike, Quill killed nobody to get the necklace. From what she said, it was given to her freely. To return to you."

Spike's eyes slowly went back to the gem, still wide. That didn't make any sense. The Fire Ruby Spike had given Rarity was one of her prized pieces, to hear her tell the story. She wore it to nearly every formal occasion that she found herself at. So it didn't make any sense to Spike why she'd want to give it back.

"It's true, Spike," Quill said, also rousing herself, Blaze's laughter having woke her up. She rubbed at her eyes for a moment, before continuing, "Rarity gave me that, wanting me to tell you that you deserved it far more than her. She was looking pretty rough, too. And something seemed off about her. She wasn't acting like herself, basically."

'Well, that at least seems par for the course,' Spike thought to himself dryly. "But that doesn't make any sense, Quill. Why would she return this? And how could I possibly deserve it more?"

Quill rolled her eyes at her brother. "Couldn't tell you - Rarity left rather quickly after handing it over. The other elements all seemed confused by it as well." Quill thought for a moment. "Spike, you didn't run into her the other day when you and Cyclone went into Ponyville, did you?"

Spike's claw froze mid-stroke on the ruby, and he unconsciously looked at the white dragoness. When she shook her head slightly, Spike sighed. "Yeah, we did. Though nothing happened that would explain this." Spike decided he had to watch his words here, the last thing he needed was for Quill to fly off the handle about Rarity's outburst when he wouldn't return to Ponyville.

Quill got up and moved around the table to Spike, pressing him for information. "Well apparently it was something! Come on, what happened?" She gripped her hands on Spike's shoulders, forcing him to face her.

Spike thought for a moment, wondering what he could tell her that wouldn't make her more upset at Rarity than she normally was. He sighed again, tossing the necklace over to the table. "Quill, nothing happened that concerns you or would explain this. I'm sorry, but that's all I'm going to say."

Quill looked at her brother's eyes, searching them for a hint as to what happened. Finding nothing, she shook his shoulders lightly as she took in a breath through her teeth. "Since when do you keep secrets from me?" she asked, honestly feeling a little hurt.

Spike smiled and shook his head, putting his hands over his sister's on his shoulders. "Quill, it's nothing big. I promise. More importantly, Rarity said I deserve it more? I may have to return it to her."

Quill went from curious to angry almost instantly. "And just why is that, Spike?!" she nearly shouted, shoving him back while Spike simply laughed. Still breathing hard, Quill pointed a claw at him, continuing, "She played with your heart for how long?! And you still think she's worthy of anything from you?!"

'Well, guess now's as good a time as any,' Spike chuckled to himself. Spike turned around get a grip of himself, taking in a deep breath. "Quill, Rarity's not the only one that was playing with hearts."

Spike took a moment to steady himself, toying with his hands. "Lemme ask you this Quill," he started before turning to lock his eyes with Quill's. "How long do you think I believed that lie I've been telling myself? How long did you honestly think that I thought I had a chance with her?"

"Spike, what are you talking about?" Quill asked, moving back towards the table to stand next to Frost. "What do you mean by Rarity wasn't the only one playing with hearts?" Spike laughed to himself again, which only further annoyed and confused Quill. "Would you quit giggling to yourself and tell me what you mean?!"

"I believe I know what he is talking about," Frost started with a slight frown on her face as she continued to watch Spike's expression slowly change along with his emotions. Oddly, amusement became shame, and Frost had a feeling why. "This Rarity, she is not the only one that been tampering with another's heart. You too have been toying with her heart, you've also been doing it in secret from the sense of things. Is that not correct?"

Quill whipped her head towards Frost with a look of pure disbelief at what her mare was implying. However, Frost's words were only given truth when Spike again chuckled while nodding his head. "Yeah, I did," Spike admitted while he rubbed the back of his neck with a look of shame on his face. The heavy secret that he had been carrying with him for so long had been slowly eating away at him for close to three years.

"Every time a stallion came along and tried to win Rarity's heart," he choked, shaking his head at his past actions. "I would find some way to get rid of them. I had been doing that for three years before I just gave up around ten or so months ago."

"Oh my," Blaze said, completely shocked. She, nor the others, would have ever thought that a nice drake like Spike would ever do something as low as scaring off a suitor for someone he loved just so he wouldn't have any competition.

'Then again,' she thought, 'for a dragon, that's understandable.' All dragons were territorial in some shape or from, all dragons had some type of greed with in them, and all dragons acted on this greed whether they knew it or not. From the sound of things, Spike had been doing just that for a number of years.

"Quill, please," Spike started, relieved to finally be getting this off his chest. "I know that it was extremely selfish of me to do something like that, but I just couldn't take seeing her looking at someone else."

When Spike got nothing but pure silence from Quill, he sighed in discomfort. "Look I know you're mad at me for-"

"You mean to tell me," Quill started, moving over to where Spike was sitting and jabbing a finger into his chest. Spike grunted, but didn't say anything yet. No need in going saying something else that might upset Quill even further "For nearly a whole year, you let her have her way with you. You let her use you on purpose because you thought that you owed her didn't you?"

Spike dropped his head in shame with another sigh coming from him. "Y-yeah...I-I did, it burned me everytime I had to think of a plan of a way to get rid of another one of her crushes." Quill turned away from her brother in with a disappointed sigh coming from her, obviously greatly upset with Spike's past choices. "Look I'm not proud of what I did Quill, and honestly I'm sorry for never taking your advice to just move on with my life. You were right…"

"It all make sense now." Quill shook her head, closing her eyes as she spun around on her heel before facing Spike again. "The last time we've got into it about her," she started, referring to the time Spike ran all the way to Dodge Junction for three days. "I said that she would never love us. I said that she was only going to use us because she was too afraid of breaking our hearts."

Spike again sighed, seeing how everything would have been far much better if he had listened to Quill's blunt words from the beginning. "You got mad," Quill said, again poking a finger into his chest, and breaking Spike out of his thoughts. "But you didn't get mad because I was right, you got mad because you felt guilty about ruining her chances of finding someone to love. And you ran away, not to get away from me or the truth, but to start over with a clean slate, didn't you?"

"Yeah, that's right," Spike flatly answered with a small nod of his head. "Quill what you said to me hurt, it hurt worse than the actual truth, but yeah. I was more mad at you being more right than you could know than I was at you. I'm sorry Quill."

Quill took a step back away from Spike while she shook her head, still having an upset look on her face. "Lemme ask then then, just when did you really put all of this together, Spike? When did you really start to know that we never even had a chance?" Quill question, suddenly taking a step towards Spike, jabbing his arm hard.

Spike wordlessly took the hit, silently wishing that Quill would do a bit more than just punch him. "O-our greed-growth kinda gave it away," he began as he began rubbing the arm Quill punched in discomfort. "I-I had overheard her talking with Fluttershy about it a few days after...you wouldn't like to hear it."

"I know exactly what she said," Quill spat in anger while she continued to fill in all the missing pieces to the whole story. Closing her eyes, Quill started to slowly reason through everything that Spike had done over the years, and just why he would do something so foolhardy; her mind jumping to one answer. "You got bound by your stupid dragon's code, didn't you?" she questioned Spike, who was refusing to return the looks anyone was giving him, but still nodding his head.

"Spike, why didn't you ever tell me? I would've-"

Quill was cut off by Spike slowly shaking his head before he finally raised it to look her in the eyes. "No you wouldn't Quill," he said with a small laugh, knowing his sister far better than she knew herself. "Quill, knowing you," he paused, finally cracking a smile and pointing a finger at her. "You would have either stormed straight to Rarity's house to demand that she free me of any guilt, or you would have locked me in the closet until I said I would stop."

"That's because you're my brother Spike," Quill quickly said with a sad look on her face, one Spike didn't think fit her. "This may sound cheesy, but you're my twin brother Spike, and I love you. I wouldn't, and couldn't, sit back and let yourself get all worked up over something like that. I mean," Quill paused, walking around in a circle to buy herself time to think of something to say to Spike.

"Remember that time when Twi asked you to sing the Equestrian national anthem for the talent show like eight months ago?" Quill asked with a sly grin, moving closer towards Spike to pat him on the chest a couple of times. A long groan of irritation, along with a wave of flat emotions started coming from Spike as he nodded his head. "And, and remember how you didn't know a single word of it? Despite th-"

"Quill this better be going somewhere," Spike groaned with a small hint of a blush on his scales. Cyclone couldn't help but giggle at the blushing drake, after seeing that the situation was turning for the better. Spike's blush only got brighter in the dim room at the sound of Cyclone's giggling.

When he finally worked up the courage to look her way, all Cyclone did was blush back at him with a small wave. "Cuz making fun of me at a time like this is really the definition of childish."

"I'm getting to it, I'm getting to it," Quill assured, waving her hand around in Spike's face to get his attention, while she turned back around before leaning on the table with her left hand. "As bad as it was," she continued, turning around again to sit on the table and rest her arms in her lap. "Having bailed on taking any lessons with Fluttershy. And then the whole town staring at you, watching ya sweat more water than a waterfall. Someone came to your rescue after you didn't know any words to the song."

Spike started to chuckle while he scratched at his blushing red cheek with his finger. Thinking back to the day, Spike couldn't help but be glad that he had a sister like Quill, who was oddly a great singer too.

"You did," he mumbled quietly so only Quill would hear him, only to fail when the room carried an echo for the others to catch his words. "Okay I see your point sis, you're a loving sister that had a messed up way of showing it, but that doesn't mean I would have made a different choice."

"Of course not," Quill replied with a shake of her head and a fake exaggerated sigh. "You've always been the stubborn 'Spikey-Wikey,' bro." Both twins finally shared a laugh at the old nickname that the elements were fond of calling him sometimes.

This all was ironic and a bit backwards. This past year, both twins had been arguing and bickering about the mare, only to discover that their arguing hadn't been necessary. Spike was guilt bound by his dragon's code to help the mare out, all the while having given up on his feelings for her just under a year ago. Quill just wanted what was best for Spike, and that wasn't with the mare. She was just glad he knew that.

"Yeah, well you were always the hot-head," Spike started, wiping away a tear from his eye, happy that they were tears from laughing too much, instead of being from breaking down. In fact, laughter seemed to be lightening the mood so much, that he thought it would be funny to return Quill's pet-name. "You really have to teach me how you manage to sing so well, Barb."

Spike kept laughing, even when he saw his sister's body tense up just from hearing the old nickname. However, his laughter wasn't shared, as the others were able to see the hellfire in Quill's eyes before she whipped her head around to lock onto the laughing drake.

"Spike," Quill growled with a mildly threatening tone in her voice as her right eye started to slightly twitch from the overflow of emotions and anger towards that nickname. "Didn't I tell you not to call me that? Especially in front of Frost?"

Spike again chuckled, rubbing the spines on his head. "H-heh, yeah...well that's what you get for calling me 'Spikey-Wikey' in front of Cyclone," Spike retorted as he crossed his arms over his chest. His eyes widened and his jaw snapped shut, cutting off his laughter, when he realized what he had let slip.

Quill cracked a sly smile with her eyebrow raised at Spike, leaning forward a bit as she turned her head. "Oh? And what would that mean Spike?" she asked, looking between a blushing Cyclone and a stammering Spike. Before the drake could find some way out of what Quill was implying, his sister continued, "I figured you had a thing for Cyclone, and I think that you'd make a cute couple. What do you say, Blaze?"

"Oh yes, I agree," Blaze said with a small giggle as she leaned back in her chair. The soft smile grew on her lips as she closed her eyes to picture High Moon having new members added to it. "I think we might see a few dragon hatchlings running around here sometime soon."

Spike's blush quickly founded a new hue from Blaze's giggling while Cyclone stammered, "C-C-Clan-Mother, I don't… well, maybe…" Cyclone let out a small squeak when her mind caught onto what she had said, blushing brightly as she looked over to Spike for a moment before the both of them turned their gazes away.

Everyone started laughing at the two blushing dragons, soon getting them to softly laugh as well as they took a quick glance towards each other. "By the way," Quill started after her fit of laughter ended, hopping off Blaze's table, and grabbing the purple duffel bag from the floor. "Spike, you gotta check out the stuff I got from Ponyville. Oh, where's the green duffel bag? It has your stuff from Twilight's in it."

"Uh, I think we left it out at the greenhouse," Spike said, remembering that he was too worried about Quill to think about grabbing the duffel bag. "And what do you mean that it has my stuff from Twilight's in it?"

"Remember that space-saving spell Twilight was working on?" Quill asked as she unzipped the top of the duffel bag before rummaging through it to grab a black sketch-book and a blue mechanical pencil.

Spike's jaw dropped at the conclusion he came to after seeing Quill reach into duffel bag that had an ethereal purple glow to it. 'So that's what that was. Guess Twi really is moving on,' Spike thought to himself with a smile before he remembered that all of his stuff was still sitting out in the city.

"Oh dang, I better go grab it then," Spike said, quickly rushing around the table to reach to the slab door to the tunnel. However, before he could even get his fire-stone gloves within range, Spike was stopped by Isis outstretching a wing to stop him.

Spike looked up towards the sphinx's eyes for a moment, only seeing her smile towards him. "I'll go retrieve your things for you Spike," Isis said after she folded her wing back into place of her back. "Would you rather have me bring it here or to your room?"

"Uh, oh, my room would be better. Thanks Isis," Spike said with a small nod of thanks to Isis. She returned the nod before suddenly disappearing in a black flash of feathers. Spike shrugged his shoulders at the sphinx's sudden move, looking at Blaze for an answer.

All the mare did was close her eyes as she sparked her horn to conjure up a book for her to read. Seeing that there wasn't anything else to do, Spike turned to take Frost's spot at Blaze's table, as the mare had already walked around to stand right next to Quill, watching whatever Quill was drawing.

Cyclone blushed from having Spike standing right next to her after what she had blurted out, causing her to look away slightly. Spike caught this, but did his best not to let it be known. Instead he decided to put his mind on something else. "Hey uh, sis," Spike slowly said, getting Quill's attention away from what she was drawing. "I'm really sorry for making you worry about me all these years. I'm sorry for all of the arguments that we've had about it...I'm sorry about-"

"Spike...forget about it man," Quill cut in, "I should've been more considerate of your feelings. And I had plenty of time to think about that. So we're both sorry," Quill laughed, giving Spike a playful nudge with a half balled-up fist to his shoulder while she had a small smirk on her face.

"We both royally messed these last few years. So we might as well just move on, eh?" she asked before going back to her drawing in her book while both pet phoenixes eyed the Fire Ruby necklace threateningly, even giving it a few pecks with their beaks or kicks with their feet.

Spike rubbed his shoulder a little from Quill's fist pushing at it before he gave a slight eye roll. "Yeah we did, didn't we? But Quill, you're not totally dropping the subject, right? I mean, most of the elements seem to be doing fine, but…" he asked, wanting to get to the bottom of Rarity's sudden actions.

Quill shook her head, no longer wanting to deal with all of their past actions today, but still knowing what Spike was talking about. "No, but we'll figure it out eventually, Spike. Okay?" she asked, glancing at Spike with her pencil still on the light-tan paper.

"Alright Quill," Spike answered, knowing that Quill was probably still tired from what had happened today. "But for real, you're not gonna just turn your back on them, are you? They did technically raise us until we came out here."

"No Spike, I'm not turning my back on them, I'm just saying that they need to grow. And from the enchantment Twilight was able to learn without us around, I say they have," Quill said all while still drawing, turning the book every so often to get a better angle.

Spike nodded his head as he tried to get a better look at what she was drawing, giving up when she again turned the book another one hundred eighty degrees. "Ah, okay then. But what um, what did you get Quill?"

"Hm?"

Spike let out a small laugh as he should've guess that Quill would have already started losing herself in her drawing, 'in the zone' as she called it. "The duffel bag? The stuff you got from Ponyville, remember?"

"It's sitting right there, I'm not stopping you," Quill said while still roughing out what had been in her head for the last two months, since moving to High Moon. "Just be careful what you pull out, will ya? The rest of my clothes are still in there, if you know what I mean."

Spike titled his head for a moment before blushing. "Uh… yeah, are you sure you don't really care because I might…"

Sighing from being interrupted, Quill placed her pencil at the center fold of the book before closing it to show Spike, along with everyone else, what she was able to grab from the ponies that owed her favours. It wasn't long before Frost and Cyclone started to get invested as well while Blaze continued her reading, peeking over with a smile hidden behind her book.

Isis soon returned after placing Spike's duffel bag in his room. She moved to sit down in the empty chair next to Blaze, wrapping a wing around her so Blaze could comfortably lay her head down on Isis' chest. "Mistress, are you alright?" Isis faintly whispered to not disturb what the twins were talking about with Frost and Cyclone. "You seemed greatly worried throughout that whole ordeal."

Blaze leaned into Isis' body, putting away her book, wrapping her arms around her sphinx's midsection. Blaze sighed contently as she nuzzled into her warm black fur coat through the thin fabric of her shirt. "Yes Isis, I am fine," Blaze started, breathing in Isis' faint wildflower scent. "A lot happened to them today is all, and we are still not done just yet."

Isis lowered her head a little to look down at Blaze's shining eyes. "Mistress, what do you mean?" she asked Blaze as the mare further leaned into her chest, her eyes slowly closing.

"Not now, Isis," she slowly breathed out as if to keep her nerves in line. Isis knew that Blaze too must have been worked up in the last hour or so. With the traits she carried from her home, Blaze had to have been the one that was more worried than any of them.

However, she couldn't be allowed to show this. Blaze had to be strong at all times so the others could remain strong as well; she was the mother after all. "Let's have peace for a while, Isis," Blaze continued with a soft sigh when Isis placed a hand on her head and back to start gently rubbing them. "Let's rest."

"But of course mistress, you've earned it," Isis softly said as she moved her other wing around Blaze's body while her fingers were locked in the mass of her red mane and blue fur. Isis happily resigned herself to being a bed for her mistress. After the events that had passed in the last few hours, Isis knew that she needed the rest.

Today certainly had been a long day for everyone, and it still wasn't over. However in the end, memories were memories, some better left forgotten. They held just enough power to affect a single individual, and through that single individual, they held an even greater power. This was one of the few things immortals feared.

While Blaze slowly fell asleep in Isis' arms and wings, both Quill and Spike were continuing their talk about what came next for them. "So...sis," Spike spoke through the gem favored lollipop in his mouth while the others also enjoyed a sweet treat. "What's next? I mean, what do you have planned for tomorrow?"

Quill raised a suspicious eyebrow at the drake before going back to her drawing. "I dunno," she answered with a slight shrug of her shoulders, taking a moment to actually think about what came next. "Training I guess, I'm still entering in that flight competition so I need to work on some aerial moves. Along with some other stuff. What about you Frost, what you think we should do?"

Frost looked away from the handheld game station that she and Cyclone were busy playing around with. "Hm," she looked away to think of something, moving the lollipop around in her mouth as she did so. "Yes, training does seem like our main adjective for tomorrow. Unless Wolf or Blaze has something else planned that is."

"I don't think so," Cyclone faintly said as she continued to play the basic 2D side-scroller. The other three turned their attention towards Cyclone, only to see her pink eyes reflecting the light from the game screen. "Clan-Mother seems to not want anything too big to happen for a while, so I'm guessing all of us will just be doing some training until Clan-Father comes up with something."

Both twins raised an eyebrow at the dragoness, who either remained unaware of their stares, or just paid them no attention. "Cyclone, how do you figure that?" Frost asked, not sensing anything particularly wrong with her, but slightly thrown off by her not paying them any attention. "Granted that this has been a fairly busy week, but I would think that we would have some more to do."

"Mm...no," Cyclone replied as she paused the game to face the half-breed standing by her. Again, Frost was thrown off when she got a sense of merry from Cyclone, but guessed it was just because of the peace that they had for now. "After the test we all took, and the greenhouse being almost done, the most that would happen would be us moving the plant potion thing."

That's when everyone turned their attentions towards the large cauldron sitting next to Frost, having been largely ignored during the heated moment with the twins, that held the plant-growth potion inside. Spike still had no idea how they were going to move it without spilling any of the elixir, but after seeing what Isis could truly do with her magic, he had a feeling that they wouldn't have much trouble.

"So, unless something does come up, I doubt that we will being doing much of anything." Cyclone quickly went back to playing the game as she now was starting to get the hang of it and was enjoying it. "I guess I'll be doing something with my water-magic tomorrow," she continued, again pausing the game to look at Frost. "If you don't mind helping me, Frost?"

Frost quickly smiled at the dragoness, remembering that she had agreed to help her with her water-magic. "Sure thing Cyclone, I would be happy to teach you a few things I know," she said with a honest tone that only brightened the dragoness' smile.

"Guess I might as well tag along," Quill said, easing some of her drawing to add a bit more detail to it. "You know, since I did say I'd help with your fire-magic, Cyclone." Quill giggled for a bit when Cyclone turned her head towards her, only to nod it excitingly, resembling Pinkie Pie. "What about you Spike?"

"Oh uh, what you guys want to train with me?" Spike took a moment to think about training with the females, while doing so, playing around with a large white and blue rubbery ball. "Sure why not, Lily did say I needed to get my training to be more physical anyways."

"Great, then it's settled," Quill said with a smirk on her face before she closed her sketchbook and crossed her arms over her chest. "If Wolf lets us do it, the lot of us will be doing some training tomorrow, how does that sound?"

"I'm good with it, Quill," Spike said with a slight nod of his head, Cyclone and Frost doing the same. He was excited that he'd finally be able to do some real training again, along with the chance of being free from the limiters on his wrists. And if everything worked out tomorrow, Spike would be looking at a chance to defeat his ghost heart; something that would never have happened if he would have done one simple thing.

Let. Go.

/ Ch. 46: Of Talks and Faith/-/

High Moon Ch. 46: Of Talks and Faith

While the rest of the High Moon pack dealt with Quill's mystery problem, Wolf followed Lily and Veil to the tomb that Lily mentioned the other day. The trek wasn't too long, only a short five minute walk around some of the ruins.

During the short walk, Lily asked Wolf what he had planned for everyone tomorrow, and the days following. Much to the mare's surprise, Wolf merely said that everyone was free to fall into their own routine since there wasn't anything else that needed doing. With the greenhouse nearly done, all they had to do was worry about everyone's health. Which mostly consisted of Cyclone's fractured dragon's soul, Spike's ghost-heart, and Blaze's pregnancy.

Other than that, everything was done, relatively speaking. High Moon still had to be repaired and renovated to where they could use the space better, but that was an overall goal. A goal that would take way more manpower to handle. So they could take their time with it as they pleased. Both the mansion and archives were in decent condition, so they didn't have to worry about that. And as for getting stuff from towns, Wolf was more or less sure that either Spike or Quill would be able to come up with something.

So, in the end, Wolf thought that it was time to let the pack start making a few choices of its own. Everyone had already shown that they knew what they needed to do and that they knew how they were going to do it.

That's why Wolf wanted to take this opportunity to check out the tomb that Lily and Veil had told him about. When Lily asked why he was suddenly interested in it, Wolf would merely said that he was just checking out another part of their home with his own eyes. Upon getting close to the tomb, Wolf was able to see why neither he nor Blaze ever bothered to check this area of High Moon.

"A cliff?" Wolf asked while he continued to gaze up the cliff to see anything that would give Lily or Veil a reason to go up it. However, nothing would come to mind. There wasn't a need to go up the cliff, but as Lily wasn't the kind to waste time or energy on something that was fruitless, he had to ask. "Okay, before we go up, I want to ask this. Why were you two bothering with a cliff?"

"Drake's bird saw something on the top of the cliff and started flying towards it," Veil answered with a slight roll of her shoulders, unsheathing her claws to get ready to scale the small cliff again. Even if she didn't really wanted to. "Yo-you still want to check it out right...Alpha?"

Wolf looked at Lily, who shook her head faintly, as if answering a silent question of his. "Yeah, shouldn't be too much trouble," he said as he copied Veil's same motions to unsheathe his own claws. "We'll see you up there Lily."

The flutterpony nodded her head to both canines, taking a few steps towards the cliff. "Both of you, please be careful climbing this cliff-face, and don't get too far a part from each other." Wolf waved the flutterpony off, not knowing where her suddenly grave concern was coming from. Lily looked over at Veil for a moment before she began rapidly buzzing her wings to take off to the ledge at the top.

Wolf watched Lily quickly fly up to the ledge, still wondering why she was being extra cautious, but soon waving it off as he moved towards the rocky cliffside with Veil close behind. "Alright hound, you ready?" Wolf asked, taking a spot right in front of the cliff with Veil standing next to him, shaking slightly.

When Veil turned her head back down to look towards him, she meekly nodded her head with a small sigh afterwards. Wolf noticed the hound's suddenly apprehensive body language, but waved it off as something else. He soon jumped onto the rocky surface to start climbing his way up, with Veil following closely behind.

Climbing the cliff-face wasn't difficult for either of the dogs, as their claws were designed to carve their way into the jagged rocks, and provided enough grip to keep them from falling. And even though Wolf had a head start, Veil was able to keep up with him a little thanks to the shape of her claws. However, Wolf soon noticed that Veil wasn't keeping up with him at one point. Looking down, he found that Veil had frozen up, shaking badly.

Wolf assumed that it was because of her not having too much experience with climbing anything, and that she was nervous about falling. Rock-climbing, along with tunneling, were skills learned by living in a den. They were skills all diamond dogs needed to master at some point of their lives.

With Veil only living a portion of her life in a den, it wasn't a wonder that she was lacking some of these skills. It was more of a wonder that Wolf hadn't realized it until now, or why Lily didn't tell him about it. Thankfully though, Veil freezing up on the cliff did stop her from falling, which would've been worse.

"Hey hound," Wolf started, carefully sliding down to Veil's left side to see her heavily breathing and shaking with her eyes opened wide. Wolf carefully removed his left hand out of the rockside to gently place it on Veil's shoulder to get her to snap out of her daze. "Veil calm down, we're almost there."

Veil took a hard swallow before nodding her head slightly. "Y-yeah I know. J-just give me a sec," she said weakly as she closed her eyes to regain some of her composure. Veil hated climbing things, she hated it worse than digging. But she was a beta diamond dog, these were the things she had to do. She had to do something to keep herself useful to the pack. "A-alright, let's g-get this over with."

Wolf nodded his head, letting his hand go from Veil's shoulder to allow her to climb up ahead of him before following. It took a few more minutes, every so often Wolf had to stop to let Veil catch her breath and regain control over herself. Soon, Veil began clawing at the edge to pull herself up and over. Wolf was right behind the hound as he embedded all of his claws into the rough dirt of the ground, using them to hop straight over the oblong shaped edge.

Veil lay on her back, staring blankly up at the skies with a wide-eyed expression, and panting from a mix of fear and exertion. Wolf glanced down at the shivering beta for a moment before he locked eyes with Lily, beginning to move towards her. Lily glanced at the prone hound before asking, "Wolf, is everything alright? Is Veil-"

"Why didn't you tell me she had a fear of heights?" Wolf growled, "Lily, you know I would never have let that hound climb up this cliff if I knew she had a fear of heights." Lily lowered her head in shame at the upset tone in Wolf's voice, knowing that she deserved it. "Lily, I want an answer. Did you know about this or not?"

Lily slowly nodded her head in shame, still refusing to meet the angry light in Wolf's green eyes. "Yes Wolf I did," she admitted with shame lacing her voice, only furthering Wolf's anger. Wolf opened his mouth to shout at the mare, but something stopped him from doing so, forcing him to let out another low, rumbling, growl. "Wolf, I'm sorry for not telling you, but Veilstone, she...she didn't want me telling you or the others."

"And why in Cerberus' name is that?" Wolf questioned, unable to see a reason why Veil would put herself through something like that, and upset that she would do it. "Lily, that doesn't make any sense, why would sh-"

"Because I don't want to look weak." Wolf turned around to see Veil was slowly getting off the ground and onto shaky feet. Veil then began walking towards Wolf with her head lowered to the point where her eyes were concealed behind her hair. "Alpha," she continued with her hands tightening at her sides, visibly shaking. "I'm n-not weak. I'm not j-just some normal beta hound...I-I'm…"

Wolf firmly placed his hands on Veil's shoulders to get her to look up from the gray stone ground and to look him in the eyes. "Veil, I never once said, or thought you're weak," he said in a stern tone of voice, a firm look in his eyes. "But that doesn't excuse you for pushing yourself like that. If you really feel the need to test yourself, tell someone first, okay?"

Veil's breath was slightly taken when she was forced to lock eyes with Wolf, quickly feeling a massive pull that forced her to continue to gaze into the powerful dull-green eyes. However, she didn't fight the feeling. There was something in Wolf's eyes, something that granted her a sense of security that she had been looking for all her life.

It was the feeling of belonging to something larger than herself, it was the feeling of having responsibilities, it was the feeling of knowing that she wasn't alone; it was trust.

"O-okay Alpha," Veil slowly answered, taking in a deep breath before finally getting her nerves to calm down. Wolf quickly nodded his head, wrapped his arm around her neck, and motioned for Lily to follow them in into the cave.

Veil stood underneath Wolf's protective arm for a bit, enjoying the comfort of knowing that there was someone strong to lean on when she needed it. But she soon regained her composure, moving out of the alpha's arm with a small blush on her face.

"Thanks Alpha," she said, refusing to look Wolf in the eyes while they continued to walk into the cave. Thanks to evolution, both Wolf and Veil's eyes began illuminating in their respective shines, allowing them to see in the damp cave as though the sun was out.

However, Lily was a vastly different case. The moment all traces of sunlight was gone, her vibrant brown coat and pure white mane began to shift to a darker shade, while her wings lost all of their shine. She was lucky to store as much sunlight as she did in her wings before entering the dim cave, and that there small pockets of sunlight deeper in the cave.

As the three continued to venture deeper in the cave, Veil turned her head slightly to look to her left at Wolf as he was most likely musing over what possible use the cave and its hidden treasures could be to High Moon. She still felt bad for not being able to get the farm job for the pack, now she was making him worry over her own fears.

"Alpha," Veil started in a low tone of voice, just barely enough to gain Wolf's attention. When the alpha dog turned his head towards her, Veil flinched slightly from the power behind his illuminated green eyes, but held strong. "I'm sorry for acting like a fool, by the way," Veil said, turning her head towards the stone ground, rubbing her arm. "It's just that...I had a talk with Frost, and she said that I should try bettering myself for Cy."

Sighing, Wolf shook his head, knowing that the beta didn't truly hadn't meant any harm. "Don't worry about it too much. I can tell that you and her are closer than just friends, so it's only natural that you'd want to get stronger to help protect her."

"Y-yeah…" It didn't come as much of a surprise to Veil that Wolf knew that she looked at Cyclone as more than a friend. If Frost was able to tell, there was little question that Wolf was able to see it as well. "It's just that...everyone here is far stronger or smarter than me. Alpha, I can't use magic, and I'm no good when it comes to planning something. I've got-"

"Veil, stop talking, will ya?" Wolf asked, not liking where the hound was going with her train of thought, and displeased that she was thinking it. "I want you to stop talking for a second, and think. You've single handedly taken care of a dragoness for six years. Not only that, you managed to do it in a town that didn't even want you two there. That takes skill."

Veil looked up at Wolf to see him looking at her with a bright smile, but could only return it with a small sigh. "No, that takes luck. That's all my-"

"Veil, stop it," Lily finally chimed in, sounding completely irritated with the depressing conversation happening behind her. When Veil turned at Lily, all she saw was the piercing coldness in her white eyes that somehow still managed to display some sense of kindness. "Wolf is our Alpha, yes?"

"Uh, yeah, but what does that-"

Veil again was cut off by Lily almost hissing, "Then stop speaking against his words when they are the truth," the mare said, again sounding far more tired than she was supposed to be. However, neither canine bothered to ask about it.

After knowing the mare for close to nine years, Wolf knew far too well about her breed of equine's weakness without the sunlight, and Veil had personally experienced it when she first ventured into the cave with Lily. It was weird to Veil as to why her body would do such a thing, but she guessed that it was one of the prices she paid for being able to use magic the way she could. "Er, okay. Sorry for that, it's just that-" Veil stopped speaking when she saw Lily glaring daggers at her, telling her to be quiet with nothing but her eyes. "Right, walking, salvaging, staying quiet. I can do that." Once Lily turned her head around to continue walking down the tunnel, Veil let out a small breath of relief, and took note not to cross the flutterpony at night.

It was soon after that that the three came upon a large chamber that held weaponry, tools, and other articles from the past. Just like the tomb that Wolf, Blaze, and Lily found Isis in, blue and gold tapestry lined the walls, torn from the trudging of time.

Stone structures were scattered about, carvings that appeared to be tributes to somepony. But they were unrecognizable, as they were cracked and missing several pieces. Jewels, gems, and golden coins lie on the floor, all hopefully having value in the present world now. Bits and pieces of armor, some for battle, other for decorative purposes, were placed against the walls, and most of it was still in a useable condition.

Wolf wasn't too surprised with the status of the tomb. From things he'd seen around much of High Moon, this was to be suspected. What mattered was if there was anything of value to the pack in some way. Giving the cave a quick look around, Wolf handed out assignments to the other two.

Lily was told to gather as much of the cloth as she could, that way they would have extra cloth to use when they needed it. Wolf told Veil to stick around him while they looked around the cave floor for things of initial interest that they could use. When Veil asked what that would be, Wolf said that it'd be stuff that could be useful for cooking, trading, or for Blaze's potion-making.

The task wasn't too hard, because everything in the tomb seemed to be personal items. A gauntlet and broken sword or two, but not much for what the pack needed right now. That didn't mean Veil didn't find all the of treasure in front of her... enticing, to say the least, but they served no real purpose for the pack.

When Lily finished her task, and had flown back down to the two canines, Wolf thought it best for them to take a quick break before heading back to the temple. Naturally, Lily chose a spot where sunlight was shining through as her resting place to recharge her magic and energy.

Wolf was laying on his back against the oddly smooth stone floor, tossing up a brass bracelet in the air before catching it again. Veil herself was toying around with a ring she'd found on the floor, following the decorative patterns that flowed around the ring in an eternal circle.

Giving up on solving the frustrating puzzle that seemed to be toying with her, Veil began to think about the one issue that has been bothering her all day: Drake. She knew that Frost was right, and that she did need to take some time to get to know him along with the others, however there was just something about the drake she couldn't lay her finger on.

It could be that she was still comparing Spike to the only other male in the pack, but that was her only way of doing it without being too forward about the matter. The problem wasn't that she disliked Spike, or wanted to keep Cyclone to herself. When it came to her, though, she always tried to make sure that Cyclone would be safe and happy. She chuckled to herself, remembering that Cyclone always joked about them being pack-sisters. Like that would happen with the drake. And while it was likely not necessary to be worried in this case, she always became concerned when it came to Cyclone. Most likely an irrational concern.

But still…

"Hey Alpha," Veil spoke after giving up on trying to think about it herself, only able to rely on the one person she had to trust more than the others. Not that she didn't trust anyone else, it was just that Wolf and Blaze were the leaders of High Moon, and to her they had full say-so on any matter.

"Yeah Veil, what is it?" Wolf asked as he continued to toss the bracelet up in the air to keep his hands busy while they rested. A few moments passed as Veil continued to remain silent, only letting out a few sighs every now and again, telling Wolf whatever she had to say was a pressing issue on her mind. "Veil, you know that you can tell me if something is bothering you."

Veil opened her mouth again, only to let out a frustrated sigh a moment later. "Yes Alpha, I know," she sighed, giving Wolf a small nod of her head. Veil took in one more deep breath before saying, "You know Spike, right? Well...what do you think about him?"

"Huh? Spike, what in Cerberus' bloody fangs would you want to know about him?" Wolf asked, catching the brass bracelet one last time before sitting up to look at the hound. "He's a pretty open book if you talk to him long enough, but I wouldn't know much."

"How come, Alpha?" Veil asked, still wanting more information on the drake before she confronted Cyclone about him. "The twins have been here for two months now, right? So you must know more about Spike. Uh, right?"

Much to her displeasure, Wolf shook his head before laying back down on the ground, and resumed his catching game. "Normally yeah, but like I said, the drake is kinda an open book. You shouldn't take other's opinions. Make your own, hound."

Veil's head and shoulders slumped at Wolf's response, letting out a small sigh. Yet again, something so simple, so basic, had flown right over her head, and the only reason she knew was someone else pointing it out. 'Alpha's right, I can't keep asking everyone about Drake. Only way I'm getting answers is if I go to him myself.'

"Alright Alpha, sorry to bother you with pointless stuff like that," Veil said as she rubbed her arm out of habit, keeping her eyes firmly placed on the ground. "You got more important matters than to answering my silly questions."

"Don't worry about it Veil," Wolf began, still continuing with his catching game as he spoke. "It's my duty as alpha to hear about it. Besides," Wolf paused, catching the brass bracelet, and sitting up to look at Veil. "It's the truth."

Veil stared into Wolf's green eyes for a moment, lost from the power and wisdom in them. She had never seen anything like it before, and she never thought she'd meet an alpha she could trust so fast, yet here she was. "Thanks Alpha, it means more than you know," Veil said with a small smile on her face, becoming more comfortable with the choice to live in High Moon.

Wolf nodded his head towards the hound before getting up off the ground with a small stretch and yawn. He then waved Lily over with a hand, prompting her to grab the folded up cloth in her arms before walking out of her small ray of fading sunlight. The moment she did so, her fur, mane, and tail all took a darker shade of color, signifying that her mood would be slowly darkening as well.

"Alright you two," Wolf started, looking between the two females with his arms crossed over his chest. "What's the quickest, and safest, way out of here?" he asked the other two, knowing that going back down the cliff was not an option.

"Uh, oh yeah, there's a hill that we can take from a path outside of the cave's entrance, Alpha," Veil answered, far preferring that over climbing the cliff-face any day. With a nod from Wolf, and a wave of his hand telling her to take lead, Veil turned to the cave's entrance.

No words were spoken during the trek out of the cave, mainly because the three were tired for their own reasons, and there was no doubt that the rest of the pack was just as tired. It had been a pretty busy week in High Moon for everyone. Frost, Veil, and Cyclone joining the pack, Spike's ghost-heart and new training, the dragons' tests, and now the greenhouse.

Now he figured that it was time to get things moving back to the norm. Time for the twins to start working on their magic, time for Cyclone to really began her training, and it was time for Wolf to get the pack all ready for winter's coming. So much to do, Wolf only hoped there was enough time.

It wasn't long before they found themselves outside of the caves, only to see that the sun was making its last few moments of light known to the world. "Hm, we better hurry back," Wolf openly mused as he continued to follow Veil along the path near the cave. "I'm sure the others have the seeds already planted. If not, I think we might have to work late in the night."

Wolf began picking up his pace, using the subtle hints from the path that they were on to guide him down the hill. It was then Wolf realized why Lily took him to the cliff and not this path. This path lead back down right near the mansion, a far long-shot away from the greenhouse where they were at, and most likely would have been hard to move up on.

Once they were on mostly flat land again, Wolf looked back towards the two and noticed that Veil seemed better climbing down than she was at climbing up. "Come on you two, let's get this done."

High Moon Temple

Moments later, the three began making their way towards the mansion ruins when Lily excused herself for the night, saying that she would be completely useless the moment the sun passed over the horizon. Wolf asked the mare if she was sure she would skip over dinner like that, but she merely said that she had a stash of apples and other fruit in her room that would keep her over for the night.

After seeing her off, Wolf and Veil headed towards the tunnels to gather the others so they could finish the greenhouse and wouldn't have to worry about it the next day. During said trip, the two conversed about what was scheduled for everyone to do tomorrow.

From the sound of things, Wolf didn't have anything generally planned for tomorrow, or the days after, in fact. As long everything went the way it was supposed to within the pack, and everyone did their duties, nothing extra would have to be done.

A part of her was happy to hear that things would be calming down for a bit, giving her the time she'd need to continue thinking about the choice she was about to make. It wasn't any of her business if Cyclone did like Spike the way she did, but she couldn't just wave off someone that she'd been protecting for six years.

Cyclone was like the sister she never had, Veil had been there to comfort her when she needed; Cyclone made her feel useful. Veil couldn't abandon her like that, not to someone that they barely knew. Everyone could tell her what they believed in Spike, but she needed to see it herself.

"Hey Veil," Wolf started, breaking Veil out of her protective thinking. The moment she looked over at Wolf, Veil again caught the power and wisdom behind his dull-green eyes. "Blaze may ask us to head out tomorrow to grab some ingredients, so be ready if she does. You understand?"

"Yeah sure, Alpha," Veil said, rubbing her arm with her hand again in the same nervous habit. She knew that Wolf was right when he said that she needed to form her own opinion about Spike, but that would take time. Time that she might not have from the look of things. 'Tonight. I've got to speak with him tonight. I need to know if I really can trust him with taking care of Cy.'

While Veil continued to think about the private matter, Wolf continued to list the many things that needed to be done before winter. However, keeping track of the tasks in his mind was starting to become bothersome, and he wondered if one of the twins could make one of those 'check-lists' that he heard them go on about a few times before.

From the sound of it, a list would be better able to organize the activities in High Moon so that things would get done a bit more efficiently. 'It's at least worth a shot.' Wolf thought to himself as he and Veil began reaching the main slab-door to the temple, opening it with the fire-stones in his collar.

Once the door was moved out of the way, both Wolf and Veil raised an eyebrow at the sight in front of them. Both Cyclone and Quill seemed to be engaged in some activity with two unknown devices in their hands, while Spike was showing Frost some book that appeared to be about magic.

However, Blaze was nowhere to be found, and only Isis stood up from her chair to greet the two canines. "I see that everything is back to 'normal?'" Wolf asked the sphinx while Veil walked over to Cyclone to see what the two dragonesses were doing. "Isis, what's going on, and where's Blaze?"

"Master," Isis started, placing her hands on Wolf's chest in a slow manner to get him to calm down, and to show him that there wasn't anything to worry about. "Mistress is fine, she is just asleep in bed right now. As for everyone else, everything is...mostly alright."

Wolf looked down at the sphinx's eyes for a moment before letting out a small sigh and a nod. It was good to know that everything was back under control and that there wasn't anything to worry about. "Alright, but I want to know what caused this whole commotion, Isis."

"But of course, master," Isis said, removing herself from Wolf's chest, walking over towards the younger members, and waving the twins over. With a quick look towards each other, both Spike and Quill stopped what they were doing to walk over towards Wolf.

Once the twins were standing in front of him, Wolf crossed his arms over his chest. "Quill, what happened? And what caused all this ruckus in the first place? Cyclone said you were sick, but you don't look it to me."

"Well, I was, but Blaze fixed that up," Quill answered rubbing her arm. She glanced over to Spike for a moment before the two averted their eyes, thinking the same thing. "As for what happened…"

"I'm listening." Wolf waited for them to tell him what was the cause for everything that had happened over the last two hours or so. The room soon filled with a thick and tense air as no one wanted to break the silence for fear of the alpha's wrath.

The silence lasted so long that it began irritating Wolf more than he already was, to the point that he began growling at the two. When the sound of his growling reached their ears, both twins looked up towards the dog, only to see that his expression was slowly turning darker the longer they didn't say anything.

With another look towards each other, and a deep breath, both twins rushed to say, "It's my fault!" Again, silence took over the room, this time with Wolf blankly staring at the twins as they tried to take the blame for what happened. This persisted to the point where they began arguing with each other over whose fault it was.

"Spike this is my fault," Quill snapped, crossing her arms over her chest while she stood up straight to give her the appearance of not having it any other way. "If I had just been honest with you and said I didn't have any feelings for Rarity, then you would have never done any of that stuff. That's final."

Spike's fists tightened at his sides from Quill trying to take the blame of the mess that he caused. Quill didn't do anything wrong. It was Spike's choice to continue pursuing the mare, even though everyone tried to tell him otherwise. So he was supposed to be the one that got punished. Not anyone else, especially Quill.

"No Quill, this is my fault," Spike retorted, copying the same stance as his sister, but somehow appearing stronger in it. "I'm the one who was too scared to face the truth when it was right in my face. You didn't want anything to do with her, and you tried to help me see why I shouldn't have, either. I was too dumb to notice."

Quill began glaring at Spike slightly, angry that he wouldn't just let her take some fault for what had happened throughout the time they'd lived in Ponyville. It didn't matter that he was half right. If she had talked to him instead of arguing, Spike might have seen Quill's point of view.

"Oh no you don't Spike," Quill flatly said with a small growl as her wings began to flex outwards behind her. "This my fault as much it is as yours. Don't think I'm gonna watch you take all the blame for something like this a-"

"Enough!" Both twins jumped at the sound of Wolf deep voice roaring over them, forcing them to look up at him to see the displeasure on his face. When the twins turned their heads towards the floor in shame, Wolf softened his voice with a small sigh. "Listen, I don't care whose fault it was. I want to know what caused all of this mess in the first place. Now, what in Cerberus' bloody fangs are you two talking about?"

Spike looked up from the ground to meet his sister in her purple eyes for a moment before she nodded her head towards Wolf, signifying that he could go first if he wanted to. Sighing, Spike turned towards Wolf, and started to rub the back of his head.

"It's about our past lives in Ponyville..." he started, only meeting Wolf's eyes for a few moments before turning towards something else that couldn't crush him. "Really, more about the things I did behind someone's back. Things that I'm not sure I can correct."

Before Wolf could question the drake, Spike let out a whistle to call Peewee from his perch. The bird did as he was commanded, flying down to Spike's shoulder with the necklace in his beak. "I did some pretty bad things that I'm not proud of. I tried to pay them back however I could. Basically making myself a slave to a pretty face to repay a debt. This necklace was what helped cause our greed-growths. After we recovered, I overheard something that made me realize my dreams with her were hopeless. But I refused to give up for a time, just lying to myself. I'm guessing my ghost-heart started festering after that."

Wolf looked at the necklace in Peewee's beak, more specifically the gem that was inside. He knew that now wasn't the best of times to think this, but a gem like that would be perfect for Blaze and his' cub. However, he pushed those thoughts aside for later when he saw Spike tightening his fists at his sides with a look of anger on his face.

"I can't believe how stupid I was!" Spike shouted in a small growl, still angry at the way he dealt with things, and not happy that it was just a part of his dragon heritage. If he had known that, Spike would have thought of a better way to control himself, or found a way to put it to better use. It had never even occurred to him to ask Celestia, or even the Lunar goddesses about the matter.

"She didn't even love me," Spike continued, keeping his eyes down to the ground with a growing snarl on his face. "Not even once. Yet I acted as if I was the only one good enough for her. I thought, I honestly thought that if I could win her over that...that I would be respected. I dunno anymore."

Spike took in a deep breath and let out a small sigh in the form of a small burst of green embers. Weak, that's how Spike felt right now. That's how he had felt throughout all his life. Always stuck in someone else's shadow. "You know, our lives are sort of ironic. Don't you think Quill?" Spike asked with a half-hearted chuckle, only getting a sigh from his sister as a response. "The two of us, dragons, the most powerful beings on the planet next to immortals, and yet we've been weak our entire lives."

"Yeah, yeah we have," Quill said, softening her tone a little, and dropping her shoulders. "What with the 'shining' light of the elements and Celestia always in our faces." Quill snorted out a small cloud of gray smoke through her nose, thinking of all the times everything they'd ever done being outshone by the elements.

It didn't matter what mess they'd cleaned up for them, the elements would just say thanks or sorry, and move on to do the same fucking thing the next day. "But that's the past Spike, we don't have to live like that anymore. We can make something of ourselves out here."

"Yeah you're right Quill, but that doesn't change one fact," Spike sighed as he looked over at Peewee still holding the necklace in his beak, the ruby shining. From the small amount of light and the red reflection from the Fire Ruby, Spike saw Wolf's face gazing only at him. Spike turned his head away from the ruby, unable to even dare look at the mere reflection of the dog, not when he continued to remind him of something he didn't have the right to ever be. "I don't ever deserve to be a knight."

Wolf took the necklace away from Peewee's beak, and gestured for the bird to fly back up to the shared nest that he had with Cinder. After a quick nuzzle against Spike's cheek, Peewee flew back up toward the nest to let Wolf say what he needed to say.

"Listen Spike," Wolf started, getting the drake to look up from the ground and towards him. "I don't know what it means to be a knight, or even how to began to help you achieve this. But what I do know is that you know what honor and sacrifice is, and that has to count for something, right?"

Spike wordlessly nodded his head, not knowing what else to think, or knowing what to believe in any more. "Spike, it's a start. At least that's what I believe from the things I've seen you do. But you know what they say, actions speak louder than words."

Wolf moved the necklace towards Spike's face, waiting for him to hold out his hand. "The worst thing you can do is deny your past and let it control who, and what, you are now." Spike held out his hand to take the necklace from Wolf, looking solely at the red ruby inside of it when it fell in his hand. "Hey Spike," Wolf started, patting Spike on the shoulder a little to snap his attention towards him. "Just do what feels right."

Not giving the drake time to think about it, Wolf began walking towards the arcane doors leading towards the bedrooms, stopping when he began opening the door. "Isis, you coming to bed, or are you going to stay up for a little bit longer?"

"I will be up there in a moment, master," Isis said with a serious look on her face as she remained standing where she was. "There's something I want to speak with the others about, first." Shrugging his shoulders, Wolf started out of the room as the door began moving back into place. Once it was closed, Isis closed her eyes as she took in a deep breath before letting out a small sigh.

"Tell me, Draguls," she started in a low tone of voice that sent out a wave of chill in the room. "The reasons that you've put yourselves through so much over the last two months. Why you two constantly strive to become stronger. What legacy will the two of you be leaving?"

Both Spike and Quill glanced quickly at each other. They weren't sure where the sphinx's sudden question came from, yet for some reason they felt inclined to answer. This time it was Spike who nodded his head towards Isis, telling Quill that she could go first this time if she wanted to.

"Well…" Quill mused, looking up towards Isis' shining blue and crimson eyes, feeling an intense wave of...something powerful just behind them. Why she never noticed it before was a bigger mystery than Isis' sudden question. "Becoming stronger was my only reason, but that's changed. I don't want to just become stronger for just for the sake of being strong. There're things that I need to set straight, and I've got no plans of changing the path I'm on now."

Isis flatly stared down towards Quill for a moment, as even with the vague wording of her goals, Isis knew exactly what the dragoness was talking about from the few moments of personally speaking with her. It was good to know that Quill actually had a goal with her power, for if she didn't then she would be nothing but a tool for someone to use. However…

'Humph, no, she's far too headstrong for someone to control her.' Isis quietly mused to herself before turning her eyes over towards the dragoness' twin brother. "And you Spike?" Isis questioned, sending out another chillwave down everyone's spines with her words alone. "Surely a drake with the aspirations of becoming a knight has a plan to accomplish that."

"Ye-yeah… I did, at least," Spike sighed, looking down towards the red ruby necklace in his hands, still greatly displeased with everything that he had done. "But after the things I've done, after the pain I caused others, how can I ever call myself a knight?" Spike paused before looking back into the sphinx's eyes. "A knight is supposed to be noble, he's supposed to be fearless, living with honor for his whole life. I've lived nothing but a life of shame, I'm not worth calling a knight...ever."

"Spike…" Quill sighed, upset to hear Spike giving up on his biggest life goal of becoming a knight. Sure, she thought that he was overdoing it a bit, but that didn't mean she didn't want him to actually achieve it.

Even with his sister's begging gaze, Spike couldn't return it, as he was too ashamed to look Quill in the eyes. All the drake could manage was to stare at the stone ground, while the collective focus of the room was placed on him.

As the moments passed, Isis realized that it was upon her to step up and take the role of guiding the drake down the path he wanted to live. "Do you truly believe that, Spike?" Isis inquired, slowly walking over towards Spike with an unreadable posture. Even Frost wasn't able to understand what kind of emotion the sphinx was giving off. It was almost like trying to read a ghost.

"Is that what you think of a knight?" Isis continued, stopping right in front of Spike, staring down into a lost look that she had seen far too many times before. "Honor, fearlessness, selflessness, you think that's what will make you a knight, and nothing else?"

Spike refused to look up at the sphinx, fearing the look of disappointment on her face as well the others'. 'Look at me, I can't even look anyone in the eyes...' Pathetic, that was the only way to describe how he felt right now. Everything out in the open, and yet he still couldn't muster up the will to look the others in the eyes.

"Spike," Isis whispered, gently taking hold of the drake's chin, and turning it towards her own. Much to Isis' surprise, there was a small tone of red clouding Spike's emerald green eyes. "You are wrong, regardless of how you look at it. A knight is much more than that."

"Wh-what?" Spike faintly breathed out, in pure disbelief of what Isis was saying to him. He wanted to say that she was wrong, that she didn't know what she was talking about. However, with Isis living just as long, if not longer than Celestia, Spike had little to no room to question her.

Slowly, the cold blank expression on Isis' face began changing to one that was more kind; almost motherly. "You heard me Spike," Isis softly giggled, moving both of her hands to cup the sides of his face, and raising his head further up a bit. "Granted that while what you said is true, a knight also knows what humiliation, failure, and fear is."

Isis released Spike's cheeks to rest her hands on his shoulders, continuing, "Knights come in all shapes and forms, some in shining armor, others in the rags they call clothing. Purity does not make a knight. Acknowledging their weaknesses, and knowing guilt helps guide one to the path of knighthood. What is told in fairytales follows after. And not all told is strictly the truth."

Spike's body started to ease up in the sphinx's warm hands, only able to stay attached to those words she was speaking to him. "Yes, knights are supposed to be strong, but strength comes in many forms."

"Bu-but...th-then it isn't too late?" Spike asked, wanting to believe the sphinx's words to be true. "I still can be a knight."

Lowering her eyes, Isis placed her hand on Spike's head, playfully wiggling his head-spikes. "That is for time to decide, Spike. However, I do believe every knight needs something to fight for." Isis' eyes quickly flicked towards where Cyclone was standing next to Veil, slyly smiling as she looked back at the young drake. "In time, you'll find something to fight for. That I'm sure of."

Spike followed the sphinx's glance over towards Cyclone, catching the dragoness looking at him with a blush shining brightly on her white scales. "Th-thanks Isis," Spike said with a small smile and blush of his own, rubbing the back of his head. "If you believe I can still be a knight, then I'll find my way."

"I know you will Spike, we all know you will," Isis said, walking over towards the others that were standing at Blaze's work table. Frost quickly tried to determine the emotion Isis was giving off, only to get the same feeling she did from Blaze, compassion. "And what of the three of you? All of you must have something you want from life, no?"

Looks were shared by the three, all seeing who would want to go first to answer the sphinx's question. However, after realizing this day was going to come, Frost thought that she should make her intentions known to the rest of the pack.

"Redemption." Isis looked over towards the scorpio mare, only getting a stare of determination in return. "My sister confined the changeling race to the shadows when she acted upon her greed three years ago. I seek to correct this."

Isis simply nodded her head as she already knew of the situation with the failed invasion that occurred in Canterlot. "That is a hefty goal Frost. I must warn you though," Isis continued with a grim tone in her voice, dropping both her smile and mood. "With ambitions such as that, there tends to be bloodshed."

"Yes," Frost breath out in a long sigh as her shoulders dropped a bit, knowing the sphinx's words to be true. "I've already reflected on that several times before, and there's no avoiding it any way I look at it. My only hope is that the good done will outweigh the evil I do."

Isis nodded her head, figuring that this was the thing that her master and Frost spoke about the day before the dragons' tests. "That all depends on how you chose to go about it, Frost. However, I know you won't lose your way in doing so," Isis warned, knowing what happened to those that lost what was important in the pursuit of their ambitions. "And know that you're not alone."

"I know, thank you Isis," Frost said with a small, slow, bow of her head in respect towards the sphinx's words, making a mental note to ask her more questions some time in the future, and also genuinely befriend her like the others.

Isis returned the changeling's nod before moving on towards the remaining two. "Veilstone, Cyclone, surely you two have something as well you would like to achieve." Cyclone began blushing a little, already knowing what she wanted out of life, while Veil turned her head up towards the ceiling as she stretched her neck. "Oh come you two, we will not jest if you do not wish to tell."

"Well...actually," Cyclone started, turning her head down towards the ground with the blush growing on her face, and twiddling her thumbs while she rubbed her knees together. "I-It's nothing too big, at least not like the others, but…" Cyclone paused for a moment, taking a quick glance towards Spike with a small smile. "I wouldn't mind becoming a mother one day, you know? Taking care of a hatchling, or two, of my very own."

Everyone in the room all contemplated the dragoness' simple goal. Granted that it was on the list of things for all of them to do at some point of their lives, none of them truly thought about it until now, and this thought lead them all back to Wolf and Blaze. Those two were bringing in life in the next six and a half months, and they were depending on all of them to help make High Moon safe for their offspring.

"That's a beautiful dream Cyclone," Isis said with a soft smile on her face, though not surprised with the dragoness' dream. Unlike Quill, Cyclone was raised in a traditional dragon clan, regardless of the number of years, she was more in-tune with her instincts of motherhood and courtship. "And I'm sure, with time, that dream will be a reality."

Cyclone brightly smiled at Isis' words before blushing at the thought of actually caring for a dragon of her own, and the one she wanted to have that hatchling with. While her friend was fantasizing about the thought, Veil herself dreaded the thought of Isis' question.

Everyone, even Cyclone, had something they wanted to do with their lives, and what did she want? Nothing. Not that she didn't want to find a mate of her own and have a cub, but she hadn't actively thought about it.

However, knowing that the question was going to turn on her anyways, Veil forced out a small chuckle. "Heh, guess that leave me the odd hound out," Veil said, rubbing a hand through her black and white hair with a small smile on her face. "I'm gonna be honest, the best dream I have, and had, was me spouting a pair of wings, flying off to Cadjo knows where," she joked, tapping a black claw on the table in thought. "Really, as long as everyone around me is fine, and I'm doing all I can to help, that's all I want."

"And that is noble as well, Veil," Isis said with a proud tone in her voice, and she had a right to be. As aimless as it was, Veil's desire was a selfless act. She didn't seek to gain anything from the others. It was almost comparable to Spike's actions in his past, the main difference being Spike acted out on his dragon's greed and other instincts. Veil was genuinely saying this from the heart. "And I can assure you that master Wolf would firmly agree with you."

"Really, Alpha wants the same thing?" Veil asked in mild surprise that an alpha would genuinely care about others. Sure, Wolf was a different kind of alpha, but she didn't think that he would worry himself about the other members that much. Then again, her experience with alphas had never been overly positive. "Why would he, unless…" Veil paused for a moment to think about something, and made the hard decision of letting go.

Cyclone was going to ask Veil if everything was alright when the hound suddenly snapped her head towards Spike, a hard and determined look in her eyes. "Hey Drake," she started, still not sure if what she was going to do was right or not, yet still needing to do it. "Can I talk to you, now, and in private? It's sort of important."

"Uh...sure?" Spike said, thrown off by the hound's sudden question. He wasn't sure where it came from, or why it required them to speak in private. When Veil gestured her head towards the arcane-slab door, Spike followed her towards it, opening it up with the fire-stones in the center of his gloves.

Once the door was open, Veil continued to lead Spike into the tunnels while everyone else was trying to understand what was going through her mind. However, only Frost had a faint idea about what Veil was thinking, but she kept it to herself, as she was bound by the trust Veil gave her earlier today.

As they continued in the tunnel, Veil tried to work up as much of her nerves as she could before she suddenly stopped in front of Spike, catching him off guard again. "Hey Veil, what's the matter?" Veil took in a deep breath before turning to face the dragon behind her.

For a moment all she could do was stare into Spike's shining green eyes, praying to Cadjo that the feeling she was had was the right one. "Dra...Spike, can I really trust you with Cy? Will you be able to take care of her, make her smile every moment of her life?" Veil lowered her head to where her hair covered her eyes while Spike stared at her. "Ca-can I trust you with someone th-that's like a...a sister to me?"

Spike sighed, turning his head down to the ground with his eyes closed. "Veil, I don't know what you think about me, but," Spike paused to look at Veil, who had yet to look up from the ground. "I'll protect her Veil. Believe it or not, I like seeing Cyclone smile just as much as you do. And to be honest, she seems pretty interested, and so am I."

"You promise?" Veil questioned with a hollow, empty tone in her voice, looking up at Spike, one of her eyes covered by her hair. "Do you really promise to keep her safe? She's already been through a lot Spike. Things that I still don't know about, that she still won't share with me. Can you really make her forget her past?"

Taking a step towards Veil, Spike placed his hands on her shoulders, making her jump slightly. "I can't say that I can, to be completely honest." Veil's face went into a quick snarl at Spike, but Spike was able to cut her off. "But, I can try to help her find closure with it, Veil. That much I can do," Spike said as he wrapped his arms around Veil, pulling her into a strong hug that got another flinch out of Veil.

For a moment, all the beta could do was stand there against the warmth of Drake's chest with both eyes wide open. She tried fighting the urge to return his embrace, soon giving up as she placed her hands on the lean, yet built, chest while resting her head against it.

Veil soon closed her eyes as she began leaning into the securing warmth that she'd only felt from Cyclone before this. 'Dr… Spike feels nice,' Veil thought to herself as she let out as long sigh into Spike's blue shirt.

"Veil," Spike said softly, wrapping his arms tighter around Veil's shoulders, snapping her out of her daze. Veil lightly tugged at Spike's shirt a bit, not wanting to leave his embrace just yet, for some reason that she couldn't place. "I'll do it, I'll take care of Cyclone for you, but...don't you think you're being a little overprotective?"

Veil started to weakly chuckle as she discreetly used Spike's shirt to wipe away her tears that had began forming around her eyes. "Ye-yeah, I probably am," Veil laughed before she pushed herself out of Spike's strong arms, wiping away a tear that had again formed in her eyes. "But I'm serious about what I said Spike. I've seen her broken more than once before. I can't, I won't, stand to see it again. So if you mess this up, I'll make you eat your own tail, you hear me Drake?"

'This has to be hard for her, especially if she's crying,' Spike thought to himself as he started to follow Veil back to the temple. "Veil, I promise. I'll take care of Cyclone. You know if you ever need someone to talk to, we're all here for the both of you. And I know this might be silly, but I'm still sorry for not being able to save your home."

Veil shook her head as she waved a hand towards Spike, no longer caring about the place she used to call home. "Don't beat yourself up about it. Our home is here with the pack now," she said with a small smile, feeling a large weight off her shoulders for some reason. "Now are you and Frost going to fix something to eat or not?"

Spike let out a small chuckle as he rolled his eyes, thinking Veil sounded just like Quill. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll fix something for everyone," Spike said as he waved a hand towards the hound, still laughing a little at the thought of Veil and Quill being the best of friends. The thought, scary because of the pranks the two could pull off if they worked together, was one that Spike actually enjoyed if it meant that everyone was happy.

"Hey Veil," Spike said as they came up on the arcane-slab door to the temple. When Veil turned her head towards him, Spike stopped his walking to look the hound straight in her gray eyes. "Thanks for, you know, having faith in me to take care of Cyclone."

"Yeah," Veil breathed out as she looked at the ground for a moment before snapping her head up towards the drake. "Just don't mess it up, or you'll be hearing from me, Drake. Got it?"

Again, Spike just started laughing at the hound, Veil sounding more like Quill every moment he spoke to her. There was no doubt that both she and Cyclone would make great additions to their growing family. Spike was happy that he still had the trust of them both, even after everything that had been said said in the last few hours.

'No more selling yourself short, Spike. No more running. Time to dragon up.'

"Don't worry, I won't."

/ Ch. 46: Of Talks and Faith part 2; Letters/-/

High Moon Ch. 46: Of Talks and Faith part 2; Letters

Earlier This Afternoon

"You guys just worry about taking care of your own," Quill said before she too opened her wings to fly back into the Everfree, following Cinder.

Twilight and the three other Elements stood there, watching Quill and Cinder disappear into the thick canopy of Everfree forest. Seeing the dragoness leave again was a bit hard on Twilight. She would have sacrificed much to have the twins back home, safe. However, Quill had proven that they were more than capable of living out in the forest in Wolf's pack.

'Yes, they'll be fine as long as they have each other. I've got to stay focused,' Twilight thought to herself, turning her back on the forest so she could lead the others to Rarity's house. "Come on girls, we've got to go see what's wrong with Rarity." Somewhat reluctantly, the other three mares started following Twilight back to Ponyville.

It wasn't long before they found themselves in the town square, taking the road down to Rarity's house. The whole way there, Twilight had been conspicuously quiet, an odd aura emanating from her. The rest of the town-goers noticed the strange change in their resident princess, and moved out of the four mares' ways, letting the girls keep to themselves.

Fluttershy and Pinkie shared a look between each other as Applejack took a few large steps to walk besides Twilight. "Twi, ya'll alright? Ya seem… well... "

Twilight came to a sudden stop, which would have caused Pinkie Pie to run into her if Fluttershy hadn't been able to stop the pink mare in time. Twilight took in a deep breath, closing her eyes before slowly breathing out. A few more moments passed as Twilight continued to breath slowly, seeming to be the only thing keeping Twilight calm in this situation.

Before the twins ran away to Everfree, they were usually the ones to keep Twilight from flying off the handle. Now, she had to do it herself. And it was one of the hardest things she'd ever had to learn to do.

"No Applejack, I'm not," Twilight answered, a long sigh leaving her lips. She opened her eyes to see the concerned look on Applejack's face, frowning at the sight. "Spike worked really hard on that ruby, and it meant the world to him seeing the smile on her face when he gave it to her. But now… I have no idea how he'll take it."

"Twilight, I don't think that we have to worry about Spike or Quill anymore," Fluttershy said, placing a hand on Twilight's shoulders as her wings drooped a bit. Ever since Twilight became an alicorn, it was a lot easier for Fluttershy to tell how she was really feeling from the posture of her wings. And right now, she needed comfort. "They have each other, and from the sound of things, many others that will support them the same way we tried to. Right now we just have to get to the bottom of what's wrong with Rarity."

Twilight closed her eyes, taking in another deep breath. She breathed out slowly, nodding her head. "Okay Flutters. I'm sorry guys, let's get going again." Fluttershy waited a moment before she let Twilight's shoulder go so they could continue down the road to Rarity's boutique.

However, when they got there, they saw that Sketchy and Jinx were standing outside speaking with each other while Dusk was sitting on the ground reading a piece of paper in his hands. Arctic was there as well, but she had a more secluded spot high in a tree above Dusk. It seemed that she was trying to look into Rarity's bedroom window for either a way inside or to see Rarity.

The Elements walked over toward the four, Fluttershy opening her wings to join Arctic up in the tree. Dusk looked up from the letter in his hands to the tree branch above his head. He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the two mares sitting rather close to one another. He'd noticed that Arctic was close to Fluttershy lately, as did his mares, but he mentally waved it off before carefully going over the letter again.

"What are you guys doing here?" Twilight asked after she, Pinkie, and Applejack had gotten closer to Dusk's two mares.

Dusk glanced up from the letter in his hands to Twilight before looking over to Sketchy. She shook her head with a short sigh, eyes hidden behind the glare of her glasses. "Well… I have a feeling we're here for the same exact reason, Princess Sparkle," Sketchy answered while Jinx walked over to take a seat in Dusk's lap.

"Sketchy, something happened with Rarity, didn't it?" Twilight further questioned after she had stepped to take a spot at Sketchy's right side. She tried to peer through the bright glare of the mare's glasses, but it seems that she had learned a spell or trick to prevent anyone from seeing past them. The look gave Sketchy a distant and eerie appearance. "Please tell me that Rarity is alright, Sketchy."

A moment passed before Sketchy took in a small breath, the glare disappearing as she tilted her head down. She cut her eyes over to her right side, seeing the worried expression on Twilight's face. Another sigh left her lips before she finally answered Twilight's questions.

"Ms. Belle came in some time ago and basically had a small meltdown right in her shop. I tried to stay and see what was the matter with her. However, she kicked me out of the beautique. The only thing she'd tell me was that there was something she needed to do. Something to relieve her of her guilt and try to make amends."

'So that's what this is all about,' Twilight thought to herself. Before she could continue along that line of thought, Dusk inadvertently called attention to himself with a long groan.

"You know what this is right, Sketchy?" he asked his mare, waving the letter in the air while Jinx quietly rested her head against his chest. Dusk didn't question the mare's tired manner, not after she'd been called in early this morning to help out with BonBon's bakery. "Everything that happened during the camping trip. It's finally coming full circle."

Sketchy nodded her head as she thought back to the eventful moments of the last night and day of the camping trip. She'd known that it was going to come back around in some way, but she didn't think that it would be like this. Not to this magnitude. "Yes Dusk, it is. Just wished Sweetie would have picked a better time to do this. I wasn't expecting it to be this early, at least."

"Wait, how is Sweetie Belle behind this?" Twilight asked, looking between the two.

"She isn't entirely behind this. At least not intentionally," Sketchy answered, pushing up her glasses to rub her eyes. It seemed that all three lovers were tired from their jobs calling them all up earlier than expected. On top of that, Dusk had been flying back and forth to help Vinyl get ready for her gig in Canterlot. And now this happened, just adding to their stress. "However… there was an 'incident' during the camping trip we all had awhile back. Let's just say that it didn't end well."

"So's that thuh reason why Bloom has been acting up lately?" Applejack asked in a snort. She'd known there was something wrong with her little sister ever since she came back from the camping trip. It had been obvious that something happened, but Applejack was willing to give the young mare some space to gather herself, as Applejack just figured she was bummed that one of her friends was leaving.

Hearing that something happened during the camping trip, Applejack now had a few questions. "Now all ya'll listen here. I want to know what the hay happened with my little sis and her friends that caused all of this mess."

"It more indirectly caused this, but…" Sketchy started, looking back at Dusk for a moment. The hybrid nodded his head as if answering a question. "But, both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo apparently had a crush on Spike at the same time. Sweetie acted on it, and Scootaloo caught her in the act."

"And from what we could gather, Sweetie'd had a crush on Spike as long as he'd had one on Rarity," Dusk added in, his hand placed on top of Jinx's head. He started using his claws to gently scratch at Jinx's head while she fought to keep her eyes open a little while longer. "So I'm guessing that she's feeling some kind of resentment at Rarity for messing around with Spike's heart so much."

Twilight honestly cursed under her breath, huffing slightly. She had talked to Rarity about Spike's infatuation with her, but it seemed that Rarity never worked up the nerve to let Spike down easy, the way she promised she would. On top of that, Sweetie had, or possibly still did have, a crush on Spike. The question was, how was she connected to all of this?

"I'm guessing this also has something to do with that letter?" Twilight asked after she had calmed herself down. Dusk didn't respond, instead just holding out his hand with the letter for Twilight to take in her magical grip. As she brought it closer, Twilight unrolled the letter. It was hard to make out some of the words from the smudges, scratch outs, and ease marks but she managed to read:

Dear Jinx, Sketchy, and Dusk,

First of all, I'm sorry we didn't get to spend much time together after the camping trip. It's just that… this may be my only chance at finding out just who I am as a mare. I'm sure you guys will understand, it's Applebloom and Scootaloo that I'm worried about. They've been my closest, and at times, only friends that I could count on. And here I am, leaving them and all I've ever known behind. It's scary. I'm sitting here in this private booth of this train car off to Canterlot, where my studies under Mrs. Shores will begin.

I have no idea where my life will take me after this, so I need to say this right now. Sketchy, Jinx, thank you two for talking me into following through with this. This whole thing has been a bit unnerving, even now as I write this. By the way, sorry for all the smudge marks and stuff. I had tried to write all of these letters earlier, but nothing was coming out the way I wanted. So… yeah. But anyway, thank you two. I truly believe that this change in my life will help me out greatly.

Can't be a little kid forever, you know.

Dusk. All I wanted to say to you is… thank you for what you did for Spike. If you hadn't done that, there was no telling what would've happened. The last thing I want to do is drive a wedge between Spike and his own sister. Same thing goes for Scoots and Bloom. So for what it is worth, thank you for all you did. You changed my life, for the better, I hope.

Twilight started to shake her head a little, still puzzled at how Sweetie's letter would cause all of this to happen. She read through the letter again, even trying to decipher the scratched out words to see if they held anything else. Twilight's thoughts were cut short by Dusk letting out a small snort of gray smoke through his nose.

"I just wished she would've told us in person instead of a short letter," he said, an arm around Jinx's shoulders as her eyes were drifting passed half-lidded. She let out a small yawn, closing her tired blue eyes and nuzzling into Dusk's bare chest, which was matted with dried sweat from his early day of working in the construction yard on the outskirts of town. "But if that's what she wrote for our letter, then I wonder what could be in Rarity's," Dusk continued while Jinx was raking her fingernails through Dusk's purple furred chest.

"Same here," Twilight said, rolling up the letter before handing it back to Sketchy. She looked straight at Rarity's closed door for a moment. Normally, Twilight would give the mare some time to herself in order to calm down. But right now Twilight needed to take some sort of action to make sure her friend was ok. "Alright guys here's-"

Twilight was cut off by the intense sound of flapping wings off in the distance. Everyone turned their heads to see that it was Scootaloo riding her scooter, going faster than anyone had ever seen her before. As she blasted through, forcing Pinkie to jump out of her way, Dusk caught a crumpled up piece of paper in Scootaloo's hand and the slight signs of tears in her eyes. He followed the speedster down the path with his eyes, guessing one thing.

"Guess Scoots got her letter, and it looks like there was more to it than ours," Dusk said, rubbing his face to keep his eyes open. He inhaled a deep breath, puffing out a light cloud of smoke to the sky. "Something tells me she's heading to the farm, Applejack. Wanna go meet her there?"

Applejack took a moment to think to herself, questioning if she should get involved or not. "Nah… nah." She shook her head, tipping her hat slightly to scratch at her eyebrow while placing a hand on her hip. "Ah'm sure Bloom can handle herself, and if something happens, Mac's there to make sure those two don't get into it."

"Heh, yeah I bet," Dusk chuckled a bit, having seen Big Mac a few times in the farmer's market. There likely wasn't a fight he couldn't break up. "So, what are we gonna do about Rarity?"

"We?" Twilight asked. "When did you…"

"I'll put it like this, Princess Sparkle," Dusk cut in, moving his fingers through his black hair. "I was taught a lot of lessons when I was a cub. A few of those lessons included never passing a chance up, to always keep options open, and never be a dick without a reason." He laughed while shaking his head, rocking Jinx in his arms. "Mom had really stressed that last lesson more than the others, but my point is… Think of this like my way of saying sorry, for you know, being a dick."

"O-oh, well you don't have to Dusk," Twilight said, having remembered the things Dusk said to her and the other Elements awhile back. "Like you've already explained, we'd acted more fragile than we should've when the twins left, and we are to blame for that."

"But. Ya could've said it in a nicer way," Applejack said, deadpanning a bit.

Dusk shooked his head as he waved his hand to the mare, smirking. "Could've, should've, would've. Yeah, yeah, heard that all the time from my parents. Ya'll want the help or not?"

"Like I said Dusk, only if you're up for it. The three of you look pretty tired, and I don't want to add any more stress on you guys," Twilight said in a concerned tone. Dusk might have a point, but Twilight took a good look at the three lovers. Sketchy's irritated and distant expression hadn't changed, there was no telling how tired Dusk was, and Jinx looked like she was already asleep on Dusk's spiky fur.

Dusk didn't answer as he looked over to Sketchy to see what she had to say. She closed her eyes while taking in a deep breath. "After Rarity gave me this job? Yes, I'm going to be there to help her when she needs it. And she really needs it now."

Jinx muttered something in her daze, which everyone took to be her answer of wanting to stay and help with the situation. Dusk chuckled at his mare, petting her head and getting a soft coo from her.

"And if you guys are in, then so am I," Arctic said from her seat in the tree next to Fluttershy. The two mares glanced towards each other, mirroring each other's slight blushes.

"Then I guess we're all in," Dusk said. He carefully got up from the ground with Jinx nestled in his arms. The mare complained at the sudden movement, wrapping her arms around Dusk's neck while the half-breed placed his arms underneath her legs and lower back. "Wakey, wakey princess," Dusk teased as he started walking over to Rarity's home, bouncing Jinx a little.

"Shush, you, and carry me, my handsome knight," Jinx teased back, sticking out her tongue in a childish manner. Dusk chuckled while Twilight and Sketchy were standing in front of Rarity's door, which, knowing the white mare, would be locked. Eventually, everyone gathered by the door, all thinking about how to get Rarity to open the door.

"Why don't we asked nicely?" Pinkie asked, raising an eyebrow to Twilight like she was being serious. Twilight sighed to herself - likely, Pinkie was.

"Ah don't think that askin' nicely will work Pinks," Applejack flatly said, unphased by Pinkie's thinking. "Ah think we should just find a way to sneak in."

"Can't. All of the windows, side and back doors are completely shut tight," Arctic informed, rubbing the back of her tilted head as she thought about away to get in. "Couldn't someone, I dunno, bust it open with some magic?" she asked, looking between Sketchy and Twilight. Jinx didn't look like she was up for using magic right now.

Twilight was going to respond to Arctic when she was cut of by Dusk letting out a chuckle. "You ponies and your tip-toeing around stuff," he joked as he sat Jinx down onto her feet. She whined of course, but that didn't stop Dusk from doing what he had to do. Once he managed to coax Jinx into letting go, he stepped over to the locked door, rolling his right shoulder while clenching his fist.

Sketchy quickly recognized the motion as the same one Dusk used to unsheathe his claws. Immediately, she realized what he was planning to do. "Dusk wait, please tell me you're no-" However, she was too late as Dusk jerked his clawed hand up to swipe at the lock on Rarity's door. All of the mares closed their eyes as they awaited the inevitable sound of steel ripping, only to not hear anything.

They all slowly opened their eyes to see Dusk leaning on Rarity's door with his left elbow while he was inspecting and cleaning his dense black claws, or at least pretending too. "Really guys? Really? You thought that I was going to break open that lock?" Dusk asked in a flat tone of voice, a huff following as he pushed off from the door. "As many times as I've snuck out of my locked room, you still thought I was going to just cut my way through?"

"Well what were we supposed to think, you jerk?" Sketchy retorted, turning her head away from her kneeling hybrid mate while crossing her arms underneath her chest. A small blush came across her cheeks at the fact that she fell for Dusk's small prank, which only grew when she caught the sound of Dusk laughing underneath to himself. "Can we be a little more mature about this, Dusk?"

"With the lot of you acting like this? Someone has to lighten things up," Dusk laughed before turning his attention back to the lock. "Anyway, all I got to do is blow a little air with some wind-magic. That'll push up the winch, which turns the tumbler inside, thus unlocking the door."

Dusk started to take in a deep breath to blow out through his lips, when he was stopped by an, "Uh…" from Twilight. He turned to see a quizzical look on her and the other Elements faces.

"Yes, princess?"

"Um, well… it's just that, how do you know all of that will happened Dusk? I'm quite curious to be honest," Twilight admitted, the other Elements also seeming to be interested.

A sly smile grew on Dusk's face as he chuckled at Twilight before answering, "Like I just said, I've snuck out of my room plenty of times before." He laughed again at all of the eventful and fond memories he had of sneaking out in the middle of the night. Sometimes just to spread his wings and fly through the midnight air, other times to clear his mind by staring out at the open ocean, which captured the Lunar goddess' moon perfectly. But most of the time it was for another reason. "Most of the times it was for these three here." Dusk nodded his head over to his mares and Arctic, each of the mares making a small smile. "Don't get me started on the beatings though."

"Heh, I'm sure it wasn't that bad right?" Twilight asked after her little giggle had ended. However, Dusk merely deadpanned at her, the look on his face told Twilight that he was being serious. "Ah… I, uh, I see."

"Right," Dusk said before he turned back around to finally get the lock undone. He took in a deep breath through his nose, his wings flexing outwards as his lungs were filled with as much breath as they could hold. Once he had enough, he pressed his lips close to the keyhole of the lock, keeping his lips carefully shaped in a tight oblong shape before he let the air in his lungs slither over his tongue.

All of the mare's ears twitched from a low-pitched whistling sound emanating from the lock, followed by the metallic sounds of the locking mechanism of the door undoing. After the final click, Dusk ended the stream of air with a long sigh, slowly getting up from the ground. He let out a small groan before he placed his hand on the side of his head, one eye lightly closed. "Ah man, what is this thing? A heavy-duty deadbolt? Sweet Cerberus."

"Dusk, you alright man?" Arctic asked while Jinx moved to his left side to rub her hand around on his back. "Last time I saw you like this was when your elder sister nearly beat the shit out of you."

"Yeah, I'm fine. And thanks for the reminder, Arcty," Dusk hissed through his teeth, rubbing his right shoulder with a look of pain on his face. He shook off the memory with a shudder. "Never mind that, let's just find Rarity already." Twilight nodded her head before she stepped inside of the house/shop, the others following close behind.

A gasp came out of Fluttershy from one look of the parlor room. Fabrics, papers, cloths, and fully made dresses lay sprawled across the porcelain floor, some ripped beyond repair. Her chest of gems was thrown halfway to the other side of the room, with a coffee table laying right on top of it in a chaotic manner. Shattered glass from a picture frame laid around the ground. Gems laid on top of the couch, while a number of mannequins were broken into pieces. The mess only continued throughout the rest of the house, leaving a trail of broken vases and other objects on the floor.

All in all, it looked like a tornado came through and had a small hissyfit.

"Holy… Okay, whatever was in Sweetie's letter must've been a huge bomb," Dusk said as he and the mares carefully stepped further inside. The only thing he could think that resembled the mess was when his full-blood dragon cousin Dimsy had gone on a short rampage and attacked her parents with her wind-magic. He was shaken out of his thoughts by Jinx placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Dusk, you alright? You were just… staring," she said with a concerned look on her face.

The hybrid blinked twice as he looked around to see that half of the group had started the search for Rarity while the other half was attempting to clean the parlor room up. "Uh, yeah… yeah. I'm fine. Just remembered Dimsy's rampage, this looks a lot like how the house was."

"Dimsy? You mean your cousin?" Jinx asked. Dusk turned his head towards Jinx, giving her a wordless nod and a small roll of his shoulders. "She went on a rampage? But she's so, so…"

"Sooo?" Dusk coaxed.

"Well, she's a shut-in," Jinx finally said. It was had only been brief, but her and Sketchy had met Dusk's dragon relatives before. Dimsy stuck out from them like a sore thumb. The dragoness was many things. Quiet, reserved, and distant. She did her best to keep to herself and away from everyone else; this much Jinx or anyone really could tell from first meeting Dimsy. She had a certain air about her.

None of this was any news to Dusk. "Two weeks she spent at our house," Dusk chuckled to himself, moving over to the turned over table to flip it over for Twilight. "Even packed in with seven others, she still found a way to be solitary. Her breaking point was when her parents tried changing how she was."

Twilight raised an eyebrow towards Dusk, wondering what he was talking about. She'd missed the exchange between Dusk and Jinx, more focused on finding Rarity instead. "Changing who, Dusk?" Twilight asked.

"It's about my full-blood dragon cousin Dimsy." Sketchy nodded her head as she remembered the only dragon she'd known to be quiet and reserved. "Well I was just telling Jinx that this mess reminded me of a time where she lost it after her father tried to turn her into a… 'proper' dragoness. Let's just say it took about a good two or three days to clean that up."

"Wait, what happened?" Twilight asked, now becoming interested in the story.

Dusk held back a groan as he thought back to one of the days he'd never forget. "Ok, you see Princess, you know how everyone has their breaking point when it comes to something, right?" Attentively, Twilight nodded her head. She remembered back to a specific time when she'd snapped - just a bit - at the thought of missing one of Celestia's lessons. Her eyes followed Dusk as he went to fix the couch next. "It was kinda like that. With dragons, there's a more… physical meaning behind it. " Dusk lifted up the soft red couch by the left armrest, moving it over where he thought it should be.

"I don't understand. What do you mean by 'physical meaning," Dusk?"

"Think of it like this, Princess Sparkle." Dusk turned to face Twilight, pointing his fingers together at the center of his chest. "Dragons can't bury anything down; it'll drag 'em with it. The reason they like to hoard is to fill a void that grows over time. Items are easy to get, so they hoard more of that. However, companionship is something a lot harder to attain for dragons, and does not often come easily."

"And the void? What happens if it isn't filled?"

"Then a dragon gets desperate. Instead of looking for several gems, they spend all day and night digging up entire quarries. They start pushing others away in place for materialistic things. These dragons tend to live alone; apart from anyone," Dusk answered, clearly remembering everything his father told him and his siblings when they were all young cubs. Every word seem to just flow back to him every time he had to remember. "But it doesn't stop there, if a dragon continues to follow this pattern, they soon will die from their own dragon's soul... burning out, for lack of better term."

Twilight bit her lower lip as she looked away for a moment. "Wh-what happens if a dragon… a young dragon gives into their greed?" she asked with a light shudder in her voice.

'She must be talking about the twins.' "Same thing. 'cept much faster, and a lot more feral. There's also a second condition that can happen to hatchlings that survive a greed-growth, called the Ghost-heart. Basically, it's like dwarfism for dragons, where the end result is them dying."

Twilight's expression darkened when she heard this. If what Dusk was saying true, then the twins would've likely suffered from this 'Ghost-heart' as well. But why hadn't she been told about all of this by Celestia? Surely someone of her status and longevity would have some knowledge about dragons. At least enough to keep the twins healthy.

"Princess, if you're worried about the twins, don't be," Dusk said after noticing Twilight's change in expression. The mare's eyes snapped up from the floor to Dusk's eyes, firmly locked onto them. "I've already told them everything they needed to know to make it through to their growth-spurts. And even then, they're pretty smart and adaptive. I'm sure they'll be fine." 'I don't think she needs to know about Spike's ghost-heart. It'll just worry her, and that drake isn't going to let himself die that easily,' Dusk thought to himself.

"I'm that easy to read?" Twilight asked with a small sigh. "That needs to change then. Thank you, Dusk, for looking out for them. Now, let's find Rarity."

"Well she ain't upstairs," Applejack called from the second floor, Pinky skipping behind. Fluttershy and Arctic came out from the fitting room, with Fluttershy shaking her head.

"We couldn't find her in the fitting room, but it doesn't even seem like she went through there. Way too clean," Arctic verbally answered the question on everyone's mind. "I'm starting to think that she was searching for something."

"Yeah? Well she must've been searching hard," Dusk said, scratching the back of his head. Arctic did raise a good point though, the way the mess was suggested that she was desperately looking for something. "Anypony have any ideas on what?"

After a short pause, Twilight broke it with a small gasp. "The Fire Ruby," she said, her hand covering her mouth as if she didn't want that to be the answer or let anyone else hear it.

However, Dusk's canine ears easily picked up on the alicorn's voice, quickly growing curious. "Excuse me? Did you just say a Fire Ruby?" he asked even though he already knew the answer.

"U-uh, yes. Spike had given Rarity that ruby a few days before his birthday." Dusk's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates at the thought of Spike doing something like that. "He had let it ripen, too. It seemed like it was going to be the greatest thing he'd ever eaten before. Even Quill drooled over it a couple times."

"A fully ripened Fire Ruby… and he gave it to Rarity?!" Dusk shouted in disbelief. He wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth, his eyes having gone a little crazy looking. "You have got to be kidding me. What I would do to get my hands on one of those babies... All I need would be three good chunks of it."

"Three? Why three?" Twilight asked while Dusk was licking his lips.

It took him a moment to hear Twilight's question through his fluffy cloud of imagination. "Easy. One for me to take a good, long time eating it. And two more for Jinx and Sketchy's necklaces."

The two mares mentioned lightly touched their individual necklaces while the others all looked curiously. "Did you make them yourself Dusk? They look lovely," Twilight said with a small smile which was returned by the two mares.

"Aye, that I did. But anyway… If Spike gave Rarity that ruby, why would she tear apart her house looking for it?"

"She, well… just gave it to Quill. To give back to Spike," Twilight replied, having a feeling there was something she was missing. The smile on Dusk's face suddenly dropped, telling Twilight that their was something she was missing. "I take it that's a bad thing."

Dusk took a moment, eyes shifting towards the ground for a quick second before he shook his head. "No. But it gives me another reason to find her," he said in a flat tone of voice, looking down the only unsearched part of the building. "Come on guys, let's find us a mare."

Twilight spared a look towards Jinx and Sketchy to see if they knew what was up with Dusk's sudden change of temperament. Jinx simply took hold of her necklace while Sketchy let out a slight sigh before they started to follow after Dusk. The Elements and Arctic soon followed after the other three, all spitting up to take a room to search.

Yet every room they searched, whether it was the kitchen, sewing room, or the room she kept all of her higher-grade fabrics, they still didn't find the missing mare.

"Rah, this is starting to get irritating," Dusk said after he closed the door to the fabric room, moving on to the next one down the hall. "She must have these doors sound-proofed, or just isn't here. Because I should've heard something by now." He twitched his ears around to pick up on any other sounds besides the group's footsteps or the soft whispering of answers and questions between them.

"If we don't find her soon, I might have EMP this place to get her attention," Dusk growled as he took hold of the doorknob.

"Oh no you won't," Sketchy sternly said, causing Dusk to grumble as he turned the knob to open the door. When he did, a pony-like shadow quickly fell out in front of him, startling the three.

Dusk protectively held up a wing in front of his two mares while Jinx hid slightly behind Sketchy. However, after the initial fright, they were able to see the pony-like shadow was nothing more than a lifeless mannequin.

"Fucking mannequins," Dusk growled, lightly kicking the head of the plaster dummy. After staring at it a bit longer, Dusk relaxed his wing down to its natural position against his back, giving the two mares behind him a view of their 'attacker.' "They're creepy as shit no matter how you look at 'em."

"It must've been propped against the door or something," Sketchy said as she sparked her horn to envelop the mannequin in her magic, lifting it back into the storage room. Dusk slammed the door immediately shut after seeing there was nothing but mannequins in the room, letting out a shudder.

"You're not still creeped out by them, are you Dusk?" Jinx asked softly, placing her hands on Dusk's shoulders.

Dusk huffed under his breath, the answer ever-so obvious by his body language alone. He'd always regretted watching that horror movie with his two elder siblings when he was a cub. "That obvious?"

"Just a little, yeah."

"Awesome," he hissed, dragging a hand down his face. Jinx briefly giggled at Dusk, hopping up on her tippy-toes to place a quick kiss on Dusk's cheek to make him feel a bit better. She started rubbing two fingers at the base of his wings to sooth the tense muscles, getting a small, yet happy, groan out of Dusk. Flying all around Ponyville for most of the week really must've put on a lot of stress on those muscles, because his tail began wagging quickly behind him in a happy manner.

Jinx and Sketchy giggled from seeing Dusk like this as the other mares of the group came closer to see what the commotion was about. "What happened?" Twilight asked. "We heard you guys shout about something. Did you find Rarity?"

"No. We just had a little surprise with a dummy," Sketchy answered as Jinx placed one final kiss on the side of Dusk's neck. "Any luck with your end?"

Twilight shook her head before answering, "Nothing. I'm starting to get worried that something happened." She took hold of her arms with her hands, rubbing them lightly with a small sigh. Rarity looked absolutely horrible when she gave Quill the necklace. She looked like a mare that'd had her heart slowly ripped from her chest, only for something else to replace it. Something more dark…

"But we got to keep looking," Twilight said, shaking that unwelcomed thought out of her head.

The others nodded their head as they continued to advance down the hall, quickly checking every room they came by until they were at the final door of the hall. Right where the literal paper trail ended.

"Rarity's inspiration room. She has to be in there," Fluttershy said, gaining the attention of the group. Everyone's eyes turned back to the door, a foreboding feeling emitting from the deep purple door.

Even the doorknob felt colder than ice as Dusk took lead, grabbing the silver smooth metal doorknob. "Better not be another fucking mannequin behind this door. I swear to Cerberus that I'll set it right on fire."

"Please don't," Sketchy said with a small sigh.

Dusk merely snorted before he took in a deep breath. Slower than necessary, he started to turn the doorknob before swinging the door open. Inside was indeed Rarity's inspiration room, as she called it. Posters of famous models from Canterlot, as well as other places around the world, lined the walls. Racks of ballroom dresses were set against the wall, and much to Dusk's displeasure, mannequins standing neatly adjacent to the racks. There was a small stage in the center of the room with a small strip that acted as a practice runway. The most shocking thing about the room was that, unlike the other rooms the group had seen thus far, it was fairly clean. All that was on the ground were a few rolls of fabric, small clippings of said fabric, and a few pins and needles.

"Mannequins, always fucking mannequins everywhere in this-"

"Wh-w-what are you all doing here?" a sobbing voice questioned. Turning their heads to the right, everyone saw Rarity sitting at a dark-violet work desk, a picture frame in her hands. Her face was smeared with running black eyeliner, highlighting the puffiness of her eyes. The murkiness of the running makeup made it hard to see into Rarity's blue bloodshot eyes.

Normally, they would sparkle with the light of inspiration and creative venture. Now… they looked like they had been through a bloody war and lost. Her disheveled hair furthered painted that picture as stray bits of it weaved every which way. Her clothing was crumpled and wrinkled in odd places, furthering her friend's worry. Rarity never let her clothing look like that.

"Whoa, she looks worse than this whole place," Arctic muttered under her breath.

She wasn't paid any attention by the group as they began filing into the room while Rarity tried to clean herself up as much she could. Rarity hated when others saw her like this; it wasn't what a lady was supposed to do. A lady was supposed to be refined, dignified, and most importantly honorable. She was none of these things.

"Sketchy, I t-told you that I'd be fine. You didn't have to go find the others," Rarity assured them, even when Fluttershy came to her side. "Girls I'm fine, r-really. I just had to…"

"Had to what? Blow off steam off on your house?" Dusk asked as he spotted a piece of paper on top of Rarity's desk. 'Bang, definitely the letter from Sweetie Belle. There's the trigger, now about the fuel...' "Or was it something else? Like returning something that you never should have taken?"

"Dusk," Twilight snapped, whipping her head towards the hybrid. Dusk raised an eyebrow at Twilight but didn't say anything since he didn't need to anymore. It wasn't hard for her to figure out that Dusk was going to force Rarity to explain herself, rather than let her explain willingly. Twilight took in a deep breath as she closed her eyes to calm herself before addressing Rarity. "Why did you do it Rarity? You know it meant the world to Spike when he gave you that ruby. So why?"

Rarity shook her head, brushing off Fluttershy's hand from her shoulder. She didn't deserve such kind treatment from her friends. She didn't deserve kindness from anyone, not after what she had done. "I-I… I just… I just don't know, anymore."

Twilight looked down upon her friend in her low state, unable to think of what to say. The room went quiet for a moment as everyone awkwardly looked at Rarity, who had yet to fully meet any of their eyes. However, Dusk refused to let the moment die in awkward silence.

"Oh? Then let's start with this here," he said, reaching for the letter sitting on Rarity's desk. The moment his hand touched the sheet of paper, Rarity slammed her own down on it with an unnecessary amount of force. Another pause came over the room, this time far more tense than the awkwardness from before. Dusk stared menacingly down at the back of Rarity's head, burning holes through it with his eyes.

"Something yer trying to hide?" Dusk asked, causing Rarity's body to tense up a bit as she tightened her grip on the letter. "We're all here to help you out, mare. The least you can do is tell us what the matter is. Cus if you don't, then we'll just start looking for the reason."

"C'mon Dusk, stop it," Arctic said, not liking where this was going.

Dusk ignored his friend. "That drake gave a lot to you. The least ye could've done was give the necklace back to him and not his sister. Better yet, ye could've been straightforward with Drake from the start. This whole mess would've been avoided and-"

"Okay, enough!" Twilight sparked her horn, aiming her magic at Dusk as she settled a spell over him. The hybrid continued to wordlessly move his mouth for a few more moments before he realized what happened, blinking a couple of times. "Dusk… I know you mean well, but there are limits, and you were crossing them. I'll let you speak when you have something nice and constructive to the situation to say. Okay?"

Dusk opened his mouth to answer when he remembered what Twilight's magic had done. He simply moved his hand off the letter and nodded his head before he leaned against the wall next to him. Jinx and Sketchy blinked a couple times at their mate's sudden silence, both turning to Twilight.

"A silence spell I'm taking it?" Sketchy asked, arching an eyebrow towards Twilight.

"I'm sorry, but now is not the time to be harsh," Twilight replied with a small sigh. She didn't mean to actually use the spell on Dusk, only threaten him with it. However, ever since she became an alicorn, she'd been finding it harder and harder to keep her emotions separate from her magic.

"Oh no trouble about it, Princess. In fact, I wouldn't mind learning this spell myself," Sketchy joked, Jinx nodding her head studiously.

Twilight giggled at the younger two. "Mm, I would be happy to show the both of you the spell if you're that interested." All three unicorns began giggling at the dumbfounded expression on Dusk's face.

He soundlessly snorted at the two giggling mares, inhaling a quick breath to blow out a heart-shaped ring of light smoke at them. "And we love you too Dusk," Sketchy giggled as she waved off the loose cloud. Dusk simply rolled his eyes at the two, prompting Jinx to skip over to him, moving his crossed arms out of the way to nestle against his chest. He looked like he was fighting some urge to give into Jinx's charms, but he didn't last long with the mare nuzzling her face into his chest.

It also didn't help that he could feel her breasts pressing against his midsection through her thin light-teal tank-top she was wearing. Eventually, his walls came down as he placed a hand on top of Jinx's head with a small smile on his face.

Rarity faintly turned her head to look at the two young lovers playfully displaying their affection for one another, sighing. The white mare's sighing drew Twilight's attention back to her. "But Dusk does have a point Rarity. We are here to help, but we can't if you don't tell us what's going on."

"That's the thing, I don't deserve your help," Rarity finally said after a short pause, turning to look Twilight in the eye. This only occurred for a single moment before Rarity turned her head back down to the ground in shame. "It's my own fault, Twilight. You told me to be honest with the way I felt about Spike this whole time. But I thought he would… grow out of it; like any other phase."

"Him giving you a Fire Ruby should've been enough to tell you that he wasn't going to 'grow out of it,'" Twilight said with a frown on her face. "I told you Rarity, Spike holds onto things a lot, especially if he puts in a lot of work towards it. Winning you over was one of his biggest goals."

"Not anymore it isn't," Rarity said quickly, almost bitterly, shaking her head.

"What do you mean?"

Rarity sighed, looking back down to her floor. "He has someone else to admire. Someone far more deserving, in my opinion." She choked back another sigh, thinking back to how rude she had been to the white dragoness. It was almost as embarrassing when she thought of how Spike had reacted defending the newcomer.

While the mares were letting Rarity fall back into her thoughts, Dusk glanced down towards the letter still on the desk. With one of his hands busy running through Jinx's hair, he slyly tried to reach for the letter with his free hand. However, Jinx caught onto what he was doing and silently reached for his wrist, putting it back at his side.

She looked up into his blue eyes, shaking her head a little. Dusk nodded his head over to the letter, his eyes screaming, 'Please.'

Yet Jinx simply shook her head again, mouthing, 'No, there's enough trouble as is.' Dusk huffed through his nose, laying his head against the wall. Jinx looked up at him with a small grimace on her face, sparking her horn to open the mental link between her and Sketchy.

Upon feeling Jinx's magic reaching out to her, Sketchy faintly lit her horn while everyone else was busy tending to Rarity. 'Yes Jinx? What is it?'

'Sketchy, Dusk wants to do something with the letter,' Jinx answered, glancing over her shoulder to her pack sister. 'He does have a point, you know. We can't just let the situation be swept under the rug. It'll come up sooner than later.'

Nodding her head, Sketchy ended the mental link with Jinx and took a step forwards towards Rarity. "That's fair and all, but I still have one question," Sketchy interrupted the Elements as they were trying to cheer Rarity up. "Ms. Belle, you are too controlled of a mare to have a meltdown like this. So, what I… we want to know is, what did Sweetie say in her letter to you?"

"She sent one to us and the other two crusaders. We saw Scootaloo blasting down the street before we came in here," Jinx added, sliding her hands up to Dusk's broad shoulders. "None of them ended on a good note. But you two are sisters, surely you would-"

Jinx stopped speaking when Rarity closed her eyes and shook her head. "It is true that we have our moments but… Sweetie, she... "

"She had the same feelings for Spike as he did for you. However, since he was always going after you, she never wanted to step in the way, or she was afraid of rejection because of Spike's affection for you," Sketchy finished for Rarity, causing her to snap her head up. "We learned about it during the camping trip. It's safe to say that Sweetie wasn't 'happy' with the way you supposedly dragged Spike around by his heart."

"I never meant to do that…"

"But you did anyway," Jinx said, taking on a serious tone. The gleam in her eyes easily held Rarity in place when the mare looked at the younger one. "You knew about his feelings for you, you knew that he wasn't going to quit until you told him the truth of how you felt, and yet you still let this happen. All you had to do was talk to him seriously for a few minutes, instead you let Spike lie to himself for years. Why? Just, just why?"

Rarity took in a shaky breath, taking hold of her right arm in discomfort. "Because, I just couldn't bear to cause Spike that kind of sadness."

"That's the thing, every single day you never returned his affection, Spike felt that kind of rejection. You didn't spare him anything," Jinx said in a calmer tone of voice, shoulders drooping a bit. Dusk caught his mare's change of demeanor when she let out a long sigh, prompting him to wrap an arm around her shoulders while the other moved down to lower back. "If anything, you prolonged how much pain he was really feeling."

Rarity dropped her head in shame when she realized what Jinx had said was true. All the times the twins got into arguments. Times where Spike would almost hurt himself to help her with the smallest of tasks, even allowing her to use him as a spare pin cushion. And yet, every time he made a move, even rather obvious ones, Rarity would find someway to deflect his affection without actually turning him down. If only she could have mustered up the courage to tell him that she wasn't interested...

"Well at least he can move on… that is something, I suppose," Rarity thought out loud, speaking to herself.

"But what about you, Rarity?" Pinkie asked after a quiet moment. Rarity slowly lifted her head up from the floor, half expecting Pinkie to have some sort of silly face or joke to cheer her up. However, everyone was given a mild shock to see that Pinkie had the straightest face they'd ever seen her have. Her expression was hard to read, and strangely they could see that Pinkie's mane and tail had flattened a bit, but not completely straightened.

Rarity began working her mouth, her brain still too busy trying to understand the feeling she was getting from Pinkie Pie. Pinkie didn't pay her friend much attention as she continued, "Sure you messed up big time. You led Spike on for four years, even forcing Sweetie to bury her feelings for him because you were too scared of ruining the friendship you had with Spike."

"H-h-how did you…"

"Everyone makes mistakes, Rarity," Pinkie went on, taking a step closer to Rarity, placing her hand on her shoulder. A small smile came onto Pinkie's muzzle. "What's important is that you don't let this mistake define who you are, at least that's what Granny Pie told me. Nopony is perfect, so mistakes are just a part of life, right?"

"That's right" Applejack chipped in. "We all make mistakes some time or other. 'Sides, if Spike really has moved on, then the only one left is ya."

Rarity had to fight back a smile from her friends sticking by her. "But what about Sweetie? There's no way she'll ever forgive me for what I've done."

"She will," Sketchy reassured, lifting her glasses up with her middle finger. There was a faint glare on them due to what little orangish sunlight was coming through the widows. "Ms. Belle, you should know your own sister better than that. If anything, Sweetie is properly disappointed with the way you handled the situation with Spike. And any anger she must have has to be directed at herself for letting Spike's crush, and your inability to put it to rest, stop her from seeking him out."

"Basically, Sweetie is going to be okay. It'll take time, but she'll forgive you eventually," Jinx said, laying her head on top of Dusk's chest, playfully patting it. Dusk mutely groaned from Jinx's repeated patting, rolling his eyes and moving his hands down to her hips to shake them a little. "Heh, see how smoothly that went without shouting or forcing stuff?"

Dusk rolled his eyes with a small snort, squeezing Jinx's sides before nodding his head. Jinx giggled at her half-breed before looking back over her shoulder to Twilight. "Princess, I think Dusk has been in the doghouse for long enough, don't you?"

A grimace came onto Dusk's face before he started prodding at Jinx's side with his claws to tickle her. She was sent in a fit of uncontrollable giggles, pushing her hands against Dusk's chest, but not doing anything to stop him. "A-ah hah, Dusk quit it. I'm ticklish and you know it!" Jinx's pleas fell on deaf ears as Dusk continued his assault on the mare, craning his head down to take a small nibble of her neck. Jinx took a gasp of air from Dusk's bites, her hands slowly sliding down his body while her knees rubbed together. "Sketchy, help…" she whined, helpless to stop Dusk now. Mainly because she didn't want to.

Sketchy moved her knuckle over her lips, laughing for a bit. "Okay Dusk, stop." Dusk turned his eyes up to Sketchy while he kept his teeth on Jinx's neck. "Come on, we still have a bit of packing to do before we head off soon."

"Packing?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, packing. Dusk agreed to help Vinyl Scratch out with a show in exchange for a custom made guitar," Sketchy answered since Jinx was still too busy giggling.

"Oh. Right. The guitar…" Twilight groaned at the memory of Dusk literally beating her with nothing but a guitar infused with magic-struct technology and a song he remembered from his youth. She could still hear a slight echo in the back of her head. Making things worse, she starting to like it, oddly.

Sketchy didn't question Twilight's groan, as she already knew about how Dusk debuted his guitar with a little 'help' from the local princess herself. "Yes, and we will be late for the train if we don't get things going. And, Dusk, you still have to take a bath."

"Mhmm, and I'm joining in," Jinx half-purred with a small grin on her face. She moved a hand to her lips so she could bite down on her knuckle, moving her other hand into Dusk's spiky black hair and letting him continue to bite her neck.

Twilight nervously blushed when she, as well as the other mares, caught Jinx's purr. "Well, don't let me keep you." She sparked her own, undoing the spell she placed on Dusk. "There you go. Good luck with the show, Dusk." The hybrid looked up from Jinx's neck, causing said mare to whine in compliant, and began working his mouth, yet no sound came out. "Oh no, don't tell me I-"

"Pfff ahah, gotcha," Dusk laughed. All the mares (aside from Pinkie, who was laughing) gave him a flat look, not believing they had actually fell for another of Dusk's pranks. "Woo, I'm on a roll today. But seriously," He cleared his throat to drop his joyful tone down. "Rarity, I still wished that you would've waited until Spike was here to give back that necklace. It would've been the more honorable thing to do."

"I know, I know. But I…" Rarity gripped the hem of her dress, biting down on her lip. She took in a slow breath, letting out a weary breath. "Dusk, there's no telling when I would've seen Spike again. So it was either then or never."

Dusk opened his mouth to retort, but soon closed it. Instead he shrugged his shoulders before he laid his head against the wall, staring up to the cellining. "Prepihu časa nosijo naše poti skupaj, nas zavezujoča." Dusk turned his head down, finding that everyone in the room was staring at him with an inquisitive look. He restated it in Equestrian, "The Winds of Time carry our paths together, binding us. A saying my mother told me when I was a cub. It's a saying that all diamond hounds tell their cubs."

"But what does it mean?" Twilight asked.

"It means," Dusk looked over into Twilight's eyes. "no matter how far apart two become, they are still together. In spirit. Mom would tell us that all the time when dad was called away on business. She'd even told me that the day I left home." A small laugh came out of Dusk's lips. "Heh, she was either giving us life lessons or knocking our skulls around."

"Sounds like yer ma was pretty tough on ya," Applejack said. "Must've been nice to have her and yer pa around."

Jinx noticed a slightly hollow tone in Applejack's voice. She raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. "Yeah, they were tough, but hell, it sure paid off," Dusk joked, gesturing towards his element around his neck. "Welp, guess we better be shoving off. I do need that bath."

"Alright guys, thanks for the help," Twilight said with a nod towards the three.

As they were about to leave, Rarity quickly stopped Sketchy by raising her hand towards her. "Wait Sketchy, I'm sorry about earlier. It was… quite unprofessional of me."

Sketchy shook her head, a small smile on her face. "Don't think too much about it, Ms. Belle. We all have our moments."

Rarity nodded her head at Sketchy, seeing her off and remembering to pay the mare back for not abandoning her. She was blessed to have ponies, or half-breeds in Dusk's case, that were willing to stick by her side; especially when she thought she didn't deserve it.

The three lovers resumed leaving, but Jinx came to a stop, causing Dusk to do the same as she was leaning heavily against him. She looked over her shoulder to see Arctic standing next to Fluttershy. "Arcty, you coming with?" Jinx asked.

"Uh… Well... " Arctic moved a hand to the back of her head and glanced over to Fluttershy. The mare caught the glance, quickly turning her head away with a blush growing on her cheeks. Yet she still periodically moved her eyes back over to Arctic, who had mirrored her move.

Dusk chuckled at the two mares, shaking his head. "You got your ticket right?" he asked with a sly grin on his face. Arctic snapped out of her flustered daze, looking towards Dusk before she reached into her pocket to pull out the train ticket that he'd given her, Jinx, and Sketchy last night. Dusk nodded his head, again chuckling. "Then go on Arctic. I'll get your stuff to the train station, just don't be late. Doubt they'll let you on a later train without buying a new ticket."

"Seeing as we're all leaving tonight, I'm guessing that we'll meet up at the station. Cool with you?" Arctic asked, hoping she could spend a little time with Fluttershy. Even if it was just to help the yellow mare pack for her trip to Canterlot.

"Yeah, that's cool with me, see ya in a bit then," Dusk said before they exited the room. None of the mares knew, but he had managed to catch a small glimpse of the letter on Rarity's desk when Jinx and Sketchy were consoling Rarity. And only one thought went through his head after reading just two paragraphs of the letter.

'Spike, you, my friend, have some ties to cut.'

/ Ch. 47: A Drake's Code /-/

High Moon Ch. 47:  
A Drake's Code

A new sun shined brightly over the High Moon valley, allowing the pack that lived within it to begin its day. During breakfast, Wolf informed everyone that they were free to do as they pleased for the next few days, unless something within the pack came up, or someone had another idea for a project.

Since nobody had any new ideas just yet, there were no objections from the younger members of the pack. After they had finished breakfast, the pack began splitting off, each group already having an idea about what they wanted to do. Wolf and Veil both escorted Blaze and Isis back to the greenhouse with a few seeds and the plant-growth potion to finish what they hadn't gotten around to yesterday. Lily headed off into the Everfree to pick up a few things for herself, telling everyone that she'd be back either before sunset, or early the next morning.

This left the dragons to do as they pleased, and after yesterday, all of them knew that training was in order. So Quill led the group towards a field that Wolf took her to when she wanted to train, and began sparring with Spike. Keeping her promise, Frost took Cyclone over to a small pool of water to see how well she could control her water-magic.

Meanwhile, the twins continued to push each other's bodies further. It was rough for Spike at first, especially since Quill wanted the drake to learn the same way she had - through first-hand experience. However, Spike began getting the hang of fighting with Quill faster than she'd thought he would.

He already knew that Quill wouldn't be easy to go up against, since she rarely allowed her opponent much respite in between attacks. She preferred to keep the pressure up during a fight. However, Spike was able to use what he remembered from seeing Dusk fight her. It was only after attempting Dusk's method of fighting that Spike realized how hard it was for Dusk to do the things he did.

The way he remembered it, Dusk was able to use Quill's momentum and lack of control to throw her around without having to use much of his own energy. Which was kind of tough for Spike to do. One reason was that Quill was a bit more skilled than she was when she'd fought Dusk. Another was because the limiters on his wrists had been making his entire body feel like there was a massive weight on it, in addition to cutting off access to his magic. And finally, if he was being entirely honest with himself, he really didn't know what he was doing.

Quill, on the other hand, knew exactly was she was doing, and what she was doing was keeping Spike off his game so he wouldn't have time to think things through. She had learned from fighting with Frost, that if you allowed your opponent to think of a few moves ahead of you, then you were doomed from the start.

Spike was a smart and fast thinker, much faster than she was. However, Spike was horrible when it came to thinking under pressure. So that was her plan, put enough pressure on Spike until he realized one simple thing: he'd never be able to overcome anything if he wasn't able to think on his feet.

"Come on Spikey-Wikey," Quill taunted, her hands held out in front of her, baring her claws. It was easy for Quill to fight like this, especially with all the hunting she'd done with Wolf over the past two months. Leg muscles ready to spring into action, hands opened up to attack and defend, and pupils focused right on her prey. Her twin brother.

"Please tell me that's not all you got," she mocked while Spike was trying to wipe the dirt off his white shirt, failing miserably. So instead the drake decided to take it off, especially since Quill enjoyed using it as a means to grab him. After he'd tossed it to the side, Quill chuckled at the sight of Spike's body being somewhat muscular now, knowing that it was going to have an effect on a certain dragoness.

However, she tossed that line of thought aside, as she had bigger priorities to deal with first. "Dude, you wouldn't last long against Wolf if blocking is all you can do. So why don't you mix it up a little, huh?"

"Hey! I'm doing my best okay?" Spike groaned in frustration from trying to find his own way of fighting. He couldn't do the same thing as Quill, Dusk's way was too challenging for him, and Wolf's savage strength was far from his reach at this point.

He needed something he could do, something that he had against Quill… something like his meditation. Spike eyes widened at the thought, a wide grin finding its way onto his face. He had her, finally Spike had something over Quill that she couldn't do. Now he just had to put all of his own training into practice.

"And don't go getting cocky, Quill," Spike retorted, slipping into a stance that closely resembled one he used when meditating. Open-handed with one arm extended outwards while the other one was held close to his body, his legs set shoulder-distance apart from each other. The only difference this time was that he had his tail at the ready. "You're just as inexperienced as I am. So either of us could win this fight."

Quill couldn't help but laugh for a bit as she began to slowly circle around Spike, thrilled that it seemed like Spike was finally taking things seriously. "Am I really Spike? I've been hunting for two months now, and I sparring with Wolf just as long. I trained all day long with Frost the other day, as well."

"So? That doesn't compare to what I've been through," Spike confidently said as he matched Quill's circling so she couldn't get behind him. "But you know what they say, actions speak louder than words, sis."

"Then let's talk, bro."

At virtually the same time, Spike and Quill charged at each other, fully intent on beating the other. As they got closer, Spike readied himself for anything that Quill would try, knowing that he was already at a disadvantage against her. However, he was still barely ready for Quill to come to a sudden halt, delivering a round-house kick towards Spike's open midsection. He stopped her by taking the blow with his hands, getting a solid grip on her leg.

Taking a chance, Quill used the strength in her right leg and a flap of her wings to hop off the ground, sending Spike reeling back from the sudden shifting of weight on top of him. While he was trying to foolishly support both of their weight, Quill slightly bent her left leg, allowing her to stomp her right foot down onto his shoulder, and forcing her left leg free from the drake.

Quill then used Spike as a living launch pad as she pushed off with her legs, forcing Spike to tumble backwards from the sudden momentum. As the drake recovered from his sister's move, Quill landed back on the ground to begin her next attack by rushing at him before he got up.

Spike was again able to block her downward strike, catching her attacking arm with his left forearm, then striking her in the midsection with his open right hand. The sudden block and push sent Quill back a few steps, allowing Spike the time to get up from the ground as he dealt two more opened handed strikes to Quill's midsection.

However, Spike over dedicated himself on the second strike, allowing Quill to grab his arm so she could return the favor. Stepping to Spike's right side, Quill struck his lower abdomen with her knee, forcing Spike to bend over from the shock running rampant throughout his body.

Not taking chances, Quill followed up by using Spike's own arm to wrap around his neck before she forced Spike's right leg to give out with her foot, and pulling his arm out from his body. Spike grunted from having his body being forced to bend to Quill's headstrong will. He knew Quill was a good fighter, but this was something different.

"Go on and tap-out, Spike," Quill said through her teeth as she strained to keep Spike in this unwanted position so the fight would be over with. Every time the drake tried forcing his arm to move, Quill gave his body a push away from it to remind him that he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

However, Spike refused to give up, moving his tail to wrap around Quill's leg, forcing it to bend on itself, and getting Quill to fall forwards along with him. Not wanting to let Quill get her hands on him again, Spike quickly moved away from his sister as he got up off the ground. As he was doing so, Spike saw Quill laughing while still on the ground.

Even after nearly losing to her so early, Spike was honestly having the time of his life. To think that he thought he hated fighting. "Hehe, you know something Spike?" Quill muttered to herself as she rolled onto all fours.

It was slightly unnerving knowing that Quill was able to force his body to experience that much discomfort without even causing it any real damage. It was just as unnerving seeing Quill snake around on all fours. The sight gave Quill a more feral appearance with her flexing her wings slightly outward.

"You hit harder than I thought you could, now if only you move as fast as I do," Quill said with a small hiss leaving her lips as she, thankfully, stood up from the ground. Going against Spike was more enjoyable than she thought it was going to be. "And you're a really quick thinker, but I knew that already. So let's see how well you adapt."

"And what that's supposed to mea-" Spike didn't even get to finish his question before Quill answered it by opening her wings to take flight into the sky, before hovering a few yards off the ground, well out of Spike's reach. Spike dropped his shoulders when he realized that Quill was going to use her aerial advantage over him. "You've got to be kidding me, Quill."

Quill smirked at Spike as she crossed her arms over her chest while she still hovered above the ground. Spike easily could tell what the look in her eyes meant, and knew that she was one-hundred percent serious about it. "Crap, you aren't kidding."

"Gee, what gave that away?" Quill mocked with a small laugh as she watched Spike get ready for her to strike. She was happy to see that Spike had gotten rid of his old habit of giving up on a challenge when he thought it was impossible. He'd need that, if things continued the way they seemed to be going. "Get ready, Spike," Quill called out, moving her hands to her sides in the same claw-baring way she did on the ground. "Cuz, here I come!"

Spike braced himself as Quill began diving down at him, knowing that it was only going to get tougher from here on out. Just the way he wanted it.

As her lover continued to spar with Spike, Frost stood against a shady tree while Cyclone stood in front of the small pool of water. As the twins began to fight, Frost began giving Cyclone a few basic instructions on her water-magic, mainly to see what she was already capable of.

The mare had been surprised that Cyclone already had an adequate ability to control her water-magic, bending small threads of water. After noting that the dragoness was not as weak as Frost thought she was, the mare moved to show Cyclone a few techniques that she thought would best suit her.

Soon after Cyclone had shown that she was capable of continuing the fluid motions on her own, Frost returned to her spot underneath the tree to mull over the thoughts she had about Cyclone. It was clearly evident that Cyclone at least knew how to use her magic, just not the techniques that came with it.

This wasn't very surprising to Frost, as water-magic was so rare that finding, and mastering, coherent techniques for it was difficult, to say the least. However, Cyclone, or rather, all of the dragons in High Moon were fortunate to have the archives, and Blaze as well held knowledge of their particular brand of magic. Lily and Isis also had knowledge of various kinds of magic that would prove to be useful for the training the dragons would all likely undergo.

Frost couldn't say much about Spike or Cyclone, but Quill and herself needed to train so they could one day face her mother. They needed power to correct the wrongs done to those that didn't warrant them. And finally, to try to fix the mistakes of this kingdom's past.

If Quill really wanted to show Celestia the wrongs of her burning and not learning the lessons from her past, then Frost was behind her lover. Nothing got underneath Frost's fur and skin more than two equally foolish choices; becoming complacent, and forgetting your past.

No matter the reason, one should never act as though they've never done anything wrong. Even one such as the sun goddess had to face the ghosts of her past choices and mistakes. If Quill and Frost had to unearth them one by one, then so be it.

Yet, that goal wasn't in sight for now. Frost's mother was of a higher priority since she could one day prove to be Equestria's greatest threat. 'One task at a time, that's how it has to be. As hard as it is to choose.'

Moving her mind back to the present, Frost observed Cyclone slowly moving her opened hands in a circling motion around a still growing sphere of water. Disregarding the uneven shape of the sphere, Cyclone was doing a fantastic job of maintaining control over it. Considering how new she was to attempting to fully control the magic, she was doing a fairly good job at it. If the dragoness continued to go through her paces, it wouldn't be long before she would be able to move on to more advanced techniques.

Though again, that would only be after some time.

"Cyclone, that's it. Keep that up, you're doing great," Frost encouraged the dragoness, which seemed to help Cyclone by giving her the courage to push herself. Thinking about it, Frost soon understood that this was the same energy that Wolf was able to give everyone. This was the power of leadership.

"Alright Cyclone," Frost started, slowly walking towards Cyclone, stopping a few feet away. "Now, try making the sphere smaller, we are going to move on to something else."

Cyclone took in a slow breath, moving her hands closer towards the sphere before letting the breath go. Just as Frost predicted, Cyclone did have some natural talent lying dormant inside of her. Not the same talent as the twins or herself, but talents of a mending sort.

"Like this, Frost?" Cyclone asked once the sphere was nearly half the size it had been a few moments ago. Yet even still, Cyclone wasn't even looking at it. Her eyes remained gently closed as she had been using a helpful tip from Spike before she started to try and meditate as she worked with her magic.

He'd said that it helped him, and that he was sure it would help her. So if Spike said that it'd help, Cyclone was willing to try it out, and it turned out that he was right. "It feels like it will burst if I try and force it to go any smaller."

Frost nodded her head as the sphere was just the right size for what she wanted Cyclone to try. "That's okay Cyclone, now just move your hands into the sphere. Let them enter it," she slowly continued to keep Cyclone as calm as she could with the sound of the twins fighting in the background. "And remember to keep your breathing slow."

Following the mare's instructions, Cyclone slowed her hands' motions to a stop on either side of the sphere, and began moving her hands towards it. As she got closer to the slightly misshapen sphere, Cyclone felt a…'force' trying to push her back, and it felt like the sphere would suddenly rupture if she kept going.

Cyclone was worried for a moment that the sphere would do just that, also that she'd meet the face of failure again. The dragoness' worry was so great that Frost was able to sense it before Cyclone had to say anything.

"Easy now, Cyclone," Frost softly said as she began using her own water-magic, sending a few more threads of water into Cyclone's sphere to reinforce it. The sphere itself grew just a little, closing the small distance in the space between Cyclone's hands. "Just keep breathing slowly and move your hands inside of the sphere."

"But what if I mess it up, Frost?" Cyclone asked in a worried and low tone of voice. She didn't want to mess up again, not after making so much progress. "I would've-"

"Cyclone," Frost said reassuringly, placing a hand on Cyclone's shoulder to let her know that everything was fine. "You are not going to mess it up, believe in yourself. Can you do that for me?" Cyclone nodded her head before resuming moving her hands into the sphere, keeping to what Frost said about breathing slowly.

After a moment of breathing calmly, Cyclone continued moving her hands into the orb of water. A chill entered her hands, spreading all throughout the rest of her body, but she continued on until Frost told her to stop. As she pushed further into the sphere of cooling liquid, the force that was pushing her away was now pulling her in. Almost as if it wanted her to continue.

"Frost, wh-what's going on?" Cyclone asked, still keeping her eyes closed so she wouldn't be distracted. "Wh-why are my hands being pulled in?"

"It's okay Cyclone," Frost said as she took her hand off of Cyclone's shoulder, ceasing her magic so the dragoness could finish the technique herself. "Allow it to be, water has its own natural course to take. Follow it, guide it. Become one with it."

Feeling a wave of calmness within the mare's words, Cyclone took in a deep breath of air as her hands met in the center of the still water sphere. Gradually, the sphere of water began circulating around Cyclone's hands in a small vortex before calming back down.

This time however, the water did not return to its spherical shape. Instead, the water took the shape of an aura-like substance around Cyclone's hands, freely rippling as if now alive. Frost smiled at the sight, Cyclone was truly a hidden prodigy of healing magic. For her to grasp hold of the concept in a single session was something to behold.

The fact that she did it with a fractured dragon's soul was far more awe-inspiring.

"You did it Cyclone," Frost said with a soft smile on her face as she closed her eyes to think about something herself. The thought, private and something she'd be keeping to herself for awhile, forced a small sigh to come from her lips. "Congratulations Cyclone, you've started your journey to becoming a healer."

Desperately wanting to know what Frost was talking about, Cyclone slowly opened her eyes to the sight of the field of water surrounding her hands. "In-incredible...m-my magic is doing that?" Cyclone whispered to herself, in pure shock and awe. She'd done a few things with her magic, but none of them ever compared to what she was seeing now. Most of what she could do was just minor things with her magic that she used to use help cook for Veil and herself.

"This is amazing, Frost!" Cyclone cheered as she carefully moved her hands apart, awed by the trail of streaming water that flowed just behind the direction in which she moved her hands, almost like an after-image. Wanting to see what else she could do with it, Cyclone began whirling her hands around every which way, creating more streams of water to flow around her.

Frost happily allowed the dragoness this time to dance to her own rhythm after completing a task such as this. There was no harm in doing so, and Frost hadn't planned on showing Cyclone anything else today at least. That said, allowing her this time to see what she could do with her abilities was not only a way to boost her confidence, but also build upon her dragon's soul just a little.

So while Cyclone played, Frost took a seat down on a fallen log, continuing with the thought that found its way back into her head. It was something she didn't see happening anytime soon, yet something she couldn't wait for. Something that she thought every mare, every female, dreamed of experiencing at least once in their lives. An experience that changed everything in their life, showing who they really were, without actually changing them.

'Giving birth...such a wonderful dream.' Frost faintly started to laugh at herself, not from the thought she was having, but for the reason she was having it; Cyclone. Without knowing it, Cyclone was the sole reason for Frost having these thoughts in her head.

From the moment she'd gotten up this morning, Frost had been having thoughts related to raising a child of her very own with the one she loved. Of course, due to biology, they'd have to find a way around certain issues, but that's what mating magic was for. It was also something for the future, after they'd taken the throne from Frost's mother.

Until then, it would just have to be dream. One which she began to long for now.

While the changeling was lost in her thoughts, Cyclone had gotten used to the aura of water around her hands, to the point where she could control the length of the water stream. However, Cyclone knew that she couldn't take all of the credit for herself. "Thank you Frost, this is so amazing! I couldn't have done it without you."

Cyclone tilted her head toward Frost as she wondered what the mare was thinking on so hard that stopped her from hearing Cyclone. What made it odder was the look on Frost's face; carefully neutral. It was like she was happy about something, yet scared of it as well.

Taking a deep breath, Cyclone got ready for her first test as the mediator for the pack. Throwing all hesitation out of the way, Cyclone walked over to the wooden log, and placed her hand on Frost's shoulder. Initially, the mare jumped a bit, which startled Cyclone as well, but the dragoness held strong.

"Hey Frost," Cyclone said slowly, taking a seat next to the scorpio mare to look her in the eyes. "Is everything alright? You seem… distant and... bothered too, I guess."

Frost sighed for a bit, dropping her head as she shook it. She couldn't believe that she'd allowed her thoughts to cloud her to the point she was unresponsive to Cyclone's voice. "Yes Cyclone, I'm fine. Just thinking about a few things is all. So, how is using your magic? It's enjoyable, I take it?"

"Uh, yes it is," Cyclone said, looking down towards her hands while the aura of water still rippled around them. For her, it was the pure definition of magical. Cyclone would never had gotten this kind of control of her magic if it hadn't been for Frost and everyone else in the pack. "It finally feels like I'm learning more about myself, you know? I know it isn't a lot, but it has to be better than nothing, right?"

Frost began laughing softly at the dragoness and the whirlwind of energetic emotions that was pouring from her. It was a pleasant change from the heavy feelings that Frost had been forced to stomach much of yesterday. Granted that it had all ended well, overall it had still been quite tiresome.

"Cyclone, let me tell you this," Frost chuckled, taking Cyclone's hand to lift it off the log up to at eye level. A soft smile formed on Frost's lips when she caught a small sense of admiration from Cyclone. "You stay here in High Moon, and continue your training, you will find that there's a lot about you."

The moment Frost finished those words, she sparked her horn to life, adding her magic to Cyclone's, and causing the field of water to grow in size. Cyclone's eyes widened at the sight of Frost's blue magical aura flowing within the field, enchanted by the shine.

"We are all here for you, Cyclone," Frost said, gripping Cyclone's hand some more, getting another sense of admiration from the dragoness. "We will all grow and support each other, Nutrix."

Cyclone giggled a little at the nickname Frost just gave her. 'Nurturer, huh? Hehe, I guess it does fit. And she does want to be a queen, so maybe...' Frost let Cyclone's hand go after setting it back down on the long, laughing to herself at the feeling of peace in her heart. Cyclone let her magic go, the water slipping onto the log from her hands. For a moment, Cyclone joined the changeling in the quiet peace, but soon caught the sound of the twins still going at it behind them.

"Looks like they're really going at it," Cyclone observed as she looked over her shoulder to see both Quill and Spike trading blows. Frost herself briefly turned her head to see her lover holding Spike's head in her arm, laughing at the proud look on her face. "You think we should step in, Regina? They may hurt each other if they keep that up."

Right as Spike slammed his elbow into Quill's gut, followed by flipping her over, Frost turned her head back around with another small laugh. "No, I don't believe that will be necessary," she laughed, pushing off the wooden long to stand up. "Come Cyclone, let us continue your lesson while the twins burn their energy up. And if we're lucky, I may be able to get Quill to show you something with your fire-magic before we head back."

"Okay Frost, but can I ask you a question first?" Cyclone asked as she stood from the log, standing in front of the mare with a small blush shining on her scales while she rubbed her knees together. Frost waited for Cyclone to ask what she needed to ask, silently watching Cyclone's flustered motions. "S-so, um...it's safe to say that you and Quill are, you know, together. Right?"

Having a slight idea where this conversation is going, Frost merely smiled at the dragoness and nodded her head. "Yes, we are 'together' as you put it. It may have just been a little under a week as of now, but I don't regret a single moment of giving my trust to her," Frost said as she turned her head over towards the twins again, more importantly Quill as she kept darting around in the air. "Quill has been quite the curious dragoness, I've never met anyone quite like her."

"H-heh, yeah that's for sure," Cyclone said, unable to exactly understand Quill and her habits. "But then again, what could you expect from a Queen Dragoness? As rare as they are, they're one of a kind." In all honesty, Cyclone had hoped to never meet another of the rare and fabled "ruler" breed of dragons, especially not a dragoness. However, her life had been full of surprises. Good and bad. Her eyes wandered back to Spike for a moment, thinking of how different the twins were. "And then Spike is a Salamander Drake, a big...loyal...nice piece of...hmm."

Frost giggled a bit at Cyclone, knowing exactly why Cyclone was acting in such a way. "Hm, maybe we should call it for the training for today," she said, Cyclone snapping out of her thoughts as Frost walked closer to her. "I have a feeling that there is something else that you want to do, correct?"

"Well, maybe," Cyclone said as the pushed her index fingers together with a sheepish blush on her face. "I-I guess you already know what it is too, huh?" Frost, still smiling at the dragoness, nodded her head as she walked out of the cove that housed the pool of water. Cyclone snapped out of her flustered daze to follow the mare out into the training field. "Hey Frost wait, there's something I really have to ask of you."

"Oh yes, your question, my bad Cyclone. Go right ahead," Frost said, trying to ignore the twins near-deadlock sparring match so she could listen to Cyclone's question. From the fluctuation of Cyclone's emotions, and her slightly nervous actions, Frost was able to guess what Cyclone's question would be.

"D-do you, you know, have any tips?" Cyclone asked with a slight smile and a growing blush on her face. It was a little embarrassing for her to ask Frost this, but Cyclone didn't want to mess this up. And since Frost was close to her age, Cyclone figured that it'd be easier to ask the mare. "L-like…"

"Cyclone," Frost cut in, walking towards Cyclone to place her hands on the dragoness' shoulders. When Cyclone looked up from the ground and into Frost's eyes, the mare smiled back at her. "Just be yourself, and the rest will follow. Okay?"

Slowly, Cyclone nodded her head with a nervous blush on her face, still worried about the outcome of what she had planned. However, when she looked at Frost, Cyclone didn't see any worry. Frost was sure that Cyclone would be able to do what she needed to do, so Cyclone needed to have faith in herself.

Cyclone's eyes widened for a moment, an obvious realization hitting her. Frost was part changeling. "Frost, you can sense what we feel, right?" Cyclone's blush came back full force, before she quickly continued, "D-do you think he-"

"Cyclone," Frost said sharply. Cyclone flinched back a bit, surprised at the mare's suddenly serious tone. "Yes, I can sense emotions. However, I've made a promise to myself to not betray anyone by sharing them." Cyclone looked back down to the ground, regretful she'd even brought it up. She was about to apologize to Frost, when the mare cut her off with a, "Now, with that said… go get him." Frost chuckled to herself, learning to like imitating the way that Quill spoke.

Cyclone looked up from the ground, meeting the mare's eyes as she received a conspiratorial wink. "You mean-?!... Oh Frost, thank you!" Cyclone exclaimed, surprising Frost by embracing her in a crushing hug that lasted for no more than a few moments. After Cyclone let go, the two again started out of the cove to find that the twins were locked arm and tail with each other.

Both Frost and Cyclone began laughing at the twins as Quill continued to push Spike's head down into the ground, while Spike's tail kept being an annoyance to her. "J-just fucking tapout already!" Quill growled through her teeth, sick of her brother's endurance and resilience.

"W-why don't y-you do it first, huh?! Barb!" Spike shouted back as he pulled one of his hands free from Quill's, pushing it up against Quill's stomach, and rolling over to push Quill off of him. The moment he could, Spike got up off the ground, only to be met by his sister tackling him to his back again.

Spike quickly went on the defensive as he locked his hands with Quill's to keep her claws away away from his face. However, going against Quill was tougher than he would've liked, as most of his energy was next to gone by this point.

"Okay, that's enough you two," Frost spoke, making her presence known to the twins, and - eventually - getting them to cease fighting against each other. With a slight sigh, Quill got off of Spike, reaching down for his hand to help him up off his feet. "I hope you two got your fill of fighting for today."

"Yeah we did," Quill said with a small grunt as she hoisted Spike up from the ground, and from the soreness she was feeling all over her body. That said, no amount of soreness could distract her from the fact that Spike called her that nickname. "Didn't we, Spikey-Wikey?" Quill hissed as she patted Spike on the back hard, emphasizing both parts of his nickname, right on top of a spot where she knew he'd be sore at.

Spike reflexively winced from the sudden slaps, but didn't say anything about it since he knew that Quill hated the nickname. She most likely hated it even more now because of the memories behind it. "Yeah, we sure did, sis. So what's planned next? We still got a few more hours before sundown," Spike noticed, glancing over at the sun behind him.

Quill turned around to get a better look at the sun's position in the sky, trying to roughly guess how much time was left, as well as thinking of anything that might need to be done. However when she opened her mouth to voice her opinion, she was stopped by Frost wrapping her arms around Quill's body.

"F-Frost, what are you doing?" Quill asked as Frost began moving her hands along Quill's slightly bruised scales, channeling a bit of magic into her hands. The blush on Quill's face only got brighter when she felt Frost's fangs on her ear-frills, forcing a small sigh out of her lips. "Frost come on, I don't have the energy for that right now."

A small smile appeared on Frost's lips as she was able to tell that Quill wasn't being entirely truthful. "Mm, you say that, but you don't really mean it sweetie," Frost quietly cooed in Quill's ear as her hands reached down to Quill's legs while she used her magic to double the size of her wings. "How about we go somewhere more quiet for us to... talk?"

Quill's flusterness only grew when she heard Frost giggling at her squirming around the way she was. Quill didn't understand why she felt like this, but it honestly felt good acting like this. She just wished that it wasn't in front of her brother and Cyclone. "Fine Frost, c-come on, I'll find a-"

"Oh no you don't," Frost cut in with a soft nibble on Quill's neck, getting her dragoness' voice to catch inside of her mouth. "I will find a spot for us to rest on. I trust we will meet you two back at the temple?" Frost asked the two dragons behind her as she got ready to lift Quill off the ground.

Cyclone, blushing from the sight in front of her, nodded her head, taking the not-so-small hint that Frost was giving her. "S-sure Frost, we won't be out much longer," Cyclone said as she wrapped her arms around Spike's left arm. "You two do the same, okay? I'm not sure if Clan-Father would be too happy with us staying out for too much longer."

"But of course, Cyclone," Frost started, turning her head over her shoulder to look towards both Spike and Cyclone, and returned Cyclone's smile. "See you at dinner." Cyclone again nodded her head as she waved off the changeling mare.

Frost giggled a bit at the dragoness before moving her attention back to her lover that was trapped in her arms. "Come, love," Frost licked Quill's cheek with her tongue, forcing Quill to shiver a bit. "Let's leave these two to themselves," she whispered into Quill's ear before taking off from the ground with her dragoness in her arms.

Spike watched the mare fly off carrying his sister, wondering what Frost and Cyclone had talked about all day. He also wanted to talk to Cyclone about what had happened yesterday. "Hey Cyclone, what we-"

"Come on Spike," Cyclone spoke, pulling Spike over towards the cove with the small pool of water, and sitting him down on the ground in front of the pool. Still not giving the drake time to question what was happening, Cyclone stepped over towards the pool so she could dip her hands in the chilling water.

Taking a slow breath, Cyclone repeated the same steps she had when she began her lesson earlier this morning. Slowly, an orb of water began to form as Cyclone pulled her hands out. She then moved her hands inside of the orb, meeting in the center before pulling them back out with a small sigh.

Spike quickly recognize the motions as the steps for the healing-water technique. He was blown away that Cyclone was able to learn it in such a short amount of time, guessing that she was a natural when it comes to the healing aspect of her magic.

"Alright Spike," Cyclone said as she walked back towards Spike with her hands encased in their own fields of water. "Turn around so I can start, okay?"

Chuckling, Spike nodded his head before turning around, resting his hands on his knees as he waited for Cyclone to start treating the bumps and bruises that he'd gotten from sparring with Quill. Scales be damned, they had nothing on Quill's legs and forearms.

"So Frost taught you the healing-water technique, Cyclone?" Spike asked, turning his head back a little to see Cyclone getting on her knees behind him before she placed her hands on his back. Spike took in a sharp breath as his body tensed the moment Cyclone's hands touched the scales on his back, but he was able to quickly relax so Cyclone's job would be easier. "It's amazing that you've learned it so fast."

"Heh, th-thanks Spike," Cyclone said as she continued to move her hands down the smooth scales on Spike's back. Each time she felt Spike tense up from her messing up the process, Cyclone mentally scolded herself for it. "Sorry if I'm messing up, Spike," she murmured as one of her hands moved up to the side of Spike's neck while the other one was on his lower back. "It's still just a basic type though. So, I'm sorry if it isn't as easing as you'd hoped for."

"It's fine Cyclone," Spike laughed, remembering back to when his healing-magic wasn't up to par just like Cyclone's now. "Water-magic takes a while, I can tell you that from experience." When Spike heard Cyclone sigh a bit, he quickly thought of some way to salvage the situation. "B-but that doesn't mean that it's not amazing, Cyclone. Heh, it took me a while to get it, but you were able to get it down in just a day."

A small smile formed on Cyclone's lips at Spike's slightly flustered yet flattering words. "Thank you Spike. Really, thank you," she said as she moved her hands over his shoulders and to his chest, pressing her body close to him. Resting her chin on Spike's shoulder, Cyclone continued to gently ease out the aches on Spike's body. "That means a lot to hear from you."

Spike began blushing as Cyclone's soft hands moved around his upper body, along with her large chest pressing against his back. He could feel his heartbeat rapidly pick up, and hoped that Cyclone wouldn't notice. He felt a fire starting to burn in his chest, and he didn't want it to go away. "Y-you're welcome Cyclone. If you ever need anything, just let me know, I'll be glad to help you in anyway I can."

"Actually Spike," Cyclone started, slowly moving her right hand down Spike's chest while the left one softly caressed a bruised scale on his cheek. There was a short pause as Cyclone continued to think about what she wanted to say. "You remember what I asked you a few days ago? When we were going back to the temple?"

For a brief moment, Spike's body twitched when he remembered what Cyclone was talking about, mostly thinking back to the confrontation with Rarity. However, he was able to relax his body again so Cyclone wouldn't be worried too much.

"Ye-yeah I do," Spike said with a slightly nervous laugh, knowing where this conversation was going, and mentally preparing himself for what he was about to do. "Actually Cyclone, I've been meaning to talk to you about that. Especially after yesterday."

"O-oh, yeah, yesterday…" Cyclone sighed, still a little embarrassed about confessing her dream like that with Spike in the same room. Even with everyone saying that it was a great dream, it was nothing compared to the twins and Frost's dreams, at least in her eyes. "A-about that Spike -"

Spike interrupted Cyclone by taking hold of her wrists, and spinning himself around to one knee. He took one quick look at her surprised face before darting forward and planting his lips on hers, sliding his hands up along her arms to cup her face. Both dragons were surprised, though for different reasons.

She… she tastes like sapphires, Spike thought to himself, running a thumb along her cheek.

He's… he's kissing me! Cyclone thought excitedly. She hadn't noticed the water falling off her hands as she'd lost the needed concentration to hold the spell. She closed her eyes and pressed back against the drake, pushing him down to his back in the process. Her hands found places against Spike's body, softly caressing the muscles underneath his scales, straddling his waist. She was somewhat surprised to find a slightly twitching bulge pressing against Spike's gray jeans.

Cyclone giggled to herself at this as she began gyrating her hips into his to tease the drake about his apparent attraction. As Spike began to let out a few grunts and groans in the kiss, Cyclone increased her motions.

Trying to take the initiative, Spike moved his hands from her face, and gently placed one on Cyclone's lower back, the other moving up to caress her head fins before finding a place on the back of her neck, pressing her closer to deepen the kiss. Spike soon found himself on the submissive side of the kiss as Cyclone started to look for a way in his mouth with her tongue. Going on instinct, Spike opened his mouth a little, letting Cyclone's tongue slip in, but also moving his tongue into Cyclone's mouth.

Spike continued to lose himself in the sapphire-tasting kiss as Cyclone began to add more force into her motions, prompting him to move his hand on her neck down her back. He noticed some odd ridges as his fingers trailed down, but in his excitement he paid it no mind. All the small pecks he'd gotten, even the first 'real' kiss he got from Sweetie were all nothing compared to this. And this...this felt wonderful.

After a few moments that seemed to last a blissful forever, Cyclone finally pulled back from Spike, both panting heavily due to the extending kissing. "Th-thank you Spike, thank you," Cyclone breathed into Spike's neck as she planted more kisses along his neck and jaw, glad to be in the drake's arms. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

While Cyclone continued kiss his neck, Spike took that moment to soak in what had just happened and what it meant for him. He'd just agreed to protect and be there for Cyclone, for at least as long as she'd have him. He'd have to step up his training again.

He wasn't fighting just for himself anymore.

"I know it's a lot to ask, Spike," Cyclone said as she made her way back up Spike's jaw line. Once she finally got back up to Spike's face, Cyclone gazed down into Spike's bright emerald-green eyes, sure that he would be the one to make her dream come true. "B-but I'll m-make you..." Cyclone trailed off, as her head began lowering to the crook of his neck, eyes closing.

"Cyclone are you-" Spike's words were cut off by Cyclone going limp on top of him, already asleep by the time her head found a spot aside his. Carefully sitting up, Spike held Cyclone against his chest as she continued to sleep peacefully.

'She must've used up all of her energy with her training. Heh, just like I did.' Spike couldn't help but laugh a bit, thinking back to when he first started training like Cyclone.

"Alright, come on you," Spike said as he began to move Cyclone to sit sideways in his moved his right arm underneath her legs and the other one at the top of her back. Taking in one good breath, Spike got up from the ground with Cyclone cradled in his arms. "Let's get you home before we worry anyone."

With a small laugh, Spike began to walk out of the cove, still holding Cyclone in his arms as he made the way back to the temple. He stopped for a moment, nearly having forgotten his shirt. He went back over to it and set Cyclone down nearby. Putting it on, somewhat miffed at the stains, he leaned back down to pick Cyclone up before resuming his walk back. Of all the days he'd had out here in High Moon, including the day with that hydra, this was one of the more eventful ones for him. And judging by the sun, this day was coming to a slow end. Spike was excited to see what the next few days held for him.

"Welp, Spike ol' shell," Spike spoke to himself, walking down the dirt path Quill had originally led him, Cyclone, and Frost along this morning. "This is your life now. No more of this knight nonsense, gotta start thinking with a more open mind. You've got to take care of Cyclone." Spike bit his bottom lip, feeling a small sense of discontent. Though, after everything he'd done, Spike thought he'd never have the right to call himself as such. Not that it mattered any-

"Mm...my handsome knight, Spike."

Spike slowly came to a stop when his head finally processed Cyclone's words. Looking down, he saw the dragoness nuzzling into his chest with a happy smile on her face, still asleep. He wanted believe in the dream, especially if Cyclone believed in it for him. However…

'Sorry Cy, only in your dreams. You're all I need now, forget all that knight stuff.' Shaking his head, Spike continued down the path to the temple with his dragoness in his arms, letting her continue her dream about her knight. 'Wonder what we're going to have for dinner tonight. Hope it's-'

"Hey Spike!" Turning back to the ever-so-familiar sound of his sister's voice, Spike saw Quill gilding back down to the ground with Frost on her back. "So, how did it go?" Quill asked after landing back on the ground beside Spike. When she saw Cyclone sleeping in Spike's arms, Quill raised an eyebrow with a slight smirk on her face. "From here it looks like it went more than perfect."

"Oh shut up Quill," Spike said as he resumed walking back to High Moon with Quill in tow, a light blush appearing on his cheeks. "I know what you're talking about, and no, that didn't happen." For the first time that day, the twins shared a laugh together after all of the sparring against each other. "But what about you sis? Frost seems, uh, satisfied."

Quill opened her mouth to retort when a soft murmur came from the changeling on Quill's back. "Mm...satisfied isn't the word I would use," Frost said as she pulled herself up on Quill's back, moving her hands around to Quill's cheeks. "Little miss hottie here thought it would be funny to tease me to no end. I've must've fallen asleep because of the pent-up emotions."

"Quill, you bored Frost to sleep? That's pretty lame," Spike joked with a laugh that was returned by the changeling. "And here I thought you were the 'grand master' of fun. Guess I was wrong though. That title still belongs to none other than Pinkie."

"Oh just be quiet, Spike," Quill huffed, puffing out a shot of smoke at the two's joking, only adding to her brother and lover's laughter. "Geez, I would have at least thought my marefriend would be on my side."

Giggling and rolling her eyes, Frost nuzzled her cheek into Quill's before trailing her forked-tongue all the way to Quill's ear-fill where she took a small nibble. "Aw don't be like that sweetie, I promise to treat you tonight with some…'frozen' desert."

Both twins shared the same red-colored blush from Frost's words, Quill's a little brighter from her mare's affectionate licking and nibbles. "Th-that sounds great Frost, I'm holding you to it, too," Quill said before she turned her head to surprise Frost with a kiss on the lips. Frost's eyes snapped open for a moment before slowly lowering her lids and leaning into the kiss.

Once the two finally released each other's faces, Frost let out a content sigh as she rested her head on Quill's shoulder. "Mm...then I can't wait sweetie," she whispered into Quill's ear as she moved her hands along Quill's collar-bone.

"Hey, that's what I've been meaning to ask," Spike suddenly spoke, breaking both of the lovers out of their love-struck dazes. "Er, I mean, if you've got dragon-magic, then why do you need emotions to power it?" Frost raised an eyebrow at Spike from his question, causing the drake to worry that he'd stepped over a line. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I'm just curious is all."

"Oh no, no, it's quite alright Spike," Frost said, waving off Spike's worries with a friendly smile. "I suppose that it isn't very clear on how my magic draws its power." Frost sat up on Quill's back as she moved her arms around her lover's neck to have a better grip. "You see, I may only be a half-dragon, but my magic works the same way because of dragon blood being dominant."

Spike nodded his head as he thought about what Frost was saying. He could only guess that Frost's changeling magic must make up for whatever dragon's soul she didn't get when she was born. Maybe. "Okay, so do you even need to feed on emotions, or is it more of a want?" Spike asked, growing more curious about Frost's magic and bloodline. "Cause from what I remember during the invasion, Chrysalis was saying that everyone's emotions would feed her hive and make them grow."

"Oh did she now?" Frost questioned, sounding like she was scoffing at the idea more than she was her own sister. "That poor misguided mare, no. That wouldn't be the exact result of what would've happened if Chrissy had won. Though… it would've helped greatly."

Both twins had the same reaction as the other, seeming to be surprised and confused as to what Frost was saying. "Let me explain," Frost said, sensing their confusion. "Chrysalis is a half-breed just like myself, yet she...she isn't proud of that fact." Frost laid her head back down on Quill's shoulder, hiding behind a veil of her blue mane. "She has always been a stubborn mare. Chrysalis believes that the fact we're half-breeds is why our mother hates us."

"That's not right. How can your own mother hate you two. You're her daughters right?" Spike asked in a concerned, and slightly angry tone of voice. Never having known his own parents, Spike was adamant about subjects like this. Even more so now that it tied into the future of his sister's life. "A mother shouldn't hate or fear her children. That's...that's just-"

"I know it's wrong, but it is unfortunately what it is, Spike." Frost moved her head down to the crook of Quill's neck, closing her eyes to remember her youth. "Our mother feared that one day either Chrysalis or I would rise up against her. That's the one thing all of the Swarm Queens have in common; they fear of one day losing their power. Be it to their own offspring, or some other changeling foe."

"Wait," Spike started, "'Swarm Queens,' as in there're more than just one?"

"Yes, there are in fact several. Some small and hidden away, others big and thriving right underneath the feet of Equestria's citizens, but none are as large as my mother's," Frost answered, her finger trailing a small circle on Quill's shoulder. "And yes, they do know what happened with my sister's invasion. Most of them didn't particularly care, others however…"

"However?" Quill prompted, not liking the sound of how the other queens reacted to the invasion.

Frost took in a small breath as she shook her head. "I'm not sure to be honest. Most, if not all, of the Swarm Queens keep to themselves and don't ever allow their thoughts to be fully known to others. I just assumed that they didn't care about my sister's failed invasion because they haven't done anything yet."

"Oh, I see." Spike looked down to the ground, thinking. "But I gotta know something, Frost."

"Yes?"

Spike took in a steady breath. What he was about to ask might come off as too personal, but with his sister involved with the mare's vendetta against her mother, he had to know. "Is it all worth it Frost? Taking the throne away from your mother just to prove a point, risking not only your life, but the life of my sister?"

"You're acting like I can't take care of myself," Quill half-snapped, feeling a bit hurt that her brother didn't seem to have faith in her.

"Quill, fighting me is one thing, but from the sound of things, you two are going up against world. I mean, do you even have a starting point?"

Quill opened her mouth in retort, but closed it when she realized that they didn't have a starting point just yet. Or they did, but that was just training for now. So instead, Quill huffed a little, turning her head back down the dirt path.

Spike sighed, having a feeling Quill was more worried about the whole thing than she was letting on. "I'm only worried about the two of you, that's all."

"We know Spike, it just that…" Frost paused for a moment, her eyes being covered over by her mane and her grip on around Quill tightening. She quickly calmed herself down with a deep breath, looking up at the setting sun. "My mother is a very dangerous mare, Spike. I fear one day she may plunge this kingdom, and all that call it home, into war. A war with themselves. The only thing stopping her from doing so is the fact that she has grown content with herself. However, one thing could set her off. I have to stop this from happening."

Spike eyed the mare carefully, the only time he had ever seen anyone talk the same way she was with Twilight, and that was usually over something about learning or friendship. This was something entirely different, though. This was about protecting a kingdom, without thinking about being recognized for it. True ambition at its finest.

"Ah-ah, you mean we have to stop this," Quill said, squeezing on the back of Frost's thighs to get a small squeal out of her. "I've said this before Icy, I'm not letting you go fight your mother by yourself. We're in this together."

A soft smile formed on Frost's face at Quill's words, knowing that she should never try to leave Quill out of it. "Of course Quill, we have to stop her," Frost said with a giggle as she moved to seal Quill's lips in another kiss that showed more affection than the last one.

Spike turned his head back down to the dirt path to give the two lovers some kind of privacy and to think about what they had said. According to Frost, her mother was a very dangerous mare, and the only way for them to beat her was to have Frost take the throne.

He knew Quill had a sense of devotion and loyalty, but for her to dive into battle along with Frost...it was probably how Quill thought best to prove her love to Frost. "Then I hope you guys don't think you'll be doing it by yourselves," Spike proclaimed, getting both Quill and Frost to look his way as they approached the temple. "Quill, you're my sister, any mess you get in, I'm with you. And Frost, I'm kinda hoping that you'll become my sister-in-law, so I'm helping you."

"Sister-in-law?" Frost mused with a raised eyebrow while Quill's face became redder than any apple Spike ever seen. Naturally, Frost had never heard of such a term before, what with living out in the Everfree, and in an entirely different society than the ponies Spike and Quill had lived with. So all she had to go by were the emotions she was sensing from Quill, which were flustered. "Quill, what's a sister-in-law? Is that some sort of dating ritual?"

Quill bit her lip as beads of sweat flowed down the side of her head, and she had Spike to thank for it. "I could kill you right now, Spike," she hissed at her laughing brother, glaring at him with fire trapped inside of her purple eyes. "I'm gonna get you for that, bro. I'll tell you about it later Frost, let's just get home."

"Okay?" Frost half-asked, still trying to figure out why Quill and Spike were acting the way they were, but waving it off since Quill promised to tell her. Soon, the four made it to the temple, allowing Spike to open it with the fire-stone in his gloves. Once the door was out of the way, Spike let Quill carry Frost down the steps before following with Cyclone in his arms.

After making it into the temple, Quill let Frost down on the ground while Spike carried Cyclone over towards the dinner table to sit her down in a chair. Veil saw Cyclone asleep, and raised an eyebrow at Spike. He just nodded his head, and she turned away from him. Spike wasn't sure what sort of reaction he was expecting from her, but that seemed… broodish? Spike shrugged and turned to start dinner with Frost when someone stopped him by placing their hand on his shoulder. Looking back, Spike saw the curious expression on Wolf's face.

"What happened with Cyclone? She kinda looks like how you and Quill were a few weeks ago," Wolf noted, looking over towards the sleeping dragoness with a raised eyebrow. "Frost, you were the one training her today. You know?"

"I believe Spike would be able to answer that question," Frost said with a sly smile on her face as she sparked her horn to gather everything they needed to fix dinner for everyone, even some of the cooking books that Quill was able to get yesterday. "Isn't that right, dear sweet Spike?"

'Did Frost just throw me under the chariot? She's been spending way too much time with Quill.' Spike thought to himself as Frost continued to fix dinner with the same sly smile that he knew Quill was fond of. To make it worse, Quill was standing right beside Frost, giving Spike a perfect comparison. 'Those two are becoming more like each other every day.'

Spike turned away from the two lovers to look straight into the forest-green eyes that belonged to Wolf. "Yeah, I guess Cyclone used up all of her energy after learning the healing-water technique. I'm sure she'll be fine after she gets something to eat."

"Hm, so she learned that today...alright," Wolf said as he took note of the fact, looking away from Spike and towards the sleeping dragoness. "Oh right, you and I will be heading out to that diamond quarry tomorrow, and be sure to bring Peewee. We're going to be out there for a while."

"Alright Wolf," Spike said with a nod of his head, knowing that Wolf was still looking for something to make a collar for both Blaze and his unborn cub, and now likely Isis as well. "Oh right, that reminds me, Blaze," Spike said, walking over to Blaze and Isis, who were both sitting at Blaze's work table, nose deep in a book about modern magic.

Spike then showed his wrists so Blaze could see the red shine on the gems. He'd noticed them during the fight with Quill, which had earned him a foot to his face for the distraction. "Whatcha think, I'm finally free of these things, right?"

"Well, it looks like you are. Aren't you?" Blaze giggled as she patted Spike's head, putting away the book so she could turn to face him. "And a little under a week too, that's quite impressive," she continued as she sparked her horn, reaching out to the wooden chest on the other side of the room to pull out two used-up fire-stones. "But I have to remind you Spike, you can't let yourself fall back into your old routine."

Blaze leaned forward in her chair to take hold of Spike's arms, raising his wrists up to her face as the two murky-gray stones began to move toward the blazing red gems on Spike's wrists. "Promise me, Spike," Blaze stopped the stones mere centimeters away from the limiters on Spike's wrists. "I don't want you to have to use these again, understand me?"

"I understand Blaze, trust me, the last thing I want to do is have to use these things again," Spike said with a tone of eagerness and a wide smile, showing that he was serious.

"If you mean it Spike, then congratulations," Blaze said as she willed the two stones to meet the limiters on Spike's wrists. There was a quick flash of red light from the limiters, bleeding their red light into the fire-stones before cutting off shortly after. With that finished, Blaze moved the two new fire-stones into her hands as she again sparked her horn to remove the braces off of Spike's wrists. "And thank you Spike, now Veil and Cyclone have fire-stones for themselves."

"Oh, uh, happy to help? I guess I should start helping Frost with the cooking," Spike said, relieved to feel the massive weight over his body just vanish. He was looking forward to using his magic again as well, since he could help teach Cyclone.

Blaze nodded her head as she waved the drake off, already moving the limiters and new fire-stones back into the chest for safe-keeping. With Spike gone to help Frost with the cooking, she went back to the interesting read that she found in the book of modern magic. It was odd to her, the kind of magics that Equestrians deemed worthy of learning, but she hadn't immediately discarded any of the spells out of hand yet. No, after years of studying ancient texts, Blaze had learned it was best to simply read through the book before deciding if any of the spells were any good.

While her mistress was busy with her reading, Isis had moved her attention over to the twins and Frost, her thoughts returning to a subject that had been on her mind for some time now. "Mistress, they are going to be strong," she said to Blaze, breaking the mare out of her reading once again.

Blaze glanced up at Spike and Quill, who were showing Frost all of the things that they used to eat and what they could make with what they have in High Moon. Only half a thought was spent on them before she had a response for Isis. "Of course they are, Isis. As long as they have each other, they will continue to grow. And we will be right by their sides, helping them. Because we're a family."

"If you wish it to be, then it will be so mistress."

Later that night, after everyone had eaten dinner, they all left for their rooms to turn in for the night. Cyclone, who had awoken to the smell of cooking food, had been giggly and smiling throughout dinner. That hadn't changed as she, Spike and Veil were making their way back to the mansion. Not only had she gotten the hang of using her water-magic so quickly, but she also had the drake she had been hoping for.

Right as they reached the inside of the mansion, Spike got ready to say goodnight to the two when Cyclone beat him to it. "Night Veil, I'm sleeping with Spike tonight," she said, getting both the drake and hound to look at her with surprise look in their eyes.

"What?!" the two shouted at the same time, both obviously misreading what Cyclone had meant by sleeping with Spike.

"What? I want to sleep with my new drakefriend. Frost gets to sleep in the same bed as Quill, so how come I can't do the same thing?" Cyclone asked in a slight pout, nuzzling into Spike's arm as a sign of affection towards him. "Come on, it's not like we're gonna do anything."

"Er, right, sorry Cy." Veil rubbed the back of her head as she cursed her persistent protective instincts for kicking in that moment. Spike, as much as Veil was unsure about him, was Cyclone's chance at happiness, and she had no right to get in the way. "Go ahead, I'm sure Drake won't do anything he'd regret. Right, Drake?"

"Uh, yeah, I won't." Spike began to nervously laugh as he wasn't expecting Cyclone to move so quickly with their new relationship. "Well, I guess night, Veil? See you in the morning at breakfast."

"Goodnight Veil, thanks for understanding. We'll see you in the morning." Veil nodded her head as she turned to walk to the left side of the mansion to go to bed alone for the first time in six years. As the hound left to sleep on her own, Cyclone began pulling Spike over towards his room with a happy smile on her face.

Looking down, Spike saw the smile on Cyclone's face and began smiling himself, as it brought him joy to see the dragoness with a cheery look on her face. He realized this is what it felt like to be next to someone that truly did care about him, and to return the same feelings that she had for him. /-/  
/ Ch. 48: Sisters.../-/

High Moon Ch. 48: Sisters...

"So, you're gonna be hanging out with Wolf all day?" Quill asked, sitting at the table as everyone ate their breakfast, before they would all split up and set out to do the things they wanted or needed to do. Yet again, Lily was off on some mysterious personal business, saying that she would be back before nightfall. No one questioned the mare's absence, since Wolf said that she always had High Moon's best interests at heart.

While she was gone, Blaze was planning to show Cyclone a bit more of her fire-magic so Quill could concentrate on her flying to prepare for the flight contest in Stormfront. "What exactly are you two going to be doing anyway?"

"Just something personal for Wolf, that's all," Spike answered as he finished off his apple. Moving around was a lot easier without those limiters on his wrists. In fact, it felt like moving around was even easier than it was before he had the limiters. "So, you and Frost going to be flying around all day? Or will you be doing something else, hm?"

"You would love to know about that, wouldn't you, perv?" Quill quipped, sticking her tongue out at Spike, causing him to choke on a few pieces of his apple while Cyclone was brightly blushing. "Don't you have your own girl to worry about?"

"On second thought, the last thing I want to know is if my sister is busy with her marefriend," Spike deadpanned after his choking fit was over. And since he chose to ignore that last poke at him and Cyclone that Quill had shot out, Spike instead just stood up from the dinner table with a small stretch. "I'll see you guys later, me and Wolf had better get started as soon as we can. Right Wolf?"

Wolf looked away from Blaze and Isis for a moment over to the drake, not really not really having paid much attention to the conversation the younger members were having. "Huh, well alright, if you want to start so early," Wolf said as he moved away from Blaze's table, giving Isis a nod.

Isis returned her master's nod, knowing that he was entrusting her to keep watch of everything. With the sphinx's silent acknowledgement, Wolf leaned over to give his mare and sphinx a quick kiss before walking towards the door, stopping to tell Spike, "If you're ready Spike, go on and call Peewee so we can head out."

"Okay Wolf, I'll be out in a sec," Spike said with a nod towards the alpha dog, who was already walking out of the temple. A small blush coming to his cheeks, Spike turned to Cyclone and took her hand in his, leaning down to bring it up to his mouth and lay a small kiss on her knuckles. "See you later, Cy. Have fun today."

Cyclone's cheeks turns a hot crimson, which only served to make Spike's blush deepen as well. "You too, Spike," she smiled up at him. Spike smiled back at her, running a thumb along her knuckles before letting her hand go and starting to turn towards the door.

As he walked past her, he heard Quill loudly whisper, "Luna, that was so sweet it hurt my teeth." Veil snickered from her place next to Cyclone, nudging the still blushing dragoness.

Sure that his face was completely red by now, Spike was about to retort when he heard Blaze come to his rescue. "I thought it was rather adorable, Quill. It's certainly cuter than seeing you and Frost jumping on each other all the time."

Spike turned to see Quill and Frost's faces blazing, Quill trying and failing to stammer out a response. He just chuckled and turned back to the door, calling out, "Come on Peewee, we've got some work to do today."

Peewee glanced down from the shared nest at Spike for a moment before looking over to Cinder, as if asking permission for something. All the purple pheonix did was give Peewee a nudge underneath his beak. Peewee gave Cinder a quick nuzzle before flying to Spike's shoulder on his green t-shirt, glancing back up to Cinder once more.

Everyone raised a collective and curious eyebrow at the two birds. "Hey Spike," Quill started, coming to a conclusion of her own, not sure if it was the right one. "You don't think that Cin and Peewee are…"

"Yeah, let's not think about that right now, or ever. I'll see you guys later," Spike said as he walked toward the door out of the temple, having a feeling that Quill was right. For some reason, it seemed weird to him, in spite of it being all but natural. The birds had been from different nests, after all.

With her brother gone, and not wanting to worry about her upcoming flying practice, Quill wondered about something that'd been in the back of her mind for a while now. "Hm, I wonder how Dusk's gig went?"

Canterlot, Music Concert Hall

"Thank you Canterlot, you guys were awesome!" The crowd roared as the legendary performer Vinyl Scratch came to an electric end with the help of a certain nearly-infamous half-breed. Today was the last day of the show, having had two performances the day before. Both the crowd and crew gave had given it all they could.

The experience was certainly a new one for Dusk and his two mares. Having only done small things like this with old friends back home here and there, Dusk was blown away at the sight of a full arena hall of fans. When he was a teenager, it had been him, some friends and family members in a studio booth. Now, it was a fully packed audience. What surprised him even more was that there were a few faces in the crowd that he remembered seeing from the Republics.

Sketchy and Jinx were able to make the most of their time by visiting all of Canterlot's hotspots. The Museum of Equestrian Natural and Magical Arts for Sketchy to study and amaze at, while Jinx was able to take in the sights. She was even able to steal her lovers off to a bakery that she'd heard about from Pinkie.

In regards to the elements, Dusk had been surprised to find that they had came to Canterlot to meet up with their friend Rainbow Dash to work everything out. And since he'd found his way into the situation, Dusk was somewhat anxious to see how it turned out.

"Goodbye Canterlot!" Vinyl cheered before she, Dusk, and a pegasus mare named Rave Melody all walked off the stage, leaving out through the back. The group of performers continued down a cluttered hall towards a back room, each one with their own thoughts about the show.

Once they finally reached the back door of the room, Dusk opened it up for the two mares to walk in first as Vinyl let out a long and uneasy sigh. "Pff, we did it guys," she said as she and Rave slumped over to the green vinyl couch, exhausted, while Dusk sat down in a chair with his guitar still in his hands. Vinyl let out a long sigh, saying, "Three big shows, two long days. Now we can breath for a bit."

"Gee Vinyl, it almost sounds like you're gonna quit the road," Rave said as she moved some of her neon blue and pink mane out of her face. Sure, she was just as tired as Vinyl, and maybe Dusk, but Rave knew better than to believe that Vinyl was one to actually calm down and rest. "Ha, knowing you, you already have something else planned. You're just waiting for the best time to lay it in."

Vinyl started to laugh at the pegasus singer, shaking her head as she sat up in the couch. "Nah, I'm serious this time. This performer is going on vacation!" she said as she pointed her thumb at her chest. "Maybe I'll go to Angels' Sand Island for some fun in the sun."

"Angels' Sand Island? Vinyl, sometimes you're full of shit," Rave deadpanned with a laugh that was shared with the mare before she turned her attention to the half-breed she was starting to like. "What about you Dusk? You got any plans?"

Dusk glanced up from his guitar to look at the mare that somewhat reminded him of his elder sister. The largest difference was that the mare had the singing voice of a siren, and not the voice of a screaming banshee. "Heh, nothing too big I guess," he mused, strumming a few notes out of boredom. "I want to say life will get back to being normal soon. But with this thing around my neck," Dusk paused to point at his collar that was still infused with a power that he still didn't fully understand. "I highly doubt I'll see any kind of peace for a while. So gotta make the best of it while I can, you know?"

Both mares stared at the half-breed as he continued to destroy their previous notions of him being a hardened canine with his sheepish laughter. Vinyl herself wasn't really too surprised that Dusk acted the way he did, he had to had a soft side to him if he was going to keep those two mares of his. However, Rave was a bit more surprised.

Like a large, and unhealthy, number of Equestrians, Rave thought that diamond dogs were nigh-feral creatures that lived on pure instincts. Adding a dragon into that equation was a scary thought, but then she'd met Dusk, shattering all close-minded thoughts.

"Yeah man, we know," Vinyl said as she relaxed against the couch again, kicking her feet up on the coffee-table. "How does it feel by the way? It must be a lot on your mind with you being an Element, especially all on your own."

"Yes, it has to be a heavy weight for you to bear," Rave added as she placed her hands in her lap, sitting up straight on the couch to look at Dusk. "An unfair weight, may I add. I mean, no one goes to school, or lives their lives to be heroes. You should be free to do what you want to do."

Dusk merely smiled as he shook his head, moving to sit sideways in the chair while he continued to fiddle with his guitar. "That's the thing, I am," Dusk said, picking at the strings of his bass guitar, and lightly bobbing his head to the slow rhythm. "You're right, I'm no hero, and I don't ever want to be one. If I wanted to be that, I would've stayed in the Republics and joined the Nightmare Guard. Nah, all I want is to be is healthy, and see my family smiling. That's all I could ask for."

Again, both mares were caught by surprise by the younger half-breed's words, it being one of the most mature things they'd ever heard. To think that Dusk had the reputation of a miscreant. "Dude that has to be the most..."

Suddenly, Vinyl was cut off by the door flying wide open to Jinx running full speed in the room and straight to Dusk. By the time Dusk could even get a hold of the situation, Jinx had already lunged at him, knocking him down to the ground in a death like hug. "Dusky! That last show was amazing!" Jinx cheered nearly at the top of her lungs, even though she been to the first two shows as well. "Oh Dusky these last few days have been the best, ever."

"Jinx, okay Jinx," Dusk laughed as he used his tail to wrap around the neck of his guitar so he could sit up with Jinx's arms still wrapped tightly around his neck. The mare quickly began nuzzling into Dusk's chest, forcing him to remain rooted to the ground. "Thanks, I'm glad that you had a great time, but it really was Vinyl and Rave that did most of the work."

Rave started laughing awkwardly at the situation, still not quite used to Jinx's overly playful nature. Vinyl was laughing as well, but this one was more because of the humorous situation the half-breed had himself in.

"Oh no 'Dusky,' you're the one who did most of the work. So don't you dare try playing it off on us," Vinyl said in another laugh as Jinx continued to shower Dusk in a somewhat embarrassing public display of affection. "You carried the equipment, got rid of that annoying fan, and you pulled out all the stops with your magic. Dude, you are the best bassist I'd ever had the pleasure, and honor, to play with. And I thank you for that."

Dusk began laughing a bit at the mare's flamboyant way of saying thanks for the help he'd given her. "It wasn't that much stuff really, and that colt had that coming to him."

"Oh so that's why he couldn't spend much time with us," Sketchy said, making herself known after following Jinx all the way to the back room. However, Jinx hadn't been able to contain her excitement after the show like Sketchy was. "Dusk, when are you going to learn when enough is enough?" she asked, walking over to her two lover as Jinx finally let Dusk stand up.

"C'mon, you gotta say that it was worth it, right?" Dusk asked with a smile on his face, hoping it was enough to convince Sketchy. "Vinyl and Rave needed the extra hand, and don't tell me you would be happy with me leaving them with all the work."

Sketchy opened her mouth to retort against what Dusk said, but soon closed it when she realized that he was right. For once. "I suppose so," Sketchy sighed, thinking for a bit to herself before merely shrugging it off and joining her pack-sister in embracing Dusk. "But I still want time with just you two."

"Aw girls," Dusk said with a small blush on his purple fur from his mares affectionate hugging. "Well...there is a few hours before the after-party tonight, we could, oh I don't know," Dusk paused to think of something to say, moving his hand to the back of his head, and looking over towards Vinyl for some kind of help. All the mare did was wave her hands in a manner that told him to get the show going. "Do something until then?"

The room quickly became quiet from the half-breed's weak recovery, causing Dusk to facepalm with a groan. "How about we go for some lunch first, Dusk?" Sketchy said with a small giggle as she turned to walk out of the room. "Good-bye for now Miss Scratch, Miss Melody, we'll see you at the after-party."

"Yeah, yeah, just show that dog a good time will ya?" Vinyl joked, knowing Dusk could use the break after all the work he'd done for the last two days. "He's a good doggie, and a good doggie needs to be rewarded with a doggie treat."

Dusk opened his mouth to find something to joke back to the mare when Jinx began pulling on his hands. "Don't worry, we will," Jinx giggled as she continued to pull on Dusk's hands, leading him out of the room. "Bye-bye Vinyl and Rave, this was really fun!"

"Yeah we got to do this time other time, see ya," Dusk said in a rushed voiced as Jinx continued to pull him out of the room in a hasty manner. "Erh Jinx, slow down already, where are we going anyway?" Dusk asked, somehow managing not to run into anything as Jinx still kept pulling him through the hallway.

Further down the hall Sketchy began giggling to herself as she had started thinking of a way to 'reward' her alpha half-breed. "Oh don't you worry about that Dusky," she said in a mocking tone, looking back over her shoulder at Dusk. "Vinyl's right, you've done so much these past two days. So we're going to treat you, that's all."

"Okay, but that didn-"

Jinx interrupted Dusk by suddenly stopping and turning around to wrap her arms around Dusk's torso. "Please Dusky," she said in a low tone of voice as she nuzzled into Dusk's chest before turning her head upwards to look into Dusk's blue eyes. "We want to treat you for all the good you've been doing."

"And that starts with you shutting up," Sketchy said, teleporting over towards her two lovers in a flash of grayish light, appearing right in front of the two. "Now," she said as she leaned against Jinx to place her hands on Dusk's chest, crossing her horn with Jinx's. "Why don't you sit back and let us do all the work, hm?"

"Wait, are you two going to-" Dusk was cut off by his two mares using the same powerful teleportation they'd used during their last date, taking Dusk somewhere more…'private.' When Dusk was able to see, he knew that his mares had teleported them back to the hotel room Vinyl had gotten for them.

And just like last time, all articles of clothing had been removed from his body, and he was laying back on the golden sheets of the soft cloud-bed. "Seriously? How do you two keep-" Dusk yet again was cut off when he felt something warm traveling up from the base of his bottom shaft. Quickly sitting up, Dusk saw his two mares with their bare backs turned to him as they rested on the bed, taking turns licking his bottom shaft. "G-girls, mind telling me when you're gonna do that teleporting thing you do next time?"

Sketchy rolled over to her back, laying her head on Dusk's hip, and giving Dusk a full view of her bare breasts. As she looked up at the blush on Dusk's face, Sketchy softly smiled as she ran her hands down her body to give her alpha a small show.

While the white mare was playing out one of her small fantasies, Jinx quickly took over with licking Dusk's bottom shaft, not really paying Sketchy much attention. Moving in between Dusk's legs, Jinx began trailing her tongue up the base of Dusk's bottom shaft all the way up to the tip, taking a moment to place a few kisses on it before going back down.

"But you love it when we take care of our little mutt," Sketchy teased as she rolled over to her stomach to climb up on Dusk, straddling his toned midsection and lightly grinding on him. Both Dusk and Jinx knew that Sketchy always had a not-so-secret fantasy of being a showmare. And now it seemed she wanted to try her hand at it.

Wanting to hold one of his mares in his hands, Dusk moved his hands around Sketchy's waist, only to have Sketchy bind his wrists to the headrest of the bed with her magic. "Ah-ah, no touchie," Sketchy giggled as she danced her fingers lightly up to Dusk's broad shoulders where she firmly took hold, increasing her grinding. "You've been overworking again, so you're not doing a single thing until I say you can."

"Come on Sketchy, that's not fair," Jinx chimed in, sitting up from Dusk's shafts, sneaking up behind Sketchy and placing her hands on Sketchy's waist. She quickly snaked her hands further down to Sketchy's marehood to rub and lightly prod at her outer walls.

Sketchy tried to escape her sister's playful hands by leaning further onto Dusk, but each time she tried, Jinx would pull her hips back. Jinx giggled at the bright blush on Sketchy's face, enjoying having control over the stronger unicorn. "Dusky works hard to take care of us. We should let him do whatever he wants."

"Bu-but Jinx, Dusk has been working so hard that I figured he would be tired, and want us to take the lead," Sketchy said, not wanting to miss this chance to act out her fantasy of being a showmare for Dusk and Jinx. "I-I'm sure we can take care of all his needs ourselves."

Jinx paused for a moment to think about what Sketchy was saying. Dusk had been working extremely hard for the last few days, both for them and the DJs, and she would like to keep the control she had over the both of them going. "Hm, as usual you make a great point Sketchy," Jinx began, getting Sketchy to breathe out a sigh of relief. "But~ I wanna try something, so move over."

"Jinx what are you doing?!" Sketchy demanded, as Jinx quickly moved to take her spot on Dusk's chest. Jinx soon turned over to to lay her back on Dusk's chest, pushing Sketchy down so that her marehood was right over the tip of Dusk's bottom shaft. "Could you at least tell me what you're planning to do?"

"Nope~ I want this to be a surprise," Jinx said in her normal singing voice as she reached her hands down to Dusk's top shaft to stroke it a little. This quickly got the reaction she was looking for when Dusk let out a small growl, his hips bucking upward at Sketchy, prodding her entrance with his lower shaft.

Jinx giggled when Sketchy moaned softly before she placed her hands on Jinx's thighs. "Come on Sketchy, where's that dominatrix in you?" Jinx teased, continuing her slow stroking as she nuzzled her head into the crook of Dusk's neck. "You're always going on about giving Dusk a show, so why not now. Hm?"

"F-fine," Sketchy moaned as she moved off of Dusk's shaft, and the bed altogether. "But if I do this, it's completely my say-so," she continued in a huff as she stood at the foot of the bed, crossing her arms over her chest, and turning her flanks towards away from her lovers. "And no interruptions from the audience."

Jinx started to giggle along with Dusk, his raspier than it normally was due to the teasing that brought out his dragon side. Jinx smirked at Sketchy, lighting her horn to undo the restraints on Dusk's wrists, allowing him to quickly bring his hands down to Jinx's perky breasts. Jinx let out a moan as she turned her head to place a kiss on Dusk's neck, glancing up at Sketchy to see her glaring back at her. "Okay, we'll behave, promisies~"

Sketchy snorted a bit at Jinx, reminding herself not to let the mare take control like that again before she turned her dark-gray eyes on Dusk. "We promise that we will sit here and watch you work your magic, Sketchy," Dusk said, guessing that's what she wanted to hear.

Nodding her head, Sketchy turned herself around as she took in a deep breath to calm her nerves. Suddenly, Sketchy whipped her head around, causing her multi-shaded black mane to whirl around over her shoulders. She quickly locked her half-lidded eyes to her two lovers, only focusing on them and their expressions.

Sketchy began running her hands up from her thick thighs to her discreetly toned stomach and finally her modestly-sized breasts, allowing a moan to flow from her lips as she tilted her head back. She then moved them back down slowly, swaying on her feet a little while her tail swished behind her.

A grayish glow encased the mare's horn, reaching out her magic to shut the blinds, and casting a soundproof barrier on the locked door to ensure that her performance wasn't going to be interrupted. She then reached her magic out to the lights of the room. Soon a grayish color filled the room as Sketchy continued her slow dance, moving her hands in her black mane, and lifting it all the way up before flicking her fingers free.

As the black threads of hair fell back over Sketchy's shoulder and back, the mare continued to twirl her hands up above her head, again lighting her horn to create a bright gray shine that flowed around her body in a spiral.

Her audience had no time to admire the coil of ethereal magic before Sketchy twirled around again, showing off her large flanks. Sketchy dipped her upper body down to the floor, making her flanks stick out more, and giving her audience a glimpse of her marehood and rosebud.

However, it was only a small glimpse as she covered herself up with her long, curly, three-striped black tail. Sketchy smiled to herself when she heard a whine from Jinx and a small growl from Dusk, confirming that she had the two's undivided attention.

Slowly, Sketchy moved back up with a small swing of her hips. She then turned around and started to walk to the bed, crossing her legs with each step. Sketchy toyed with the bedsheets for a moment, circling her hands on the golden sheets as if to tease her audience of two.

"Oh Mister Flare, can't I join you two on this bed?" Sketchy asked in a smooth and low tone of voice as she moved her hands up towards the two, only to pull them back towards her. "It looks and feels so soft, and welcoming. A big, strong, hardworking half-breed wouldn't let me be all by my lonesome self. Would he?"

Dusk leaned back against the headrest of the bed with a smile on his face, going along with his mare's role-playing. "I don't know," he started in a small growl as he flexed out his wings and moving his hands around Jinx's waist. "Jinx, what do you think? Should we let our showmare join us on our cloud?"

"Mm, oh that such a hard choice," Jinx fakely mused, moving one of her hands to the side of Dusk's face to gently crease the fur on his face. "It would be nice to be able to touch her, and…" Jinx was cut off by a sharp gasp when Dusk slipped his right hand in between her thighs, causing her to shiver in delight. "Oh how much I want to touch her right now. Why not, let's have some fun with our showmare."

A small smile formed on Sketchy's lips, happy to hear that both of her lovers were into her role-playing fantasies. "Well Miss Showmare," Dusk started, moving his left hand up Jinx's body, and over her left breast, stopping to play with it for a moment. "Why don't you continue the show up here?" Dusk mockingly asked as he invited Sketchy to join them on the bed with Jinx curling her finger towards them.

"That's so kind of you, mister," Sketchy purred before she started to crawl up on the bed on all fours, swinging her tail back and forth, making it look like she was excited. Which, she had to admit, she was. As Sketchy continued to make her way onto the bed in her seductive manner, she thought about all the times she'd wanted to do this. All the times she fantasized about seducing Dusk after he'd had a long day of work.

Old fashioned it may be, but it was still something that she'd wanted to do at some point. And now she was doing it in the crowning city of Equestria: Canterlot. A shiver of naughtiness shot up Sketchy's spine at that last thought. "Oh Mister Flare," Sketchy whispered after she'd gotten closer in between Dusk's legs, trailing her fingers on Dusk's legs before taking hold of his thighs. "Jinx and I have been so lonely without you around."

"Yeah, so why don't you let us make you feel good?" Jinx added in, sitting up from Dusk's chest to turn her head his way so he could see her pouting look face. Dusk opened his mouth to answer the mare, but Jinx placed her hand over his lips. "Nooo, I don't wanna hear it mister. You've been working way too hard again. So me and my 'sister' are going to treat you tonight. Right Sis?" Jinx giggled as she turned herself around to look at Sketchy.

"Yes, sister, let's," Sketchy giggled, while Dusk was still surprised how she could make a giggle like that sound so sexy. However, all thoughts ceased when he saw the two mares moving in for a kiss. The soft sounds of his mares' lips smacking together filled Dusk's ears as he was given a second show.

Sketchy quickly took lead in the kiss as she moved her hands to Jinx's hips, swatting Dusk's hands away in the process. Giggling could be heard coming from both mares as they continued to gently kiss each while their hands freely danced over the other's body. Sketchy took her time moving her hands over Jinx's body, her hands grazing her thighs before just faintly moving over her round flanks.

Jinx sighed softly from Sketchy's hands exploring her body as she did the same, grabbing hold of Sketchy's flanks to get her to jump and moan. Her quick squeeze was rewarded by Sketchy slapping her hand on Jinx's flank, causing a loud sound to rip through the room followed by a moan from Jinx. The two soon started to exchange periodic slaps, pulling each other close to get their breasts to mash against each other.

As the two mares continued to lock lips, they soon felt their alpha's shafts poking at their lower bodies with a warm trail of his seed leaking out from the tips. Both Jinx and Sketchy moved a hand towards the two shafts, each taking one for themselves and slowly stroking them in unison.

Low growls began coming from Dusk as his mares continued to rub their hands over his shafts, which almost seemed impatient themselves. Both of the girl's marehoods clenched every time they felt another hot gob of Dusk's precum come out of the dual shafts, making their knees feel a little weak. Sketchy was the first one to move, trailing her free hand to Jinx's marehood to toy with Jinx's outer walls.

"Mm...oh Sketchy~" Jinx moaned through the kiss a little as she moved her free hand to Sketchy's flower to return the favor. The mare's moans began growing in volume as they deepened the kissing. "I think Dusky is ready for his treat, don't you sis?" Jinx asked through the kissing as she started to feel Dusk's body heat up a little, along with fresh beads of his pre-cum coating her hand.

Pulling back from the kiss, Sketchy tilted her head back as she selfishly basked in her lover's warmth for a moment before regaining control of herself. "Oh yes, and how does my little sister want to do that?" she asked as she began bucking her hips into Jinx's fingers to quell the heat that was rising in her.

However, Sketchy's pleasure was cut short by Jinx removing her hand from Sketchy's marehood to take hold of the white mare's flank. "Well, if you think you can follow my lead, then," Jinx said as she removed herself from Sketchy altogether, placing her hands on either side of Dusk's waist on the bed.

Sketchy went to whine about the mare's sudden move, but Jinx hand silenced her with a sticky finger over her lips. "Ah-ah, showmares don't complain. And~" Jinx went on, directing Sketchy's head downwards towards Dusk's twin shafts. "A real showmare performs all kinds of services."

"Of course," Sketchy said, eyeing the twin shafts as they throbbed heavily to the beat of Dusk's heart. She had no problem with performing oral for Dusk, especially since equines didn't have a gag-reflex. The problem came with doing it with Jinx. It hadn't been long into their relationship before Sketchy really understood how attentive Jinx was when it came to stuff like that. "Shall we?"

Jinx decided not to verbally answer Sketchy as she moved to place one more kiss on Sketchy's lips before moving back down to Dusk's top shaft, sliding her flanks up towards Dusk's face, using the strength in her arms to keep herself up. Following the mare's lead, Sketchy slid back on to the bed to get ready to take Dusk's lower shaft.

Catching onto what the mares were doing, Dusk moved his hands up around Jinx's waist to keep her there. Yearning to touch his mares, Dusk started rubbing his hands over Jinx's flanks, squeezing the plump, soft, flesh.

Jinx was sent in a fit of moans as Dusk continued to play with her flanks, quickly finding it hard to focus on keeping herself lifted up from Dusk's delicious looking shafts. And when Dusk unleashed his long serpent-like tongue on her, Jinx nearly lost all will and self-control.

"C-come on Sketchy, le-let's take care of Dusk," Jinx moaned out loud, lowering herself down to take one of Dusk's throbbing shafts, while Sketchy mirrored her for the lower one. The smell was heavy and purely intoxicating for the two mares; just breathing it in was enough to nearly make Jinx's green eyes roll to the back of her head.

At nearly the same time, both mares opened their mouths, pressing their tongues against the meaty shafts and beginning to lick all around them. Just like before, a small rhythm was formed as Jinx went down, Sketchy went up, and vice versa. Every now and again, the two would meet up at the top to attempt to kiss each other around the twin heads, though it was a bit awkward.

Wanting his warmth inside of her, Jinx opened her mouth further to take the whole thing, from the tip down. Sketchy was caught off guard when the mare did this, quickly attempting to copy her, but struggling a little.

Dusk threw his head back in bliss from his mares' quick and short bobs, easily telling the difference between them by the technique they used. Sketchy, naturally, took her time with her bobs, staying at the base of his bottom shaft for a moment to circle her tongue around it. Jinx wasn't as slow as she bobbed her head like she was listening to a hard-rock song, easing her way down, and sucking her way back up.

The dual sensation was enough to get Dusk to emit a small line of smoke from his nose as he quickly approached a climax, trying to fight it off longer to enjoy the two different types of blowjobs.

While Jinx was working her hardest to make Dusk blow his load quickly, Sketchy was taking her time with his bottom shaft, aiming to milk him for all he was worth. And as she and Jinx continued their own blowjobs, their horns would periodically rub against each other, causing magical sparks to jolt through their bodies.

The two began moaning around Dusk's shafts, making him growl at the vibrations that engulfed him. As the small sparks of magic started to get brighter, Jinx reached one of her hands inside of Dusk's legs to toy with the aching sack in between his legs, coaxing more pre-cum to ooze out of his shafts.

Jinx let out a loud moan when she felt the tip of Dusk's tongue prodding at the entrance to her soaking marehood, prompting her to think about what it would be like to have the whole thing moving freely inside of her. This thought was shared with Sketchy courtesy of the mental link they shared.

Sketchy's blush somehow gotten darker as she closed her eyes to better see the image that was being passed onto her. Jinx's thoughts got so lewd and steamy that Sketchy moved one of her hands underneath her to reach her soaking marehood. Sticking in two of her fingers, she began slowly moving them in a circular motion while she tried to focus on pleasing Dusk.

As Jinx continued to feed ideas into Sketchy's head, the light-blue mare herself was feeling more than anxious to make the thoughts she was having a reality. Finally, one last thought entered her head that had even Sketchy's toes curling. Both mares opened their eyes to confirm if the other had the same thought. When they saw that they did, they lowered their eyes as their horns began sparking a bright white.

Both mares began to add their magic in along with their bobbing, multiplying the pleasure they were giving and getting from Dusk, causing their marehoods to leak more of their juices out on the bed or their half-breed.

Sketchy increased the pace of her fingers, adding a third one and pumping away like a mad mare. Jinx was trying to get more of Dusk's tongue by crossing her legs behind his head. She succeeded as she could start feeling Dusk's tongue reach further in her leaking walls, touching against the most sensitive spots in her.

With the multiple and very pleasurable sensations going through his loins, Dusk was finally pushed off the edge as he let loose a massive roar, somewhat muffled by Jinx's thighs around his head. Both mares were forced to shut their eyes close at the massive volume of steaming cum blasting inside of their mouths and straight down their throats.

For a bit, both mares kept the shafts buried deep in their throats, drinking as much of their lover's seed as they could. However, Sketchy started to choke on the large volume as she was not prepared for it to be so much, forcing her to pull back while Jinx continued to greedily partake of Dusk's seed.

After another three volleys of the thick cum, Jinx sucked her way back up the tip to milk out a few more beads of Dusk's cum. She then moved to the drops that Sketchy hadn't been able to finish, licking around the base with her tongue as she crawled off of Dusk and towards Sketchy.

Sketchy was already panting heavily, partially due to the prolonged blowjob she'd just given, and partially the stupid choice she'd made trying to swallow all of his hot seed. As she was desperately trying to catch her breath, Jinx suddenly grabbed Sketchy's cheeks with her sticky hands. "J-Jinx, wh-what are you do-" The mare wasn't given time to finish her question as Jinx placed a cum-filled kiss on Sketchy's lips.

With her lips sealed by Jinx, Sketchy squealed as she was was forced to drink every drop of the cum that was in Jinx's mouth along with the mare's own saliva. To Sketchy, Dusk's seed tasted somewhat sour. Like, candy sour.

Due to her not having fully recovered yet, Sketchy didn't have the strength to fight Jinx off as she was pushed onto her back, Jinx following quickly, lips still sealed. Sketchy wasn't sure how Jinx kept getting the upper hand on the her lately. Jinx, on the other hand, was loving sharing Dusk's seed with her pack-sister, fighting tongues with Sketchy while savoring his lingering flavor.

While the mares continued to kiss one another, Dusk began recovering from his climax to see the two laying down exchanging kisses with one another. "Wow girls," Dusk breathed out with a small ember of purple flames, still trying to wrap his head around how his mares were able to use their magic like that. "That. Was. Awesome, thanks."

Dusk started to move off the head of the bed, snaking his way in between his two mares' kissing, getting them to place one on his cheeks while his arms and wings trapped them underneath him.

Both Jinx and Sketchy nuzzled into Dusk's neck as his hands traveled down their bodies. "But," Dusk began with a playful growl as he took a handful of both of his mares' flanks, causing them to whince and moan as his claws dug into their fur. "Next time warn me when you're about to use magic," he said, causing the color to drain from both Jinx and Sketchy. "Okay?"

"It wasn't me, Jinx wanted to-"

"Oh don't even, you had the same-"

Dusk silenced both mares by gently slapping their flanks, causing them to squeal a little. "Okay girls? A fair warning is all I'm asking," Dusk said in a gentle voice, moving his hands from their flanks up to their backs. "I love and appreciate the both of you, but I do want to make you two feel good too, you know."

Sketchy let out a small sigh as she moved her hands to the necklace Dusk had given them during their big date a few days ago, while Jinx pressed herself against Sketchy's side to hide a little, both brightly blushing from Dusk's words.

"We know Dusk," Sketchy spoke as she moved her hands to Jinx's blue and green mane to stroke its long length, fixing some of it as she continued. "We just wanted to take care of you for all the work you've done. That's all you ever do for us, so we really wanted to do something for you."

Dusk softly chuckled at the blushing mare as he brushed his hand over Sketchy's cheek, moving some of her black mane out of the way. "Girls the fact that you two put up with me, and all the messes I find myself in," Dusk slowly said as he moved down towards his mares' ears to whisper, "is enough for me. I love you guys, and nothing will change that."

Jinx suddenly wrapped her arms round Dusk's neck and began peppering kisses on his cheek and jaw as she pulled him back down to the bed. There was nobody else that she'd rather spend her life with than the half-breed on top of her, and unicorn mare laying next to her. She didn't need words to describe how she felt, it was her actions that showcased her feelings. That was her reason for trying so hard to make Dusk happy as often as she could.

"And we love you too, Dusk," Sketchy said as she moved her hand around to the base of Dusk's wings, pressing the tip of her middled finger down on the muscle, and moving it in a small circle to get Dusk humming in appreciation. "We care about you and we want to see you smile just as much you want to see us smile."

Dusk relaxed further into his mares' embrace, wanting to take this moment to simply sleep with his mares underneath his wings. That's all he could ever-

Suddenly, the sound of angelic trance music started to come from the side of the room where the lovers' clothes were placed during their teleportation. "Does anyone else hear that?" Jinx asked after she ended the affectionate kissing, looking up from Dusk and over to the side of the room in front of them. "Dusky, is that your phone?"

Dusk looked over towards the wall with the pile of clothes, only barely spotting his black jean shorts sticking out. "Mm...probably just Arctic calling to see where we are," he murmured as he closed his eyes with a faint sigh to bask in his mares' warmth. "Could one of you get it for me? I would, but my magic doesn't work like that."

"I got it," Jinx said as her horn began glowing in a blue light, using a levitation spell to get Dusk's cell-phone out of his jean's pocket and bring it over to him. "Here you go Dusky. By the way, where did you get that new ring-tone? I like it."

"Heh, yeah?" Dusk chuckled, reaching his hand up to the blue and purple edged phone. As Dusk brought the phone closer, he looked at the caller-ID screen on the front of it for a moment before shooting up from the bed. "Oh crap, crap, crap…" Slowly, as if Dusk was afraid to, he answered the still ringing cell-phone with a fearful, "H-hello?"

Both Sketchy and Jinx turned over to their backs, watching all the color drain from their lover. The only time they'd ever seen him like this was either when he was being yelled at by his mother, Sketchy, or...his eldest sister.

"Verdite, Verdite, would you stop your yelling al-" Dusk sighed as he pinched the bridge of his muzzle, being forced to listen to his oldest sister's yelling. He knew that there was something he was forgetting, but he hadn't been able to put it together. Until now, that was. "Okay, yes you got me, I did forget that you two were coming today. I was busy, what did you-"

Groaning, Dusk slid off the bed as his sister resumed her tyrannical yelling. Truth be told, it really was his fault, but he'd had a lot on his mind as of late. The date, the Elements, that evil unicorn still on the loose, and now the show with Vinyl that actually gave him a reason to be in Canterlot.

"Gee, thanks sis, I know you're in the Nightmare Guard, and that you and Wave are being stationed here for a few months." Unknown to Dusk, both of his mares sat up from the bed with looks of surprise on their faces. "Thank you for the late reminder… Look just tell me where I can find you two?"

Dusk started walking around the room as he nodded his head, trying to remember everything Verdite was telling him. "The both of you are at the castle? Good, I was heading there in a bit anyways… Business that I want to see end, that's all." Sitting at the foot of the bed, Dusk kept nodding his head as Verdite continued to tell him information, thankfully not yelling at him any more. "Yeah, yeah I know, I'll fill you guys in on everything when I get there."

Jinx and Sketchy began crawling on the bed towards Dusk, both taking a spot on either side of him as he continued to listen to Verdite. Seeing the bothered look on her love's face, Jinx decided to make her presence known to Dusk by nudging her head against the back of his right arm.

"H-huh, yeah, yeah, I'm listening Ver," Dusk said as looked back to see Jinx looking up to him with pleading eyes. All Dusk did was smile as he lifted his hand to let Jinx crawl into his lap, resting on top of his shafts. Sketchy moved to do the same thing as she shifted around to Dusk's back, sitting up on her knees, wrapping her arms around Dusk's neck.

Dusk stretched his wings out so Sketchy would have more room to rest her body on his while he began stroking Jinx's hair. "Okay, everything's been okay with us," he said in a low tone of voice, sighing lightly. "Things have been a bit hectic, but we've been making it through. What about you two? Heard that Wave went up in rank a few weeks ago."

As their lover took the time to speak with his sister, Jinx and Sketchy lightly lit their horns to open the mental link between them. Unsurprising to the other, both of them were confused and worried as to why a Nightmare and Lunar Guard were being stationed in Equestria, especially the only two related to Dusk.

"Alright Verdite, we'll see you at the castle in a bit," Dusk said with a long sigh as he got ready to hang up the phone, when his sister started to say something on the other side. "Yeah sis...I missed you too, talk to you later." Dusk pressed on the red call-end button before lazily tossing the phone to his left side with another sigh leaving his lips.

Jinx voiced her worries through the mental link to Sketchy, saying they had to do something about the sadness that they heard in Dusk's voice. "Dusk, is everything alright? Why are Wave and Verdite being stationed in Equestria?" Sketchy asked, burying herself in the crook of Dusk's neck to her face against Dusk's coarse fur.

"Huh? Oh y-yeah, everything is fine," Dusk answered as he continued stroke Jinx's hair, now moving his hand down to rub her back. "You know, aside from those unicorns out there. Nah, they're here to assist in training the new batch of recruits for a while. And right after that they get some leave time, so we may see them more often after a few weeks...months."

"But why did you sound so worried?" Jinx asked, brushing her fingers up Dusk's chest as she nuzzled into the other side of Dusk's neck, opposite Sketchy. "I would've thought that you would be happy to hear from your sisters again, but you didn't sound like it, Dusk. We're worried about you."

Dusk smiled down at Jinx, moving his right hand on her stomach while his left was placed firmly on the top of her head. "Girls, I'm fine. Just disappointed in myself for forgetting that they'd be here," he said with a nervous laugh. "It's not every day that I hear from them, and I told myself I wouldn't forget. But…"

"But nothing Dusk," Sketchy said, sitting up further to bring her mouth over to Dusk's ear as her hands moved down his chest. "Like we said before, you're a hardworking half-breed that's been doing too much of everything lately. You're the one that keeps saying one must take care of their own. So stop worrying yourself about everything, and do so already."

Dusk started to chuckle when Sketchy began nibbling on his ear while Jinx bucked her hips on his lap as she started rubbing her hands over his body. "Okay girls, if you two say so," Dusk said, placing his hands on Jinx's thighs as she tickled the fur on his neck with her tongue. He always found it hard to think when his mares were acting like this, and sometimes it was best just to go with it. "Come on, let's get dressed. Much as I would prefer to stay here. Don't want to keep them waiting."

"Alright Dusk."

"Okay Dusky."

Canterlot Castle

After the three lovers had freshened up, gotten dressed, and made their way through the streets of Canterlot, they stood in front of the Canterlot Castle for the first time. For each one, it was like seeing something from a children's fictional book come to life in front of them. Marble walls and floors, golden arches and Solar Guards around every corner.

For a moment, Dusk was worried that they wouldn't be able to get inside of the castle, due to them not being nobles or somepony important. However, literally the moment the front guards saw Dusk, they began escorting him and his mares inside in a hurried manner.

When Dusk asked what was going on, one of the guards said that it had to do with something that they believed he could be of help with. However, the half-breed continued to question the two, even going as far as to force them to reveal the information.

"Alright, alright, it's your sister!" the gray unicorn stallion exclaimed, shaking a little from the fear he was still feeling from this morning's training exercise. "It happened so fast, I didn't even see her move at all...what kind of magic is that anyway?"

"Forget about that, is the Republic really filled with half-breeds like that?" the other tan earth-pony stallion questioned with a wide-eyed expression on his face. He had seen combat before, but what Dusk's sisters were able to do was unreal, and it made him wonder what the real firepower of the Republics was. "I'm so glad I wasn't born there, I don't think I would make it."

Groaning, Dusk pinched the bridge of his muzzle and sighed a gray cloud of smoke. "Yeah, that would be my sisters alright," he said, mostly to himself, before looking back up to the two guards. "Take me to 'em."

"Right this way," the tan guard said, leading the group to the training hall where Dusk's sisters had gathered all of the new recruits after they arrived early in the morning. Once they were at the door, Sketchy and Jinx reeled their heads back at the number of ponies laying on the floor around the door and the few doctors and nurses tending to their injuries.

Not paying it any attention, Dusk walked up to the white marble doors and started to push them open to enter the training hall. It looked like a battle zone, as the floor was littered with stone rubble, holes, and cracks lining the walls.

Dusk's eyes, however, ignored the condition of the training hall, as he had them locked solely on the tall, forest-green, black underside, female half-breed with white stripes going down and around her back, with a purple collar around her neck. She was wearing a black and white tanktop, shorts that matched her black and white hair, with two dense black spikes sticking out from her white hair.

Dusk couldn't help the smile that found its way on his face as he watched his eldest sister, Staff Sergeant Verdite Flare, gripping a new recruit, a large brown earth-pony stallion, by the collar of his white t-shirt. Yelling at him in a gruff voice, naturally.

Dusk noted that the full group of the Elements of Harmony were here, which was somewhat odd. Even odder, Applejack looked absolutely livid, and was being held in place by Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.

"You think you're worth anything!? Who's the sorry excuse of a pony that gave you the idea that you're tough enough for the military?!" Verdite shouted in the stallion's face, bringing him closer to glare deeply into his eyes.

'Ahh...the same tactics mom used on us,' Dusk thought to himself, remembering all the times his own mother screamed in his face to get her point across. 'I actually miss it, but only a little.'

"What do you have to say for yourself, colt?" Verdite questioned as the stallion looked for some way to escape her grasp. However, Dusk knew that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Earth-ponies may have an affinity regarding the earth, and the magic it has, but that didn't compare to the greater connection dragons and diamond dogs had with it. "I'm waiting for an answer, and you don't want to make me wait any longer than I already have."

After realizing that he wouldn't be getting out of the half-breed's hold until she wanted him to, the stallion sighed in defeat. "Aah...Ah joined for muh family!" the stallion shouted at Verdite, taking everyone inside of the room by surprise at the bravery he had. "They were gonna lose thuh farm if Ah hadn't. Do what ya want to with me, but Ah ain't leaving, no matter what happens to me."

There was a quiet and tense moment that came over the room as everyone waited to see what Verdite would do or say to the stallion. Their wait came to an end when Verdite let the stallion drop to the floor, laughing.

"So, you did this for your family, huh colt?" she questioned as the stallion got up to his shaky feet. Verdite looked into the stallion's bright red eyes for a moment, seeing a determination that she'd only seen in the eyes of true soldiers she'd met before. "Well then, I got one thing to say to you."

The stallion's body visibly tensed up when he looked into Verdite's bright purple eyes, feeling as if the earth was trying to swallow him alive. And when the half-breed started to reach her hand out to him, he feared that such a fate would have been preferable. However, that thought was banished when Verdite placed her hand on the stallion's shoulder.

"Keep those balls of yours, recruit," Verdite said in a calm, and raspy voice, a stony look on her face. "If you can manage that, then you might just make it through this. Now, help your comrades up off the floor," she continued, pausing to turn towards Dusk. "I have a little brother to... talk to."

All eyes turned towards Dusk as Verdite began walking towards him with a slight leer on her face. Without a word, Dusk started close the distance between him and Verdite, knowing he was going to get it either way. As they continued to get closer, the tension in the room started to rise once again.

By the time they had gotten face to face with each other, everyone in the room was on the tips of their toes. "Dusk," Verdite spoke with blank tone in her voice, crossing her arms over her underneath her chest.

"Verdite," Dusk said, returning his sister's blank tone, and putting his hands in his black shorts. He was surprised that Verdite wasn't beating his skull in right now. "I see you're doing great."

"And I see that you're doing great with your mares," Verdite said, glancing over towards Sketchy and Jinx who both had worried and concerned looks on their faces. She noted the new necklaces, but decided to not mention them for now. "We've missed you these last few years, haven't we, Wave?"

Slowly coming around from behind Verdite was a short, midnight-blue half-breed, marked with the same white stripes as her sister. She had white tips on her ears, and a white strip going down the middle of her tail. Her wings were the same coloring as the rest of her fur, and they were currently held in close to her body.

She wore similar clothing to what Verdite did, the main difference was that her training pants went down to her ankles, like they were supposed to for a Lunar Guard. It took Dusk a moment to recognize the half-breed as his youngest sister, the youngest of all his siblings, Wave Flare. 'She let her hair grow out all the way down to her back,' Dusk thought. 'That's why I didn't recognize her immediately'.

"Uh-huh," Wave, an Air Sergeant, confirmed as she looked up to Dusk with her right eye, the other one hidden behind her white hair. "Things has been boring without you around," she continued said as she toyed with a few strands of her long white hair with her fingers.

Dusk sighed out a laugh, counting himself in the clear of receiving a beating from Verdite. Yet, there was still a small voice in the back of his head warning him he wasn't out of the clear. "Yeah, sorry for-"

Wave stopped Dusk from speaking by suddenly running up to him, and jumping at him to hug him around his midsection, burying her face in Dusk's blue shirt. "I missed you, big brother," Wave said with her hair covering her eyes as she tightened the grip she had around Dusk.

"Yeah, little sis," Dusk started, placing his a hand on the top of Wave's head while the other one went to her shoulder. "I miss you t-" Again, Dusk was cut off by Wave moving her clawed hand directly to the base of his wings, forcing them to expand outward fully as he let out a shout.

Dusk looked down to Wave to ask her why she was messing with the sensitive muscle, when he noticed that part in her hair had shifted to cover her right purple eye, revealing her white left eye. "We've missed you so much big brother…" Rogue-Wave's alternate personality-said in a small growl. "Like how we missed you at the landing pad this morning, for three hours." She emphasized the time by digging her claws in a little more into his wing-muscle.

"Ow, ow, ow! Rogue chill, chill!" Dusk said as he teleported a few feet out of his sister's hold. Rogue was going to continue her 'fun' with her brother, but Verdite came up behind Rogue, moving her hair back over Rogue's white eye.

Wave blinked a few times, a little embarrassed by her other half's actions during the few moments Rogue was able to take control. "Uh, sorry big brother," she said with a sheepish grin on her face as she rubbed the back of her head. "What happened while Rogue was in control?"

"Ah, nothing Wave," Dusk said looking up at Verdite for a bit before walking back over to Wave to wrap his arm around her neck. "Ain't nothing, little sis," Dusk said as he rubbed the top of Wave's head. "So how's being a recruit trainer?"

Verdite let out a small sigh as Dusk and Wave continued to speak with each other. She had hoped that Wave would be able to get control of her separate personality after joining the military, but that had only seemed to encourage Rogue's influence at times. 'Maybe Commander Xia was right...maybe she just needs a little help.'

"U-uh, Sergeant Flare?" Verdite's ears perked up at the sound of the same stallion from a few moments ago, turning around to find that he had a black and silver maned unicorn leaning against him. "Ma'am, I gotta know. Did ya go through thuh same thing when you were a recruit? And does every Republic soldier go through that?"

Verdite started to laugh a bit at the stallion's question, knowing that it had to been on every Solar Guard's mind since she and Wave showed up this morning. "What's your name, colt?" Verdite asked, turning around to face the stallion. "Well soldier, I asked you a question, answer."

"Uh, Armstrong ma'am. Armstrong J. Apple," Armstrong said with a firm smile on his face as he lifted the tired unicorn further up onto him. "Ah used to be an apple farmer, but like Ah said, muh family would've likely lost thuh farm if Ah hadn't joined."

"Well, it's like I said, keep those balls and brains of yours, and you'll do just fine," Verdite said as she turned back around to her siblings, seeing them speaking the head of the engineering department of the Solar Guard. "Now get that soldier checked out before getting everyone in your company back to their barracks. I want you to personally oversee it, you hear me farmer-boy?"

Armstrong gave Verdite a salute with his free arm before turning to help the other recruits trying to get up on their feet. After seeing the stallion off, Verdite walked over over to her siblings, giving a salute to Obsidian as he approached.

"At ease," Obsidian said to the half-breed as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You know, you two have a 'special' way of breaking in the new recruits," he went on to say as he looked between the two hound and dragon half-breeds. "That said, I have a feeling that you two will do them some good, but I'll be helping you. Or better put, 'keeping an eye on you.'"

"Word from higher up, I presume?" Verdite asked, knowing about the difference between the way Equestria's military operated and the way the Lunar Republic's did. "Don't worry full-blood, sir. We will try to not break these ponies...much."

Sighing, Dusk shook his head at the cold tone in Verdite's voice, but he figured that it came with the years she'd spent in the Nightmare Guard. Obsidian, however, didn't want to interfere much with Verdite's methods, knowing that it would help Equestria in the long run.

"Hah, right, guess that's why I'm overseeing this…'project,'" Obsidian said, waving his hand for the three half-breeds to follow him. "And since I'm overseeing this project, I have final say in everything. And I say that you two need to spend some time with your brother, understood?"

Wave's mouth dropped open at the thought of being able to spend some time with elder brother already, with only a half day's work in. "R-really, alpha sir? But I thought we had to stay and clean up everything," Wave said as she looked back to the mess that had been caused by Verdite and Rogue. Well, in a sense, her as well. "Wouldn't that be better to do first?"

"No," Obsidian said bluntly, slightly turning his head back to look at the winged half-breed as they made their way over to the Elements of Harmony and Dusk's mares. Obsidian noticed that Applejack had calmed herself down, and was no longer being held in place by her friends. "There's a second reason why you two were specifically chosen for this position. I trust that your brother can fill you two in better than a mission briefing will. Isn't that right, Resolve, the Element of Defiance?"

Verdite and Wave both raised their eyebrows as they looked at Dusk. They had heard rumors of a new type of Element that had popped up in Equestria, but the rumors had been vague at best. To hear that their own brother was this new Element was mostly a shock to them. They figured he would get himself in trouble at some point, but this was a new level of trouble, even for him.

'So they do have a second reason for being here.' Dusk was a little upset at Obsidian for letting the proverbial cat out of the bag, but he would have had to tell his sisters sooner or later regardless. "Yeah, I'll get that done. Don't you worry, Obsidian," Dusk said as they came to a stop in front of the mares. "Hey guys, why don't we take this to an after-party that's happening in an hour?"

"An after-party?" Verdite questioned with a raised eyebrow, soon dismissing it since she knew Dusk was into things like that. "Right, an after-party. Alright then little brother, just give me and Wave a chance to freshen up."

Dusk chuckled at Verdite, having thought the same thing. "Yeah, you two definitely need a bath. Nothing smells-"

Not liking where her brother was going, Verdite quickly kicked her foot into the back of Dusk's knee, forcing him to fall on it as she wrapped her arm around his neck. "Little brother," she started in a deathly low growl into Dusk's ear, moving the tip of her tail around to Dusk's face. "Sometimes I could pop that head right off your stupid, idiotic shoulders. You know that?"

"Nugh, y-yeah, and sometimes...grah, I deserve it," Dusk choked out as Verdite continued to flex her arm around his neck in a choke-hold. The same that she had done when they were cubs. "I missed y-ya, sis."

"Yeah I missed you too little brother," Verdite said before she let Dusk go so he could get back up to his feet. "Now wait here while me and Wave shower, it shouldn't take long," Verdite said as she started to walk out of the training room with Wave following, almost skipping, close behind.

The moment his sister left the room, Dusk started to laugh as he rubbed his hands through his black hair. "Welp everyone," he spoke with another laugh leaving his lips as he put his hands into his pockets. "Lived with the both of them for sixteen full years, and I love 'em to death. They're my sisters."

/ Ch. 49: Intentions/-/

High Moon Ch. 49:  
Intentions

Gathering outside, Dusk, his mares, Arctic, and the Elements all waited for Dusk's sisters to come out so they could head to the after-party that Vinyl was hosting. The wait was an awkward one, as there was still some animosity from the Elements directed at Dusk. This animosity was mainly centered between him and Rainbow Dash.

However, the two were tricked into speaking with each other by their friends and loved ones.

"So, you're thinking of joining the guard?" Dusk asked after the topic was brought up by Pinkie Pie and continued on by the rest of the elements. It wasn't any of his business, but it wasn't hard for him to tell when his mares and Arctic wanted him to be someone's friend. "That's cool, what with my sisters being in charge of the new recruits."

"Uh, yeah, they seemed...fun," Rainbow said, still on the fence about joining the guard, especially now with Dusk's sisters in charge. But after having thought about it for a while now, she was starting to see no other option. She needed to make something of herself.

Dusk let out a small groan as memories of his youth came rushing back to him, most of which consisted of either Verdite or Rogue torturing him, only for Wave to come to his aid. "Yeah, fun," he said with a laugh that was filled with sarcasm. "That's the right word to use. Anyway, if you're really dead set on it, the best to ya."

"Hey, thanks man," Rainbow said before letting out a small sigh, obviously still nervous about the idea. "Honestly," she started, rubbing her arm as her nervousness continued to rise. "I'm joining to make my chance of becoming a Wonderbolt real. Just wish it was for my flying skills."

Dusk looked over towards the rest of the elements for an answer to the mare's nervous behavior, but didn't get what he was looking for. "Hey Rainbow Dash," Dusk started, taking a brave step towards the mare with a tone of worry in his voice. "You alright? You sound pretty nervous, well...I mean you have every reason to be about joining any military, but…"

"I know, I know. I really am being a nervous coward," Rainbow said with a long sigh as her wings fell from her back from the heavy weight of the thoughts she had been having for a while now. "You were right, okay! I'm not the tough mare everyone thinks I am." Closing her eyes, Rainbow took in a deep breath to calm her nerves. "Look, I really wanted to get in the Wonderbolts for my flying, and I told myself that joining the guard would be a last resort. Sorry."

"Hey, it's fine," Dusk said in a low tone of voice as Rainbow refused to look him in the eyes, forcing him to believe that Rainbow didn't believe him. "Listen Rainbow, sometimes...sometimes life doesn't work out the way we want it to, and well, we gotta make tough choices to make our dreams happen. You know that, right?"

Rainbow let out another long sigh as she turned her head towards Dusk to look him in the eyes. "I do now, thanks Dusk. You know, you're not such a bad guy," Rainbow said with a small smile on her face, showing a small glimmer of hope. "Too bad you're off the market though."

Dusk opened his mouth to retort when Jinx suddenly came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist while Sketchy stood in front of him with a very flat look on her face. "Miss Dash, is there something else behind that joke?" Sketchy asked in a slightly menacing tone of voice that was magnified by her eyes being hidden behind a glare in her glasses.

"Uh...n-no ma'am, just a joke, you know, to lighten the mood," Rainbow said as she rubbed the back of her head with a sheepish smile on her face, making a mental note to not make a joke like that around Dusk's mares. "But seriously, I gotta say he is a catch."

"Rainbow, that's not helping your case," Twilight gently popped the back of Rainbow's head, sighing at her friend's absent-minded speaking. Honestly, she hadn't ever seen Rainbow make a move on anyone, so it was no surprise to see that she was pretty bad at it. "But if you don't mind me asking, just how did you three meet anyway? I'm sure it's a good story, right?"

"Oh, oh, lemme tell it this time!" Jinx said, standing up on her tippy-toes to see over Dusk's shoulder so she could tell the story along with her other two lovers. While the three went over the events of the rugby team and what happened afterwards, Arctic timidly moved to stand next to Fluttershy, taking the mare's hand in hers.

Fluttershy reflexively flinched when she felt Arctic's fingers interlocking in her hand, but quickly snapped out of her shy nature to return the gesture with a small smile and a blush on her face. They hadn't openly said what was on their minds, but they both knew that they were going out with each other. Fluttershy, naturally, was too shy to ask a mare like Arctic out. And Arctic was the same. So they had just moved into a relationship without really talking about the situation. It had worked well for them so far.

"And then we just started hanging out more," Jinx ended the story with a bright smile on her face. She had a lot of happy memories from the days after Dusk's fight with the rugby team, despite what happened as a result. "And more, and more still until…"

Groaning, Dusk let his head drop when he realized that Jinx was leading on for him to finish the story for her. "Until I finally worked up the guts to ask them out. Believe me when I say that it wasn't easy."

Jinx giggled for a bit before she climbed onto Dusk's back, wrapping her arms around Dusk's neck as she place a kiss on his cheek while crossing her legs around his waist to keep her there. She then slipped her left hand into Dusk's shirt while her right one crossed over around to Dusk's ear to play with it.

"But it sure has been worth it," Dusk said with a laugh at Jinx's playfulness, unable to stop his tail from wagging behind him due to her playing with his ear. "Anyway, the moral is, you won't know what will happen until you take the plunge."

"Well you certainly took a plunge alright," Twilight said, now fully believing Dusk's story about him taking on an entire team of drugged-up minotaurs. Especially since Sketchy had showed her evidence of it in a newspaper clipping she had kept. "But that's incredible of you Dusk, you risked your life for someone you barely knew."

Dusk began laughing for a bit, opening his mouth to say something about the situation when he felt something move behind him. Suddenly, Wave popped her head out from behind Dusk, taking the group by surprise. "That's because dad told us that the only wrong way to tackle a situation is to not act," she said with a smile on her face before walking out from behind Dusk, wearing a light-blue sweater that covered her down to her mid-thighs, while she had a black tank top on underneath that and with light-purple and blue striped leg-warmers.

"Act, don't react. That was always dad's motto," Wave continued to say as the castle doors began to open up for Verdite, wearing a simple purple t-shirt with black jeans, both with the designs of Nightmare Moon's cutie mark on them. "Isn't that right, big brother?"

"Yeah, and he also had a habit of calling you 'Ghost' sometimes," Dusk joked, still trying to understand just how Wave moved so quick without a single sound, but she would never tell him. "Wave, how do you do that? Please tell me already, I'm tired of playing this guessing game with you."

Wave, after moving her hands behind her back, began swaying on her heels in thought while Verdite came to a stop with her hands on her hips. "Mm...no~ You have to guess. That's the point of the game, Dusk."

"Oh come on," Dusk groaned with a sigh of blue embers, tired of playing Wave's game. "I know it has something to do with sound manipulation, but that doesn't explain how you suddenly appear out of nowhere."

"You still haven't told him yet, have you Wave?" Verdite asked with a knowing tone in her voice, having been told the answer a few years ago. "Dusk is gonna blow a blood-vessel if he thinks too hard about it. Why don't you tell him already?"

"Because it's one of the few things me and Rogue agrees on," Wave said in a giggle as she turned her head up to the sky to see some type of large bird flying above. "Besides it's fun, and I'm sure Dusk will get it one day. He's smart like that."

Everyone, aside from Dusk and Verdite, raised an eyebrow at Wave as she continued to watch the bird, her own wings flexing ever so lightly, as if she wanted to take off. "Yeah right, I'm never gonna get it," Dusk said in a groan as he turned to start walking down the street with Jinx still on his back. "Come on, I promised Vinyl we'd make it to the after-party."

"Oh righty, Dusk! That last show was killer!" Pinkie cheered as she hopped over to start walking next to Dusk, having been to each of Vinyl's performances in Canterlot this weekend. "I mean all of those lightning wolves running around Vinyl and Rave was incredible! How you do that with your magic anyway? I thought dragons only breathed fire."

Dusk started to laugh at the grown mare's excitement, somewhat unsurprised that she was at the concerts. "Yeah, dragons do breath fire, but it's a bit more complicated than that," Dusk said, knowing about Equestria's lack of basic dragon knowledge thanks to what the twins had told him. "Fire breathing is normal for dragons. The magic comes in what element, or elements, the dragons carry."

Seeing a chance to learn about dragons, Twilight sparked her horn, making a notepad appear in her hands, landing next to Sketchy, who was on Dusk's left side. "By elements, do you mean elements of nature? Like fire, air, water, and earth?"

"Exactly, Princess Sparkle," Wave answered for her brother as she walked next to Verdite in a whimsical manner. "Each of the elements is represented by a Maker of the planet. And each of those Makers had children with each other, so on and so forth, making other elements."

Twilight worked furiously to write everything Wave was saying, finding dragon lore to be more fascinating every time she heard about it. "And I'm assuming that these elements are everything else? Like lighting, ice, plants and others?"

"Hm, impressive Princess," Verdite said with a small laugh as she was truly impressed with how fast and easily Twilight was catching onto dragon culture. "If I may say, I believe you were a dragon in a previous life. Yes, the mixture of elemental-magic makes other types of elements. Lighting, for example, is created by fire and wind magic."

"And it is possible for some dragons to have three different types of the original four Makers magic," Dusk added, thinking back to his father, who wielded fire, wind, and earth magic. Along with all that, his father possessed all of the elements in conjunction with them. "It's extremely rare, but it can happen."

Twilight continued to write down what Verdite and Dusk were telling her, making notes to ask further questions about it, along with live demonstrations if they ever had the time. "Okay, so dragon magic is centered around the elements of nature. But I still have one more question if it isn't too much."

"Sure, Princess Sparkle," Wave continued with the same cheer in her voice that still baffled the elements, given her position in the Lunar Guard. "Dad had us study dragon culture and stuff, so we should be able to answer your questions."

"Uh, thank you," Twilight said, thinking about her question again before asking. "So anyway I wanted to know, is there such a thing as...I dunno, light and dark magic for dragons? Like how there is for unicorns?" Twilight thought back to the battle with the former King Sombra a year ago in the Crystal Empire. "I know they aren't necessarily a part of nature, but they are aspects, right?"

Suddenly, all three half-breeds' faces took on a look of dread as each of them certainly had an answer for Twilight. However, none of them wanted to remember it. The abrupt pause from the three siblings caused Twilight and the others to begin worrying about them. But before any of the equines could say something, Wave began laughing a bit, hollowly.

"No Princess...stuff like that is only a fairy tale for dragons," Wave said, both of her eyes covered by her hair, all traces of joy having been drained from her voice. "Like fallen angels, demons, spirits; just a part of a hatchling's fairy tale." Wave slowly lifted her head up, revealing her white eye to Twilight. "Or their biggest nightmare."

"Rogue, that's enough," Verdite said firmly, placing her hand on to her younger sister's shoulder to draw the attention of Wave's alternate personality away from Twilight. "You've answered the question, you don't need to say anything else."

Rogue let out a small laugh as she closed her eye, obviously not listening to Verdite. "Well, I figured that Princess Sparkle would want as much information as she could get from us. What with Equestria not knowing a single thing about dragons. However," she paused to move her hand up over to the part of her hair that was covering her purple eye. "If you want me gone, all you have to do is ask."

Once Rogue had fixed her hair back over her white eye, Wave let out a small sigh as she dropped her hands to her sides. "Uh...sorry about that Princess Sparkle," she said in an apologetic tone of voice as she kept her eye lowered to the ground. "That kind of happens sometimes."

"Oh no, it's quite alright," Twilight said, puzzled about the situation with Wave's alter ego. However, she wasn't going to question it, feeling that it wasn't quite her place to ask such a question. "You… uh Rogue, did answer my question, in a way. So I think that's enough for now." Twilight could easily tell that there was something the siblings didn't want to reveal to her, but she was confident she could find the information she wanted somewhere else. Celestia, maybe?

Wave didn't respond to Twilight as she continued to look down at the ground, but was snapped out of her daze by Verdite placing her hand on Wave's shoulder to bring her closer. Wave looked up at her sister to see what she wanted, getting a feeling that she was about to get scolded for letting Rogue take over.

"Wave, I think it's time we did something about your hair. Maybe a hair band, or a bow," Verdite mused with a pondering look on her face, considering a few alternatives. "Whatcha think Dusk?" Verdite asked her younger brother as he had been uncharacteristically quiet for a moment, and because she was never good with things relating to beauty.

Dusk was silent for a moment before he turned his head back to Verdite with a raised eyebrow. "I sure as hell dunno," he said with a laugh before he turned his head back down to the street, seeing the place where the location of the after-party was. "Mm, I want to say hair band. But, every time Jinx wears a bow I swear I almost get a heart attack from the cuteness."

"Oh shush you," Jinx teased as she buried herself into Dusk's neck, taking a small bite of his neck while her tail wrapped itself around his. "Then maybe I should always wear a bow huh? How do you like that, mister?"

"Okay you two, save that for later," Sketchy said as she shook her head, laughing at her two lovers. "We'll talk about bow, ribbons, and all that other stuff later. Behind a soundproof door." Jinx stuck her tongue at Sketchy as Dusk was too busy laughing, both enjoying the banter that Sketchy brought to their relationship.

While the three continued their playing, Arctic used that as an opportunity to make her move on Fluttershy by stretching a wing over the mare. Fluttershy again started blushing when she felt the warmth of Arctic's soft wing on her, laying her head down on top of Arctic's shoulder with a soft sigh.

Unknown to the two, Rainbow caught their affectionate move from the corner of her eyes, but didn't say anything about it. She might have only met Arctic the other day, but from what Rainbow could tell, Arctic was a perfect match for Fluttershy. Just a little shy like her, but more open to trying new things.

"Yeah right, Sketchy," Dusk said as they got to the club Vinyl was hosting the after-party at, the star herself standing outside with Rave at her side. "There is no way that you'll ever leave your hair in pigtails for a week. Know what, if you do that, then I'll wear one of your hair bands for a month."

"Mm...if you wear it while I have my hair like that, then you got a deal," Sketchy said, knowing that there was no way Dusk was going to make it even a single week, let alone a whole month, wearing a hair band.

Once the two shook on it, Jinx got down from Dusk's back with a giggle at how fast their banter escalated into another bet between the two. "Heh, and I'll be keeping track of this bet!" Jinx said as she sparked her horn in it's normal light-blue shine, wrapping both Sketchy's and Dusk's wrists in her aura to create a blue-and-green trimmed band over each of their right wrists.

"Really Jinx, we're doing this bit again?" Dusk groaned as he looked at the band on his wrist with regret, as if he'd seen it before. Because he certainly had. "Last time this thing was on me it wouldn't come off until the bet was over," he growled in annoyance at the memory of the last time he'd made a bet with Jinx around.

"Because that's the point, silly," Jinx teased, giggling at the crossed-eyed look Dusk's face had when she poked him on his nose. To get more of a reaction out of Dusk, Jinx began spinning her finger in front of his nose before she poked it with her purple nail-polished finger again. "That way if either of you come home one day and it's gone, we'll know who won the bet. Isn't that fun?"

Dusk was going to answer when Jinx flicked her finger upwards, forcing his head to turn up to the sky for a moment before he regained his composure. "Yeah, fun," Dusk deadpanned as he rubbed his nose, glaring at Jinx, who only stuck her tongue at him. Rolling his eyes, Dusk turned towards a giggling Vinyl and her friend. "Laugh it up Vinyl, because I'm telling ya, you'll find yourself in the same situation as me. Trust me."

"Ha, yeah right," Vinyl laughed as she rolled her red eyes before placing her glasses back on. "So who are the two new half-breeds?" she asked, noticing Verdite and Wave standing behind Dusk, both looking oddly similar to Dusk. Only explanation for that would be… "Dude, they your sisters, or something?"

"Uh, yeah actually," Dusk said in a surprised tone of voice, wondering how Vinyl knew that Verdite and Wave were his sisters, but waving it off as her making a good guess. "Vinyl, Rave, this is my eldest sister, Verdite," Dusk paused, waving his hand over to Verdite who gave the two performers a simple wave. "and my youngest one, Wave."

As Dusk's gestured over to Wave, the half-breed's eyes widened at the sight of the two famous performers standing in front of her. "Oh. My. Gosh! Dusk, why didn't you tell me that you did a show with the Rave Melody and Vinyl Scratch?!" Wave shouted as she suddenly appeared in front of Dusk, giving everyone aside from her siblings a start.

"Because I didn't think you knew them? I mean, how was I gonna know, Wave? You remember the different types of music I used to listen to back in the Republics. Heck, I still do listen to most of it," Dusk said, not sure himself of what to make of his sister's sudden excitement. "Just how big are you two anyway?" he asked the two performers, as he had only just started to see how big their fan base was.

"World. Wide, dude," Vinyl said with a smug smile on her face, happy to hear that she was at least making some progress in the Lunar Republics, if Wave's excitement was anything to go by. "Now get your tails in here, we got a party to have fun at." Shrugging his shoulders, Dusk followed the music stars inside the club, with the others right behind him.

A few hours later

After having spent a good portion of the evening with his mares and siblings, Dusk thought it was time to get Verdite and Wave caught up on current events. And to ask Twilight what she had to say about everything. So, leaving his mares and Arctic to have their fun, Dusk led his sisters and Twilight into a private booth, where they began filling each other in about what they knew.

This began with Dusk telling his sisters about his element and the event that led up to it, sparking Verdite's curiosity when he mentioned Spike and Quill. After filling his sisters in on them as well, leaving out Spike's ghost-heart, Dusk went over what he believed the situation was.

"Listen, that guy can't be working alone," Dusk said while he had his elbows placed on the table, his fingers interlocked with each other, and his mouth behind them. "I don't know about you guys but for him to working alone, it would be pretty dumb to attack the town that the Elements of Harmony live in."

"Therefore he has comrades with him. Is that what you're saying Dusk?" Verdite asked her brother, knowing the situation was serious if Dusk had put so much thought into it. "It makes sense, but how many do you think he has?"

Dusk shrugged his shoulders as he shook his head, unsure of the number of possible enemies they could be facing. "Dunno, doesn't matter how many though, the power that one guy had was enough to make an army. Literally," Dusk said, snorting out a cloud of smoke through his nose. "I do know this, they're not gonna go for Ponyville again."

"How do you know that?" Twilight asked, placing her hands on the table as she continued to process everything that'd been said over the last few minutes. "Granted that his attack and search ended in failure, that still can't be enough to save Ponyville from more attacks, right?"

"No, not really but…" Dusk paused to think about his theory, trying to make sure that he had a good chance of being right. "It wouldn't make sense to attack the same place twice, especially with a greater chance of defeat."

Verdite and Wave nodded their heads, both knowing where Dusk's thoughts were coming from and that he was likely correct. "See Princess," Verdite started, knowing the best to explain why Dusk could be right. "There's a game of hide 'n' go seek that we would play back home on our islands. One of us would be 'it' while the rest of us would hide on the different islands. The trick was that in order to win the game we would have to best each other in a sparring match."

"Yeah, and someone loved to cheat," Dusk cut in, glaring at Verdite who used to unearth the ground every time they would play the game. "But anyway, if you're 'it' and you won the sparring match, the person that lost had to help you get the others. However, if you were 'it' and you lost match, then you couldn't come back to that island unless you'd gotten someone else."

"And after you checked all the islands, you won the game!" Wave finished for her two siblings, now wanting to play that game again, but holding that thought off for what was really important.

Twilight cocked her head at the three half-breeds for telling her about a simple game from their childhood, wondering how it could apply to the situation they were in now. However, as she continued to think about it, Twilight began to fill in the missing pieces for herself.

"So, you all are saying that this unicorn won't return, not because he didn't find the filly, but because the opposition he will face alone is too great?" Twilight asked, getting nods around from the other three, showing that she was on the right track. "And he also won't be coming back anytime soon because there are other places to look for the filly."

"Exactly," Dusk said, not surprised that the former student of the celestial goddess was able to figure out what he and his sisters were getting at. "Besides, if the filly was in Ponyville, I'm sure that she would've been found by now, right? I mean, the town is so small there's no way somepony wouldn't have noticed her by now."

"I suppose so Dusk," Twilight said, breathing out a sigh of relief when she realized that Ponyville was in the clear for now. But that only meant the rest of Equestria was a target. "So now the questions are: where is this filly, what power does she hold that's so important, and why do these ponies want her?"

Silence overcame the three as the small group thought about what Twilight said, but no answers came to mind. They couldn't come up with anything with the little amount of information that they had. It could be just as simple as they all thought it was: the goal being dominion over Equestria.

"Princess, as good as those questions are, we can't answer them for now," Verdite said, wanting to take the conversation in another direction. "So instead, I say we should focus our energy on the opponents themselves."

"Well, it's like I've already said," Dusk said, leaning back against the leather seat as he rested an arm on the back of it. "There's no way of telling how many there are, and we don't know where they are operating at. All we do know is that they are all possibly dragon-hunters, as were their ancestors."

"Why would that be?" Twilight asked, not knowing anything about the abominable practice of hunting dragons for various parts of their body and magic. Beyond that it was passed on by bloodlines as a 'tradition', as it was attempted to be justified as.

Verdite opened her mouth to answer when the sound of heavy knocking on the glass door caught their attention. When they all looked up to the booth's entrance, they saw the familiar dark-blue fur of Obsidian.

"Oh, it's Sergeant Obsidian. Wave, open the door for him will ya? He might be able to shed some light on this situation," Verdite said as she gestured for Wave to open the door for the dog so he could come in.

Wave nodded her head as she slid over to the handle of the soundproof door to push it open for Obsidian to walk in. Once the dog was in and sitting down next to Twilight, Wave closed the door so they could speak without the music from the speakers. "Hello everyone, I'm guessing that we are all roughly on the same page now?" he asked the others, having faith that Dusk would do his job of filling his sisters in, at least.

"Yes sir, we are," Verdite answered with a sigh, wishing she had more to offer to the dog about the matter. "Thus far, we've been able to determine that they are not working alone, and they won't likely strike the same place more than once or twice."

Obsidian began nodding his head, unsurprised by the information. "Good, at least now I know that my hypothesis could be proven right," he said as he leaned on the table with his arms, looking each individual in the eyes for a moment. "Anything else I should know, or are we stumped for information?"

"At the current moment it seems like the latter," Twilight said with a sigh as she continued to rack her brain for an answer as to why a group as powerful as these unknown ponies would want a little filly. "This is utter cruelty, hunting down a defenseless filly like some mindless animal," she hissed as anger began boiling inside of her, causing her horn to begin glowing in a bright purple light.

As the light got brighter, Obsidian took it upon himself to calm the mare down by placing a hand on her shoulder. "Princess, I know how you are feeling right now. Trust me, now isn't the time for anger," he said in a strong voice, having had the same dark thoughts when he was younger.

Twilight closed her eyes before taking in a deep breath to let out a slow and calm sigh as the shine in her horn started to die down. "Sorry, it just makes me so mad that a filly, out of anything, has been caught in this. She hasn't done anything wrong, so why should she be the target of all this? It isn't fair for her."

"Princess, we know," Obsidian said as he took his hand off of Twilight's shoulder with a sigh leaving his lips. "This filly doesn't deserve to be hunted down like this, but we have to find her. Cerberus knows something bad will happen if the enemy finds her. And trust me when I say that Celestia has been focusing on just that."

"Yes I know," Twilight started with a calmer and more controlled tone of voice. "Celestia has told me that she's been doubling the guard in major towns and cities to defend them and to search for the filly. She's also been looking for ways to keep the public calm about the matter. Which is why she took interest in that flight competition in that cloud city called... Stormfront, I believe."

Nobody in the group thought to question why Twilight was up to date with Celestia's moves and motives as far as the situation was concerned. However, there still was the question of whether or not Obsidian's team had found anything useful for finding the enemy.

"That's all well and good, but what I want to know is, is there a way to find these guys?" Dusk asked, not really interested in flying competitions more than he was about the enemy lurking in Equestria. "I mean, we won't be able to get them if we can't find them, right? So full-blood, has your team found out anything about the unicorn I fought?"

Sighing, Obsidian shook his head as he, his team, and even the research department were all tired from trying to trace the unicorn's magical signature. And if they couldn't find it soon, the trail would go cold. "Sadly no, we haven't been able to locate where this unicorn is from. It's almost like tracking a ghost that keeps moving."

"A ghost that keeps moving around huh?" Dusk mused as he rubbed the back of his head with his hand, thinking to himself for a bit. "Then, I don't know about you, but it seems there is only one thing we can do if that's the case."

"And just what that would be, little brother?" Verdite asked, happy to see that Dusk had done a lot of maturing over the last few years since she last seen of him.

Dusk closed his eyes as he took in a deep breath, causing the tension to rise in the private booth. "I say we wait for them to make another move," Dusk finally said after a few moments of pure, unsettling silence. "It's not like we have any other option right? We don't know where they are coming from," Dusk paused to hold up one finger as he began to list the disadvantages they had. "We don't know how many of them there are. We don't know exactly how strong they are, and we don't know when they may strike, or where."

"And to top that off, we don't have a single clue where this poor filly is," Wave said, only adding to the fingers Dusk was counting with. "The power she holds, why she is a target, where she is, or how to even find her. We got nothing, so how can we act against this?"

"You two are right," Obsidian said in a calm voice to keep the two half-breeds calm as well, despite him not being sure about the ordeals ahead of them. "We know nothing about our enemy and their intentions. All we do know is that they can not win this fight. We can only prepare ourselves for the rough time that's ahead."

While the canines were nodding their heads in agreement with Obsidian, Twilight thought to herself for a moment about the steps Celestia had been taking against this threat to Equestria. "That's why the guard is recruiting, isn't Sergeant Obsidian?" she breathed out, still not wanting to believe that those words left her lips. "Celestia is preparing for war…not just some simple battle, like we're used to."

"Princess, please understand," Obsidian started, knowing that Twilight would want a full explanation of what was happening. "No one is doubting the power that you and your friends have. But, something has Celestia worried." Twilight slowly turned her head towards Obsidian, with a look of disbelief on her face. "I can't tell you what it is, but something has been bugging her ever since the twins showed up in Ponyville after the incident with that unicorn. She is just making sure that Equestria can take a few hits, that's all."

"No...it's something more than that, isn't Obsidian?" Twilight questioned, knowing Celestia wouldn't act with military force unless the situation called for it. And the only reason it would call for it is if Celestia believed that the Elements couldn't handle themselves. "Celestia doesn't believe we can do it, does she? She's afraid that we'll fail."

Obsidian let out a small sigh, now knowing that he couldn't hope to lie to Twilight now that she was piecing everything together. "Alright, alright. It's not that Celestia is scared that you and the other Elements will fail, she just wants you girls to be able to live normal lives. You shouldn't have to bear all the weight of Equestria on your shoulders by yourselves."

"I know Obsidian, but…" Twilight sighed, reaching for the starburst necklace that was hanging around her neck. "After I was named an Element of Harmony, I vowed to keep everyone safe. To protect everyone precious to me and to make sure that everyone was happy at the end. However, now…"

"Twilight, lemme tell you something," Dusk started with a sigh as he turned towards Twilight to look her in the eyes. "Sometimes things go exactly as planned, sometimes, even better than we've planned. Then...then sometimes we have to swallow our pride and move on with our own lives for the better."

A long sigh escaped out of Twilight's lips as she dropped her head along with her shoulders. "I understand," she said before she snapped her head back up to at Dusk, eyes hard. "But, there is no way I'm not dropping out of this fight. I have a duty as Equestria's newest princess to do whatever I can to protect innocent civilians."

"Well now," Obsidian started with a laugh, impressed with the spark in Twilight's eyes. "Dusk, I think you're starting to rub off these girls a bit," he continued with another laugh, getting everyone aside from Dusk to laugh.

"I didn't do nothing," Dusk said in a sarcastic tone of voice as he held his hands up in a defensive manner, purposely using a double negative. "They're grown mares, they can make choices on their own."

"Aw, why th-" Twilight started, only to pause as she thought about what Dusk said and how he phrased it. "Wait a minute, hey! You used a double negative on purpose, didn't you?" Twilight questioned, glaring at the snickering half-breed with the same piercing gaze she used on the twins when they made similar jokes. "Dusk that's not funny, for a moment there I thought you were being serious."

While her younger brother continued to make a fool of himself, Verdite let out a sigh as Wave did her best to keep from laughing as well. "Don't worry Princess Sparkle," Verdite started as she gave Dusk a dry stare, not surprised that there was still a small bit of the Dusk she knew inside her brother. "He had me fooled for a moment as well, good to see that you haven't changed much Dusk."

"And it's good to see that you haven't changed much too sis," Dusk said with a laugh as he began to calm down to show that he was serious again. "At any rate, we're all on the same page with this cult thing right? We wait and prepare for them to strike, then we act."

With nods all around, and with the final plan set, the group left the booth, as the party was starting to hit last call. Obsidian said his farewells to the others, saying that he needed to get back to work on a project that might be able to help with the fight against the enemy. Wave left to go speak with her idols again, Verdite following to make sure Rogue didn't take control.

So this left Twilight and Dusk to chill at the bar with their friends and loved ones, walking into a conversation about a specialized style of unicorn magic from the Republics. As the two found their way into the conversation, Sketchy began informing Twilight about the technique of compounding the one's own magic with another, and vice-versa.

Not surprisingly, Twilight noted that there would be a magic feedback loop between the two unicorns until the magic was released via a spell, and that the spell would be stronger than it normally was.

Sketchy surprised Twilight when she and Jinx touched their horns together, causing a bright white spark to arc between their horns before they both began to use a spell at the same time.

Suddenly, Dusk began floating off the ground with no explanation of how he was doing it other than his mares' magic. "Aah, girls, didn't we talk about this?!" Dusk asked loudly as he continued to be lifted off the dark-red vinyl couch. Dusk continued to float upwards from ground, flailing his limbs around.

Jinx giggled, "Hehe, c'mon Dusky, I thought you like flying."

At first, Twilight thought that the two unicorns were using an advanced levitation spell. That was proven wrong, though, when the bright white light from the two's horns began fading away, and Dusk still remained in the air. Jinx quickly moved to push on Dusk's head, sending him aimlessly over into the club. Led to believe that this was a different type of spell, Twilight looked over at Sketchy for an answer. "How...this can't be what I'm thinking."

"Yes Princess, it is," Sketchy said with a small giggle seeing Jinx and Pinkie playing around with Dusk, who was helpless to stop them from doing so. "It's an anti-gravitational spell Jinx learned in her advanced alchemy class back in high school."

Twilight looked back over at Jinx and Pinkie trying to reach Dusk, who had clung to the ceiling with his claws. More specifically, Twilight was watching Jinx as she again sparked her horn, causing her legs to glow with a faint blue light. Suddenly, the mare was able to jump straight up to Dusk, wrapping herself around his body to pull him down from the ceiling.

"Normally, unless she's really trying, Jinx wouldn't be able to use spells like this without a sort of catalyst," Sketchy informed as Twilight looked away from the two giggling mares. "This catalyst would be me. I provide a loop for Jinx to build up magic quickly and safely, all while helping with the spell."

"Oh, I see," Twilight said as her horn faintly shined in a purple glow, using her magic to write this information down as she thought about it. "So you give Jinx a balance for her to work on while keeping her raw magic in check?"

Sketchy nodded, "Yes Princess that would be correct." Sketchy turned around to the countertop behind her to pick up her glass of pink-lemonade. "It's like this drink really. Imagine Jinx's magic being the actual liquid and my own as the ice-cubes." Twilight looked into the pink drink, wondering what Sketchy was getting at. "Alone, Jinx, like most other gifted unicorns, has a vast amount of magic. Their trouble comes with controlling it to their fullest potential. However that's where unicorns like me come in."

Twilight tilted her head slightly as she thought about what Sketchy was saying to her. "I get it now," Twilight gasped, "You're just like the ice-cubes, you regulate the intensity of Jinx's magic. Basically keeping her under control."

Sketchy laughed softly from seeing a bright spark in Twilight's eyes. "That's right. I'm the cap for Jinx's magic. At least when she try spells like that anyways," Sketchy said as Jinx soon brought Dusk back over by holding onto his tail like a balloon string. "Jinx still has to learn the spells herself, but after that I can help her better."

"Yes, this is all fascinating, and I would love to know more if that isn't too much of a trouble for you two." Sketchy pushed up her glasses with her middle and ring finger out of habit of thought. "Oh please, won't you? I've been meaning to learn new methods of magic lately, and I don't have much on Republic unicorn magic."

"What about learning magic?" Jinx asked as she looked between Sketchy and Twilight.

"Well, Princess Sparkle here was asking if we'd be willing to show her more about the things we know about Symphonias. I want to but I'm not sure if we can," Sketchy said, worried that they might not have time to do it with their jobs. As much as she really did want to, actually.

Jinx, however, gasped in shocked excitement as she quickly ran to Sketchy's side to plead with the mare, consequently letting Dusk's tail go in the process. "Oh come on Sketchy, please!" Jinx pleaded, clasping her hands together. "You know I've been wanting to learn a little Equestrian-style magic. And who knows, this might be able to help me with my own magic in the process."

"Oh yes, I would gladly show you anything that you'd be interested in," Twilight said, still trying to convince Sketchy to show Twilight the magical techniques they had learned back in the Republics.

Sketchy looked between the two mares before sighing in defeat. "Alright, alright, I guess we could work something out. I hope this won't be too much trouble, Ms. Belle," Sketchy said looking over towards Rarity, who was sitting at the bar with Applejack and Rainbow.

"Oh no dear, by all means," she answered with a shake of her head. "You've been so much help with my designs, and we finished them all earlier than I would have thought. So I don't mind if you take a few more days off, at least until I can catch up with what you've turned in."

"Great, then we'll just have to talk to Ms. Bonbon to see what she has to say," Sketchy said with a small nod that got Jinx to let out a short squeal of delight.

"Does that mean what I think it mean?" she asked, almost shouting at Sketchy, looking like she about to start hopping up in joy. When Sketchy nodded her head, Jinx let out another short squeal before she rushed to wrap her arms around Sketchy in a tight hug.

Everyone close by started laughing at the overly excited mare as she continued to hug Sketchy with her tail wagging behind her. Everyone was laughing besides one certain alpha drake.

"That's great and all girls, but could you let me down now?" Dusk asked in a flat tone of voice as he was standing on the low-hanging ceiling of the club's bar. Both of his mares looked up towards him with a small giggle, causing him to roll his eyes. "Yes, yes this is pretty funny. And really awesome when someone isn't trying to use me as a beach-ball."

"Come on Jinx, let's get our little mutt down," Sketchy giggled while Jinx was wiping away a tear.

"Yeah, can't mess with him while he's up there." The two were about to cross their horns again when Verdite and Wave came back over to the group.

Verdite raised an eyebrow at her brother, before looking at Jinx and Sketchy. "Neat trick. So, I've been meaning to ask you girls about your necklaces. When did you get engaged?"

Jinx and Sketchy blinked at the half-breed, before blinking at each other. "Uh, what?" Sketchy asked, confused as to how the necklaces were related to them being engaged.

Verdite began laughing, before looking up at her brother, his eyes wide in horror as he was making 'no, no' motions at his sister. She smiled evilly up at him, saying, "Oh Dusk, Mom would have thrown you through a wall for not telling them, and still giving them necklaces."

At her side, Wave giggled, "You're going to be in the dog house after tonight, big brother."

Jinx cleared her throat, asking, "So, what's up with the necklaces?"

Verdite finally managed to get her laughing under control, and addressing the mares, "In diamond dog culture, giving a necklace or collar to someone you're close with is often a proposal. With the way that Mom raised us, ensuring we all had collars, and her and Dad raising us equally between the two cultures, I'm shocked Dusk didn't tell you."

Sketchy looked up at Dusk, eyes glinting behind her glasses. She didn't seem to noticed that she was absent-mindedly fingering her necklace. "Uh, what?" For her part, Jinx didn't seem upset, but she did look thoughtful. She was fingering her necklace as well.

Dusk glared at his older sister with eyes of hate, before looking over at his two mares. "I didn't make a big...ger deal out of it than them being something I wanted to give you, because you're not diamond dogs. I didn't expect you to know or care much for their traditions." His eyes looked at them pleadingly, and his two lovers could tell he was worried about something.

"Jinx," Sketchy said softly, "Let's get our mutt down." Jinx merely nodded her head before the two crossed horns. A faint white glow cloaked Dusk's body for a moment before fading away. Once the light was gone, Dusk quickly fell from the ceiling and onto one of the chairs with a small grunt coming from him as he landed upside down in the chair. Jinx started laughing at Dusk as he remained dazed from the sudden drop, his tail bending over his back to stop at the bottom of the chair, his right foot twitching a little.

Soon, the half-breed regained his senses as he moved to sit up-right in the chair with a look of annoyance on his face, before it was replaced with worry and fear as he met the eyes of his two mares.

"So, girls…" Dusk started, not sure what he was going to say.

"Dusk, we will talk about this later. Trust me," Sketchy said, her eyes still hard, but Dusk had been around her long enough to see the hurt in her eyes.

"Yes," Jinx murmured, climbing into Dusk's lap. She had none of the hardness or hurt that Sketchy had, but instead a heat that Dusk had seen often enough to know what it was. "It's not something anyone else should hear."

"Um… ok?" Dusk said, unsure of what else to say for now. He put his hands on Jinx's hips, running a finger along the hemline of her pink shorts to gauge her reaction.

Giggling as a bright blush came onto Jinx's face, she leaned over into Dusk's face to steal a kiss from him. Somewhat surprised that Jinx wasn't as upset as she was feeling, Sketchy took a seat on the arm of Dusk's chair, trying to put aside her own feelings for the moment in order to continue telling Twilight about the technique to combine magic.

"Anyways, Princess Sparkle," Sketchy started while Jinx's tail began lifting slowly higher from the ground, a sign of growing arousal. "The technique, Symphonias, can only be performed between two that trust one another. Isn't that right, Jinx?"

"Yeah, mhmm," was all Sketchy could get out of Jinx as she continued to lock lips with Dusk, apparently desperate to finish what they started earlier today. Soon the excitement began to rise in her so much that Jinx began rubbing her hips into Dusk, her hands traveling down his body, slipping up into his shirt.

"Also," Sketchy continued, trying her best to ignore her two lovers, still upset with Dusk. "When I said that it was only done by unicorns…that wasn't the entire truth. Other races can do it as well, and while done under different names, the results are still generally the same."

"I-I see," Twilight said as she tried to force herself to keep her eyes on Sketchy, and not her two lovers showing their 'healthy' affection in public. However, that was hard to do with Jinx making eager sounds. "And from the sound of things, it almost sounds like the way we use our Elements."

Sketchy nodded her head, not really knowing much about how the Elements of Harmony used their powers, but sure that Twilight, out of anyone, would know how they worked. "I suppose Princess, but there is no real guarantee."

Twilight had opened her mouth to add onto her hypothesis, when a loud, sloppy sounding moan came from Jinx. Followed by what sounded like, "Mm, how does no-gravity sex sounds big guy?" from Jinx before she went back in for more of Dusk's lips.

"And on that note, I think we should head in for the night," Sketchy said as she hopped off the arm of the chair, after noticing that Dusk's hands had began slipping further into Jinx's shorts. "Uh, Arctic you coming with?"

"Huh?" Arctic started, snapping herself out of a brief daydream about Fluttershy that was starting to become much more frequent as she spent more time with the mae. "Oh, uh...nah I'm good here," she said, taking Fluttershy's hand with a small blush on her face that was mirrored by Fluttershy. "I'll meet you guys at the train station in the morning, though."

"Okay Arctic, don't have too much fun," Sketchy said with a small wink as she nodded her head with a smile before she turned to her two lovers that were still locking lips. "Jinx, Dusk, come on, we're leaving."

"Jinx. Dusk, let's go," Sketchy repeated, her eyes shifting back and forth with a very dark blush on her white cheeks.

"Guh, are you serious?" Sketchy sighed as Jinx and Dusk continued to make out with each other, forcing her to take it upon herself to get them back to their hotel room. "Jinx, you forced me to do this," Sketchy said as she worked her way behind Jinx, wrapping her arms around the mare's torso, locking her horn with Jinx's to send a spark down the mare.

Suddenly, the three lovers were teleported out of the club in a flash of bright blue and black light. Twilight assumed that it was another one of the techniques that Sketchy was talking about. It was fascinating how much the Republics had achieved with the vast variety of different races that live with them, producing advances of all kinds.

And from the sound of what the plan was to deal with the enemy, Twilight and the others would benefit greatly from learning a thing or two from the Republics. And as a princess, Twilight was going to ensure that everyone was kept well and safe, against all evil that threatened their home's peace.

It was her duty as a princess; it was her destiny, and it was her vow. /-/  
/ Ch. 49: Intentions part two: The Talk/-/

High Moon Ch 49 Part Two: The Talk

Returning in a bright flash of light, Dusk found himself sitting upright in his hotel bed. By the time he managed to blink away the blurriness in his eyes, he found himself shoved down on his back. Looking down, Dusk saw that Sketchy had tackled him. Her hands tightened at his shoulders while she buried her face into his chest, trembling.

Dusk glanced over at Jinx, who was sitting beside them. The mare sighed softly, taking hold of her necklace with a small smile on her face. She slid her hand into Dusk's, gripping it lightly as she nodded her head.

Sighing, Dusk open his mouth to speak, but was cut off by a shuddering intake of breath from Sketchy. "Why are you so stupid?" she asked, even though it sounded more like a statement. Dusk closed his mouth, knowing better than to say anything right now. "Tell me Dusk. Why do you keep doing this?" Sketchy removed herself from Dusk's chest, looking down into his eyes. Her black-framed glasses fell off her face, landing on the bed beside Dusk's head.

Without her glasses to hide her real emotions, Dusk was forced to look into the anger and disappointment in Sketchy's dark-gray eyes, glistening with tears. What he saw ate him up inside. It felt like someone had driven a cold knife through his chest, and began twisting it around. And he had nobody to blame but himself.

"Why Dusk… just why?" Sketchy asked again, beating one fist down on Dusk's upper chest and biting her lower lip. She closed her eyes to fight back the tears, turning her head away to take a breath. "These last two years have been the best two of my… our entire lives," Sketchy slowly whispered, looking back down at Dusk with a pained expression. "It has been… It has been the greatest adventure I have and ever will have had. Dusk, an idiot like you has shown me so much, and I never want to leave your side. So why, why did you do something so stupid like this?"

"C'mon Sketchy, it's not as b-"

Sketchy glared down at Dusk before slamming her fist into his chest again, a deep frown on her face. "I don't want to hear it, Dusk! Wh-why can't you just think first? Think about how others might feel. Ho-how we might feel." She started to visibly shake from the whirlwind of emotions.

Jinx sighed as she slowly moved behind Sketchy, wrapping her arms around the mare's lower torso. She smiled when she felt Sketchy jump a little from the embrace, prompting her to place a kiss on the back of her neck, and slowly start to sway side to side. "Sketchy, breathe. You know that you can't think straight when you're upset and frustrated. Remember how you were for the final in Magic 101?"

"Yes." Sketchy sighed, thinking back to her freshman year of college with a shudder. She took a few moments to breathe in deep and slow, closing her eyes as she cleared her mind. Once she felt that she had better control of herself, Sketchy opened her eyes and looked down at her hybrid lover. "Dusk, what were you thinking? That we wouldn't care or understand? Are you kidding me?"

Dusk's face turned to one of shame as he turned his head away from Sketchy. However, the mare moved her hand up to his muzzle to tilt his head to look at her. "Look at me, Dusk. Look at me," Sketchy said firmly when Dusk tried to turn his head back away. He gave up and did what Sketchy told him to do, prompting Sketchy to move her hand from his cheek to the bed.

"Dusk, don't. You. Ever, think that either Jinx or I wouldn't care about your heritage." Sketchy emphasized with quick pokes at Dusk's chest with her finger. " We love you and everything about you. If you wanted to propose to us, you could've done it the way you were raised, Dusk. Hell, the least you could've done was tell us what the necklaces mean."

Nervously chuckling, Dusk scratched at his cheek for a moment as his ears lowered down a bit. "Y-yeah… It's just that, I… Well…" Dusk paused for a moment, laying his head back on the bed with a groan. "It's just that, I was so nervous with the date itself, I was worried that I'd fuck it up. Besides, I figured that you and Jinx would want me to propose to you the way a stallion would."

"And since when have you done anything a pony does?" Sketchy asked, rolling her eyes. Dusk looked from the hotel ceiling to Sketchy with his mouth open to answer, but closed it with a sigh, laying his head back down on the bed. "You're a diamond dog and dragon half-breed, and you were raised as one. And I bet that's how you're going to raise our kids as well, huh?"

Dusk blushed at Sketchy's sudden question, again turning to look at her. "H-huh? Sketchy that's… well…"

"Answer the question."

Sighing, Dusk faintly nodded his head before laying it back on the bed. "Kinda. I mean, Dad only asked us if we wanted to learn about our dragon heritage and magic. And seeing how cool and strong he was, we all wanted to try it ourselves. So yes. When the time comes, I'll be asking our cubs the same question Dad asked us."

Sketchy smiled faintly, glad to see that Dusk did actually think ahead sometimes. "Then you know what I'm about to say, huh?"

A faint snort left Dusk's nose, ending with a small chuckle as he took in a small breath. "You know, this isn't how I ever imagined that I'd ask you two this. I'm starting to wish that I hadn't pussied out on that hill."

"Well too bad. You're not getting up until I hear those words come out of your lips."

"Wow, really?" Dusk laughed as Sketchy pressed her hands down on his chest. Dragging a hand down his face, he sighed before doing his best to lock eyes with Sketchy and Jinx. "Sketchy, Jinx… Girls, I know I'm a fuck up sometimes, and I'm not the brightest of guys. But… I'd do anything to make you two smile, and I can't begin to imagine the kind of dog I would be today if I had never met either of you. All I want in this life is to make the two of you happy. Would you beautiful mares do me the honor of taking me as your husbandSo would you do the honor of marrying me and becoming my wives?"

Sketchy closed her eyes and breathed in deep to memorize every word Dusk spoke, while Jinx was wiping tears from her eyes. "Do you even have to ask?" Jinx joked, laying her head down on Sketchy's shoulder.

"Yes, love. Of course we'd be more than happy to call you our husband, you silly little mutt." Sketchy teased Dusk by nudging his nose side to side, causing him to chuckle. "Face it sweetie, you're stuck with us."

"And I wouldn't have it any other way," Dusk said, a bright, wide smile on his face as he started to prop himself up with his elbows. However, he was again pushed down by Sketchy. "Hey wait, you said-"

"I know what I said," Sketchy cut in, brandishing a smirk on her face. "But I'm still upset with you. And I think it's time that I teach you what empathy really is." Still smirking, Sketchy sparked her horn with magic, causing Dusk's hands to move towards the top of the bed above his head. The mare then conjured a pair of simple silver handcuffs with a chain linked in the middle, leading up to the headrest of the bed.

Dusk looked back as best he could, pulling at the restraint a little, blinking. "Uh… bondage? Don't you think you'll need a lot more than a pair of cuffs? And why did I just ask that?" he groaned, instinctively moving to face-palm, when the chain clinked and he was reminded that he couldn't move his arms as much now.

"Oh hush, it's only to keep you here until I'm ready," Sketchy said, sticking her tongue out at Dusk. She reached a hand back to Jinx, tapping her leg to hint for her to get off the bed. Jinx got the hint, blowing Dusk a kiss as she got off his legs. "You sit tight, big guy. We're just going to go freshen up for our future husband," Sketchy teased one more time before sliding off the bed. She took Jinx's hand and led her to the far right side of the hotel room, where the bathroom was at, closing the door behind them.

Once inside the bathroom, Sketchy let out a long, fluttering sigh, closing her eyes as she leaned back against the door. Jinx quickly found herself pressing against Sketchy, one hand tightly clenched around her necklace. Both mares stood there for a long moment, simply taking in the huge step that they were about to traverse.

Sketchy took in a deep breath of air, moving her hands to Jinx's shoulders. "Come on Jinx. We have a mutt to train," she said, moving her one of her hands to Jinx's soft cheek, cupping it in the palm of her hand to tilt the mare's head up. A soft smile came to Sketchy's lips as she gazed into Jinx's tear filled green eyes, using her thumb to whip them from rolling down her cheek. "Now isn't the time to be crying, Jinx. I know you're just as thrilled as I am, so cheer up, pretty mare."

Not even realizing that she had started crying again, Jinx took hold of Sketchy's hand with her own, leaning into her pack-sister's palm, enjoying the warm it gave off. "Okay, I'm just so…" She paused to let out a dreamy sigh, looking up into Sketchy's eyes. "It's really happening isn't it? The day we've dreamed about since… well, forever," she giggled, closing her eyes with another sigh.

"I know Jinx, but focus." Sketchy move her hand from Jinx's cheek to her shoulder, pulling her close to place a kiss at the base of her horn. She nuzzled against the mare, moving her full lips over to Jinx's ear, breathing on it hotly. "I promise that we'll have all the time in the world to play with our love now."

"And the zero-gravity sex?" Jinx cooed, eagerly.

Sketchy softly giggled at the eagerness lacing Jinx's voice, as she too was somewhat interested in the prospect. She slid her hands down Jinx's back, pulling her closer in a tight hug, and whispered softly in her ear, "Let's see if our mutt behaves himself, okay?"

Jinx mewled from Sketchy's smooth voice and hot breath washing over her ear, causing them to tilt back a bit as she nodded her head. "M'kay Sketchy, but I'm holding you to that." She poked Sketchy's shoulder as she giggled.

"I know you are," Sketchy giggled back, sparking her horn to conjure up a big black box that was filled with… certain items she had been storing away in case Dusk ever proposed. "But first, how about we play dress-up?"

Jinx looked over her shoulder to the floating black box, an eyebrow raised. "Uh…"

Back out into the hotel room, Dusk let out a long, bored groan, wondering what the hell could be keeping the two mares. 'Oh wait, they're mares. Of course they're going to take forever in the bathroom.' He chuckled to himself at the joke, despite how clichè it was. Besides, this was something he was already used to by now. Dusk leaned his head back on the bed, closing his eyes as he started to picture a good life for his mares, himself, and their future children. From the way things were now, it seemed he'd have to learn a trade to get a better job, or put his canine and dragon body to work and start harvesting diamonds and other precious rocks for a living. Whatever happened, though, Dusk would be happy as long as his family was safe.

"A white-picket-fence wouldn't hurt either, heh," Dusk joked to himself, shaking his head again. Another minute passed before the bathroom door opened up, making his ears to twitch at the faint sound of it creaking open. He craned his head up to see Jinx and Sketchy walking out, both clad in outfits that he had only seen from porno mags. Which were, of course, his friends'.

Dusk blinked as Jinx meekly walked closer to the bed, dressed in matching pairs of long light-blue stockings, arm-length gloves, and panties that had two straps in the front to hold up the stockings. She was stripped of all other clothing, leaving her large breasts to jiggle freely with every step she took. It also seemed that they had both done up each other's hair, as Jinx's shoulder-length blue-and-green mane was tied back with a hair clip, allowing Dusk to see the entirety of her cute face. He swear he could hear his heart trying to break free from his chest at the sight.

However, his heart did a complete one-eighty when his eyes moved towards Sketchy. She too was dressed in the same clothing as Jinx, but hers was a bit more menacing-looking in nature. A corset was tied tightly around her midsection, holding up her breasts and making them look a bit larger. While Jinx's outfit seemed to be made out of some sort of fabric, Dusk could tell by the reflective shine that Sketchy's outfit was latex. Though, the one thing he noticed throughout her entire ensemble, was that she had her mane straightened and tied in two pigtails on either side of her head.

He cocked his head to the side a little at this, but then was struck with the memory of the bet that they made earlier today. He quickly looked back at Jinx, spotting the blue hair-clip in between her fingers. "Oh right, the bet, I almost forgot." Dusk chuckled as Jinx climbed on the bed, removing his boots with a huff while Sketchy walked to stand at the side of the bed, her hands holding a black leash coiled tightly. "But uh… you girls didn't have this stuff packed with you, did you?"

With a bright blush, Jinx crawled up Dusk's body, careful where her knees were while straddling his chest. She slowly ran her hand up from where she was sitting on him to his cheek, giggling as she gently placed a finger on Dusk's lips. "Shush. Don't worry about that for now. Just try and sit up," she softly commanded, keeping her finger on Dusk's lips until she got a nod from him. When she did, Jinx got off of Dusk's strong chest, allowing him to attempt to sit up.

Dusk inched himself towards the head of the bed, using his powerful leg muscles to kick himself up where he propped his head against the headrest. The chain clinked loudly in response, its links clicking together every time the half-breed moved. Eventually, Dusk was able to prop his back against the headrest so he could sit up, his legs spread outward and wings flexing slightly. Though, he had an awkward lean going on, one he quickly fix by shifting his weight further to the center of the bed.

The mares giggled at their hybrid lover's awkward fumbling. Jinx quickly moved into Dusk's lap, bringing the hair clip to the top of his forehead while moving strains of his spiky black hair out of the way of his eyes. "Aaaand done." She leaned back to marvel at her handiwork, finding it much better when she could clearly see both of Dusk's blue eyes. Jinx took hold of his cheeks and leaned in to place a kiss on his lips. "So much better. What you think, sister?"

Dusk turned his head over to Sketchy, giving her a full gaze into his eyes. "Mm, it is much better, isn't it?" She mused for a moment, bringing one of her hands to her chin, tilting it up as she lowered her eyes. "Anyway, Dusk, it's time for your lesson in empathy; knowing how your actions can affect others."

"Oh this is going to be fun. But may I ask something?" Dusk inquired, having a feeling Sketchy was going to try some role-playing bit with the way she and Jinx were dressed.

Sketchy smiled briefly before she nodded her head, pleased to see that Dusk knew when to use his manners. "You may," she granted, waving a hand to him.

"What's with the leash? Like, is that really necessary?"

Giggling, Sketchy started to play around with the dog leash in her hands, taking a seat on the edge of the bed shortly after. "For bad doggies, they are. You don't want to be a bad doggy, do you Dusk?"

For a moment, Dusk gave Sketchy a look that said "are you fucking serious?", quickly glancing at Jinx to shoot her a similar look. Only getting nods in return from both mares, Dusk sighed before a small chuckle left his lips. "No ma'am, I don't want to be a bad doggy," he answered, nervously laughing at how weird, yet easy, it felt saying that.

"Good boy," Sketchy teased. She sparked her horn, causing Dusk's cuffs and chain to fade away in a grayish-black smoke.

Before he could even thank the mare for her 'gift,' Jinx quickly pushed against him and sealed her lips with his. Jinx's suddenly assertive demeanor caught Dusk off guard for a moment, before he slowly closed his eyes and pushed back in the kiss, slowly wrapping his arms around her body. His hands traveled all across Jinx's back, grazing her fur with his claws and causing her to coo and moan in the kiss. A sly smile curled on Dusk's lips as he trailed his right hand down to Jinx's tail, using two fingers to knead at the base of it.

Jinx pushed her hands down on Dusk's chest, breaking away from the kiss with a long moan leaving her lips. She threw her head back in bliss as Dusk continued to massage the base of her tail. Her hips slowly started to move into Dusk's black shorts, dampening them a little with her juices.

Dusk continued his advances on Jinx, seeing that he was already a step ahead of Sketchy's little 'lesson.' However, that was until Sketchy gave a loud "Ahem," hinting for him to stop. Dusk looked over to Sketchy, noticing the hard stare in her eyes, along with the faint blush across her white cheeks. "It's good to see you know how to treat a mare in her time of need, when she's returning the attention, but how about we test you when she's not?" Sketchy asked, despite it sounding like a command.

"Awww… but I've been waiting all day for this!" Jinx pouted, folding her arms underneath her hefty chest and sticking out her bottom lip in a pout. She sat fully down on Dusk's crotch, feeling the large bulge pressing against her. Her eyes sparked for a moment when she felt this before they lowered back down as she slid a hand down to Dusk lower abdomen. "Besides, we can't just leave our mutt like this. That'd be hypocritical."

"No it won't, not as long as he behaves himself and earns his treat," Sketchy retorted, turning to climb on the bed. She came to a stop at Dusk's side, placing a hand on Dusk's shoulder while cupping the underside of Jinx's chin to turn her head. Sketchy smiled from the flustered and surprised look on Jinx's face, her eyes lowering slowly as she brought Jinx's ear down to her mouth. "And we all want that, now don't we?"

A shudder went through Jinx's spine from Sketchy's smooth voice, somehow being turned on more just from the richness of it. "F-Fine… You win."

Sketchy quickly placed a kiss on the side of Jinx's cheek before petting her on the head a little. The mare blushed from the affection, nudging back against Sketchy's hand. After a few more moments, Jinx moved to lay beside Dusk, putting her head down in the crook of his neck while Sketchy wrapped her arms around his neck and Jinx's, holding them both tightly. She darted her lips down to Dusk's neck, placing kisses from his collar up to the top of his jaw, then to his ear. "Well, Mighty Mutt? You have two young, beautiful mares to service before you get your bone, so hop to it."

Quietly snorting, Dusk did as he was commanded, and his wandering hands resumed their journey, this time on both mares. With Jinx laying down beside him, Dusk's hands slowly began moving down her back, trailing a claw over her exposed fur before he reached the base of her tail.

Jinx let out a low moaning sound, a signal that Dusk was moving in the right direction with her. He then turned his attention to Sketchy, who had resumed placing soft kisses between his neck and jaw. Dusk moved his other hand up to Sketchy's plump rear, massaging the jiggly mound of fur and flesh.

Soon both mares began softly sighing from their own individual attention. Jinx rolled over onto Dusk's chest to start taking small nibbles on his collar bone. Following that, Dusk slipped his hand down to Jinx's round flanks and began squeezing one cheek. At the same time, he moved his other hand around to Sketchy's nether regions and started to slowly rub her marehood. The latex of her outfit clung so tightly to her body that Dusk could feel the two puffy lips pushing back against his hands. A shuddering moan left Sketchy's lips, her hips rolling gently in Dusk's hands.

Rolling her hips a few more times, Sketchy suddenly dropped down on Dusk's hand, stopping his movement. In a low, smooth voice, Sketchy cooed, "Mm, now why don't you focus your attention on just one of us for awhile?" Dusk nodded, prompting Sketchy to add, "Jinx, why don't you go first?"

"Mmm, with pleasure," Jinx murmured against Dusk's neck, getting up off of her half-breed. She quickly turned to face her wide flanks towards Dusk while Sketchy got off his hand. Sketchy positioned herself behind Dusk, propping him up and pressing her breasts against his back.

Dusk didn't need to be told twice before he began to move towards Jinx's shaking flanks, his eyes following the rhythmic movement. A blush grew on Jinx's cheeks as she glanced back into Dusk's predatory eyes, a hungry look trained on her flanks. Dusk took hold of Jinx's soft ass cheeks, slowly groping them in his claws. Jinx pushed her hips into Dusk's hands, moaning softly as she gripped the bed covers tightly.

With the first squeeze, Dusk's claws sank into Jinx's soft flesh, pinching her a little as she let out a quick yelp that turned into a moaning giggle. Slipping a hand down her flanks, Dusk started rubbing Jinx's soaking marehood with two fingers, moving them up and down in a small circle. Her tail quickly began to raise up from Dusk's attention while she started to buck her hips back towards Dusk.

It wasn't long before her light-blue panties were already soaking wet with Jinx's need and anticipation. She licked her lips, turning her head up and glancing back towards Dusk. "Oh Dusky~ Could you help a gal out? Sketchy paid a lot for these and I don't want to ruin them completely," she said, dropping her hips down to hint for Dusk to remove her sticky g-string. "C'mon big guy, I know you want to."

Dusk took hold of the thin straps on Jinx's sides, quickly pulling them down and off her flanks. Licking his lips, he stared at Jinx's drooling marehood, gleaming in the pale moonlight slipping through the window. With a firm grip on Jinx's two mounds, Dusk spread her open, causing her slit to pucker before she relaxed. He didn't waste another moment of thought before he dived deep into Jinx, slipping his wide reptilian tongue inside her walls.

Jinx let out a small cry of joy as Dusk's long snake-like tongue easily slipped into her wet folds. She bit down on her lower lip as her walls continually clamped down around Dusk's tongue in failed attempts to stop its movements. The smooth muscle quickly darted deep into her, pressing against every inch of her walls. However, just as she could feel Dusk reach her deepest regions, his tongue retracted out from her, causing Jinx to let out a long whine. "D-don't stop… you were s-so close." She looked back over her shoulder and met Dusk's shining blue eyes. He had no intentions of stopping, he was just getting a good taste, and was about to go back in for more.

Dusk licked his lips, savoring Jinx's taste. He put his hands on her waist, and moved her to where she was facing him, her legs open as she waited for him impatiently. He slipped his tongue through his slightly parted lips again, slithering it to Jinx's twitching love button. Jinx loudly moaned as Dusk's tongue skillfully wrapped around her clitorus, gripping down slightly. After a few more squeezes, Dusk moved his tongue back into Jinx's drooling marehood, drinking her sugary sweet juices.

Jinx's hands shot down to Dusk's hair as the pressure inside of her loins continued to build up to a breaking point. She let out a loud cry of joy as her hips bucked up from her back arching off the bed, trying to get more of Dusk's flexible tongue inside of her.

Her sudden climax forced Dusk's nose to bury against her small love button while he greedily drank her addictive juices. Jinx's torrent filled Dusk's mouth, coating his taste buds. Eventually she started to calm down from her high, legs twitching slightly.

Dusk spent some time licking Jinx's nethers clean before he trailed a series of kisses up her body, flicking his tongue over her belly button to get her to giggle. "You taste like candy, did anyone ever tell you that, Jinx?" Dusk whispered before he sealed her lips in a deep kiss, proving his point when his tongue darted into Jinx's mouth and gave her a taste of herself.

Jinx's toes started to curl against the bed as she basked in the warmth and taste coming off of Dusk. She moaned when she got a taste of herself, causing her cheeks to burn brightly as Dusk pulled back slowly from the kiss. "News to me," she said through her panting. "Go on, future husband of mine, you still have one more mare to please. Who seems to be pleasing herself already."

Just behind Dusk, Sketchy jumped a little at being caught with two fingers deep inside her marehood. She quickly sat up, but failed to remove her fingers in time as Dusk slowly turned around in on the bed and began crawling towards her. Dusk moved on top of Sketchy, looming over her with a smirk on his face. His muzzle lowered down to her ear, breathing hotly on it. "Naughty, naughty. Playing with yourself while you should be 'overseeing' my progress. Whatever should I do about this?"

"Mm, nothing, if you don't want the leash." Sketchy poked Dusk in the center of his chest, making him move back a little as she rose from the bed. "Now turn around." She made a circling motion with her fingers. With a snort Dusk did as Sketchy commanded, turning around on the bed, facing Jinx, who had more than recovered as she was crawling towards him. However, as she moved to take a spot in front of Dusk, Sketchy beat her to it as she quickly snaked around him.

"Hey!" Jinx pouted, puffing out her cheek like a filly would.

"Nah-ah, you had your turn Jinx. Now you're the one that has to make sure Dusk is doing a good job. It's only fair~" Sketchy said in a knowing tone of voice, the same kind she used when knew she had everything thought out. Jinx continued to pout, crossing her arms underneath her chest as she stuck her nose up in the air. "Oh don't be like that, you know what's coming after this."

Almost as if on queue, Jinx's attitude quickly perked up as Sketchy's last few words sunk in, causing her lips to curl into a wide grin that almost seemed to stretch from ear to ear. "Oooh, well then hurry up, pup. This is gonna be a lotta fun."

Raising an eyebrow, Dusk chuckled at Jinx's sudden change of attitude. He was now quite curious about what Jinx and Sketchy had planned. If all he had to do to find out was play a little with Sketchy, then he was going to do just that. And have a helluva time doing it.

He reached his arms around Sketchy's body, one slowly sliding over her waist. However, it wouldn't go much further, staying just above Sketchy's flower to tease her and occasionally move to her tights to crease them with his claws. His other hand traveled up to her hefty breasts, kneading the fur and flesh in his palm. Dusk's constant teasing did its job, as Sketchy quickly became more aroused. Her head found it's way into the crook of Dusk's neck, letting him hear every breath she took. She eased her way into Dusk's lap, her back pressing firmly against his chest with her tail swished to the side. It wasn't long before Sketchy's hips were lightly bucking upwards. Sketchy bit her lower lip, fluttering her eyes closed and moaning softly in delight.

"Looks to me he's doing a good job," Jinx chimed in.

Sketchy glanced towards her, getting ready to say something when Dusk took her by surprise by trapping her clit with two of his claws. The sudden tug caused her hips to jerk upwards as her body was rocked with a small orgasm. Dusk's hands cupped over Sketchy's quivering lips as they gushed dribbles of Sketchy's juices onto his fingers. He moved his lips onto her neck and bit down firmly, closing his eyes as he enjoyed feeling her tremble against him. He coaxed her climax even further by moving his middle finger along her leaking folds.

Jinx giggled. "And I say that is the icing on the cake."

Sketchy lazily rolled her head around before she looked over at Jinx. She couldn't help but fight back a laugh from seeing the giddy expression Jinx had. "Well, since you make such a fine point," Sketchy started, quickly moving to place a kiss on Dusk's cheek while he was licking his fingers clean. "I guess our mutt has earned his present."

"And what would that be exactly?" Dusk asked.

Instead of answering, Jinx moved closer towards Sketchy, gently placing her hands on top of Sketchy's tights. The two leaned forward to cross their horns. A few brilliant white sparks arced between them before a shockwave of white aura burst forth. Dusk shielded his sensitive canine eyes with his hands as the bright shockwave was followed by second, a third, and then a fourth. He kept his guard up, expecting a fifth, however, when it didn't come he lowered his hands down to find that he, Jinx, and Sketchy were all floating slowly from the bed.

"Yes, we did it!" Jinx cheered, quickly pushing herself into Sketchy's arms in excitement. The mare's sudden lunge caused Dusk to be pushed down back to the bed, bumping against the head of it. He pushed back up to his lovers, using his wings and tail to aim himself as if he was under water. "Dusk," Jinx gasped, catching him off guard by throwing herself into his arms. "We actually did it!"

"Yeah, I can see that Jinx." Dusk laughed as he placed a hand on top of Jinx's head. He took a look around the room to see that virtually everything was floating, at least to some degree. Even the queen size bed was a few inches off the ground, with the bed sheets staying in a slight orbit around it. "So this is what it's like to be in space, huh? You think Princess Nightmare and Princess Luna still do things like this?"

"I'm not sure. With a thousand years of living like this, I would doubt it. But this isn't full zero-gravity," Sketchy said as she shifted her weight towards Jinx and Dusk. She quickly wrapped her arms around Dusk's to stop her forward momentum by using Dusk's heavier mass. "Though, we did manage to lower the gravity to where we can, quote unquote, fly."

Dusk nodded his head, not fully understanding how his future wives managed to pull it off, but deciding to just go with it. "Still though, this is amazing, girls. You've really outdone yourselves."

"Oh we haven't done anything just yet," Jinx said as she pushed herself down to the front of Dusk's shorts, undoing the buckles to pull them down. However, as his twin shafts were freed from their prison, Jinx quickly noticed something… off about them. "Uh… hmm, uh Dusk?"

"Yeah?"

"Where's the rest of you?" Jinx asked as she motioned a hand over his twin rods, both missing a good inch or two.

Dusk raised an eyebrow as he gazed down his own body, seeing what Jinx was talking about. "Ah what the hell?!" he shouted as he took hold of them with his hands, giving them an experimental squeeze. They were soft. A lot softer than they should be. "I've… I've been castrated!"

"No you haven't," Sketchy giggled as she reached a hand out to Dusk's shoulder to twirl herself around to his back. She pulled in close, her chin resting down in the crook of Dusk's neck as she slid her hands down his body and moved his hands away from his shafts so she could take them in her hands. A surprised giggle came from Sketchy as she gave the twin rods a firm squeeze, causing Dusk to blush a little. "There's nothing wrong, you two," Sketchy assured them, "It's just that Dusk's cocks aren't getting the proper amount of blood they need to fully function."

Jinx gasped, "Oh right, I completely forgot about that! Well… is there something we can do Sketchy? I was really looking forward to this," Jinx whined, not liking having her fantasy ruined because of biology.

Giggling, Sketchy sparked her magic faintly and began directing more blood to Dusk's shafts. She slowly started stroking the length of them to hurry the process of coaxing the blood flow. The hybrid let out a low groan as his shafts started to grow to their normal erect sizes. Sketchy gradually slowed the process down to prevent Dusk from passing out. By the time she was finished, Dusk's twin prides were standing at full attention with a bead of pre oozing out from their tips.

Jinx hurriedly lapped up the two spheres of Dusk's sack before she opened her mouth to take his lower shaft, while Sketchy turned her attention to the uppermost one. She slowly stroked the pointed tip of his canine shaft while her other hand lightly gripped around its thick girth, causing small droplets to float into the air. Her and Jinx's lips curled into smiles as Duks let out a long groan, his head throwing back. Sketchy capitalized on this by taking a nibble on the side of Dusk's neck, increasing the pace of her storking.

Jinx, meanwhile, was greedily drinking every drop from Dusk's lower shaft. A shiver traveled through her body with every warm bead that slipped into her mouth, causing her to moan around Dusk. She reached a hand out to his free-floating furred sack, rolling his engorged scrotum with her fingers. Jinx's reward was an increase of pre-cum from Dusk as well as another groan.

Dusk's hands found their way onto the back of her head, gently pushing down to encourage her to take more of his member. Which she more than happily did. Jinx closed her eyes as she focused on taking more of Dusk's rod down her throat, her nose bumping against his upper shaft that was busy being furiously stroked by Sketchy. Her eyes started to roll back due to his heavy musk.

'Sh-shit. Either Sketchy and Jinx have gotten waaay better at this or- Oh sweet Cerberus!' The half-breed gritted his teeth together, already at the verge of a peak from the dual sensations. Which caught him off guard a little, since he knew he could last a lot longer than this. Dusk blamed it on the lowered gravity. "Gi-girls I don't think… nugh!"

Acting fast, Sketchy quickly moved her hands to the knotted base of Dusk's shaft, squeezing it lightly and causing his hips to jerk forward. Jinx blinked her eyes open in surprised. She started to work her mouth harder to milk Dusk's shaft, but was denied the hot seed her belly wanted. She glanced up at Sketchy before she pulled herself off of Dusk's bottom shaft.

"H-hey! What's the big idea, Sketchy?" Jinx's pouted, putting her hands on her hips as she floated away from her lovers because of her movements. However, she stayed close to them thanks Dusk's hand still holding her head.

"Yeah, what's the big idea?" Dusk mirrored Jinx's question. However, instead of an answer, Sketchy sparked her horn to conjure ethereal rings around the knotted bases of Dusk's shafts. The light-gray rings forced a low growl out of Dusk. "C-cock-rings… really?" His jaw snapped shut as Sketchy floated around to Dusk's front.

"Don't worry love, they're only temporary," Sketchy answered in a knowing tone of voice. She guided Jinx upwards, quickly spreading her legs outwards to position her dripping flower over the tip of Dusk's upper shaft.

Jinx then understood what Sketchy was doing as she wrapped her legs around Dusk's lower back. She moaned as her flower rubbed against the underside of Dusk's shaft, her hardened clit being teased by the tip of it. While grinding her flower against his rigid shaft, Jinx placed several kisses around Dusk's neck and the underside of his jaw. She leaned further against him, squishing her breasts against his chest so she could reach her fingers down to the base of his wings.

Dusk let out a groan as he grabbed Jinx's plump flanks, lifting her up while aiming the tip of his shaft at her flower. He thrust deep within her walls in a single motion, causing Jinx to squeal loudly from the sudden invasion. Just as Dusk was settling inside of Jinx, Sketchy turned her flanks towards the two and opened Dusk's legs wide. She hooked her fingers in the back of his knees to pull Dusk's lower shaft up to her ass, groaning as he slid into her.

Her movement caused the three to rotate a little, so that Dusk was floating with his back above the bed while Jinx and Sketchy oriented themselves on top of him. Jinx sat up from his chest as his hands slid to her leggings. She pressed her back against Sketchy's as their tails intertwined with each other's. They touched heads for a moment, smirking as they lifted themselves from Dusk to pull back down.

Dusk met his mares halfway, clenching his eyes shut as he gritted his teeth. Between Jinx's tight marehood and Sketchy's even tighter rosebud, it was incredibly hard for Dusk to hold himself back. If it wasn't for the two cock rings around his knotted bases, he might have already reached a climax.

The mares continued their synchronized drops, taking more of Dusk's shafts each time. His body twitched as the cock-rings prevented him from getting the release his body was demanding. Sketchy proudly smirked as a rumbling growl came from Dusk's throat. She looked back over her shoulder, catching a brief glance of Dusk baring his fangs with a plume of smoke seeping from his nose. A wide grin came onto her lips as she sparked her horn to tighten the cock-rings, careful not to make it too tight.

Dusk threw his head back with a snarl, his hands shooting up to Jinx's waist and began lifting her up and down at a much faster pace. Caught off guard from it, Jinx screamed in joy as she took hold of any turf of fur on Dusk she could grab. Sketchy worked faster to match Jinx's bounces, struggling to meet the pace Dusk set.

"A-ah, Sk-Sketchy!" Jinx shouted. A series of moans left her throat while her body shivered in pleasure, preventing her from forming enought coherent thought to finish her sentence. Instead, she continued to hold onto Dusk and let him do all the work. Her marehood clenched around Dusk's shaft, trying to force him to reach a peak while still wearing the cock-rings, to no avail.

Sexually frustrated, Jinx sparked her horn in a bright blue light, reaching it to Dusk's over-filled, aching testralces. A roar thundered from deep within Dusk as his body tensed up before he resumed his furious thrusting. His wings flapped uncontrollably behind him, causing the three of them to drift and rotate in random directions.

After having to hold onto Dusk's legs from getting flipped around, Sketchy thought that it was time to end their night's love making. It was a fight to gather the concentration to cease the grip around the bases of Dusk's shafts. However, in spite of the spine-numbing waves of pleasurable heat, she soon managed.

Dusk grunted when he felt the two tight rings vanish. The tight pressure in his groin was already at a breaking point and now there was nothing holding him back any longer. He gritted his teeth as his body went rigid for a moment. 'Shit. I'm s-still so close. Be-better make this quick then,' Dusk thought to himself while Jinx and Sketchy rode him. Thrusting upward was slightly awkward, yet easy at the same time. It was easy since he didn't have to use much energy to move, but it was awkward in that he didn't physically feel all of Jinx and Sketchy's weight. And the latter was a part Dusk rather enjoyed. However, from Jinx and Sketchy's moans, he knew that his throbbing twin shafts were doing their jobs.

"Ahh, S-Sketchy… I- Nugh, so h-hot -I'm not gonna…" Jinx panted as she started taking all of Dusk's girth, except for his knot. The hybrid's pre oozed into her silk walls, readying them for what was about to come. Sketchy didn't even manage to say anything, far too lost in her own pleasure. Both started picking up the pace as fast as the lack of gravity would allow them to. Simultaneously, they threw their heads back, crying out Dusk's name as they took a heavy drop down on him. His bulging knots worked their way into the mare's holes, causing Jinx's scream to raise in pitch while Sketchy's eyes rolled to the back of her head.

Sketchy's tight rosebud puckered around Dusk as her muscles spasmed. Meanwhile, Jinx's marehood clenched like a vice grip around Dusk's onyx colored shaft, continuing to milk him of his thick seed. He happily gave his mares what they were looking for as he bared his fangs and let loose the torrent of seed. The mare's tongues fell free from their mouths as Dusk's seed rocketed straight into them, painting their walls white with their shearing heat. Jinx's eyes crossed as she lost all the willpower to keep upright, falling down onto Dusk's chest as her eyes closed and she drifted off to blissful sleep.

Several hours later

Slowly, Jinx stirred away from slight movement she felt to her left side. Opening her eyes, she found herself staring straight into Sketchy's eyes. "So you finally woke up?" Sketchy whispered softly, keeping her hands on top of Jinx's head and stroking through her tangled mane. "Did you sleep well, Jinx?"

"Waking up to you? Yeah," Jinx answered with a small blush on her face as she rubbed her head against the pillow. She frowned when it turned out that she wasn't laying on her spiky-furred love's chest. With a sigh, Jinx rose from the bed, Sketchy doing the same. She looked around the room for her missing lover, huffing when she noticed that he wasn't there. "Where'd Dusk go? And what time is it?"

"Last time I looked, it was past eight thirty. Dusk left an hour ago to help Vinyl pack up her stuff. I wouldn't be too surprised if he's trying for a job as a roadie," Sketchy giggled. She wrapped her arms around Jinx's neck, pulling the mare down into Sketchy's chest to resume stroking her hair. "Our train won't be here 'til noon, so we'll have some time with him beforehand."

Jinx nuzzled into Sketchy's bare chest, closing her eyes to take in her warmth. A flush of memories came to her from last night, making her frown grow into a wide smile. "We're going to be a family soon Sketchy. The thr- four of us. We're going to be a big happy family." Jinx moved her hands over her lower belly, cherishing the life growing within it. "Think we should tell him soon?"

A couple of seconds passed before Sketchy answered. "No, not while these unicorns are still out there. He has enough to worry about as is." Jinx sighed into Sketchy's chest, knowing that Sketchy was right. If Dusk ever found out that she had gotten pregnant after their date, there was no doubt in her mind that Dusk would force himself to not fight. "And also, we have to be a bit more careful. Wouldn't want those mare-breakers poking at something they shouldn't."

"Aw, but we have been careful. And it's still early, Sketchy."

"Doesn't matter. Less pain you have to go through later on," Sketchy retorted, placing a kiss on the top of Jinx's horn. "Now come on, we need to bath." As Sketchy let Jinx go to get off the bed, she was stopped when Jinx suddenly wrapped her arms around her. "Jinx, what's the matter?"

A few moments passed before Jinx took in a deep breath. "H-he's going to be alright, right? I-I mean, Dusk fought a freaking sea-serpent with Verdite and Volt before. So he's going to be fine, r-right Sketchy?"

Sketchy smiled down at Jinx, placing a hand on top of her head. "Yes Jinx. There's no way our mutt is going to lose to a bunch of cultists. And we'll be here with him every step of the way. Don't worry, our family is way too strong to be broken up like that."

'I hope…'

/ Ch. 50: For the Truth part one/-/

High Moon Ch. 50: For the Truth, Part One

Midday came to the residents of High Moon as they all started to finish the tasks or jobs that they had been assigned by Wolf. Cyclone took a lesson on controlling her water-magic from Lily, learning to reshape it into a cutting edge. Blaze began fixing up a new batch of soap with Veil's help. Spike and Wolf went to White Tail to check on the winter coats that were still in the process of being made. Since everyone else was busy, that left Frost and Isis to assist Quill in her flight training, so she could be ready for the competition in Stormfront.

Thanks to them, however, Quill had an optimal practice course for her to test her flying skills on. It took half the day get each twist and turn down right, along with the aerial obstacles such as circles of clouds that Quill wasn't allowed to touch, but it was worth it.

And since all three of them had spent most of the day making the track, Quill wasn't going to let it go to waste. "Alright, let's do this!" she shouted as she began stretching out her wings, itching to test the course. "I've only got a few minutes before the clouds start moving out of place, right Isis?" Quill asked the sphinx standing behind her with Frost. The three of them were on the cloud that was serving as the start of the track.

"That would be correct, Quill," Isis said in her trademark low tone, still wondering why Quill would waste her time with a simple flight competition when she and Frost were dreaming of defeating the mare's mother. Though, Quill had already assured everyone in the pack that winning the competition would benefit them greatly, so Isis was willing to help her in any way possible. "Everfree weather tends to have an unpredictable factor that even I can't predict, so this will not be easy for you."

Quill breathed out a laugh as a smirk grew on her face, looking down the straight drop that was the beginning of the course. "If it was easy, it wouldn't be worth doing," Quill proclaimed before she allowed herself to fall forward into the ring-encased drop, quickly accelerating as she fell dead center inside the rings before opening her wings up to take off towards the rest of the track.

As she began rocketing up into the sky, Quill performed a series of flips over, and under, the various hurdles, kicking off of them as though they were tree-limbs, using the extra speed boost to shoot her way through the rest of the track.

Feeling confident in her skills, Quill started to rotate her body around to fly upside down, flapping her tail up and down to keep her balanced in the sky. However, in this cocky move, Quill failed to see a cloud-wall that was right ahead of her, plowing right through it.

After slamming through the wall, Quill was thrown off her intended course, and began falling out of the sky. "W-whoa, whoa! Nrah, come on Quill!" she shouted at herself as she struggled to regain her sense of direction before she hit something much harder than a cloud. Thankfully, and much to Frost's relief, Quill was able to begin flying upright again. And this time, she watched where she was going. "I'm okay!"

Frost let out a sigh of relief while Quill again started to focus on the training course more, rather than on how 'cool' she looked. Frost loved every bit of Quill, but sometimes she wished her mate would think before she allowed her pride to take control of her actions. It might cost them dearly one day.

As Quill charged through the course, Frost sat down on top of the soft cloud, watching with slight worry for her reckless lover. Isis soon joined the mare, eye intent on Quill, not with worry, but with curiosity. Over the time Isis had spent with the dragoness, Quill continued to be a wonder, going against virtually everything a more traditional dragoness would.

"I must say," Isis suddenly spoke as she continued to watch Quill climb higher into the sky, weaving her way through a series of rings that were place a roughly equal distance apart from each other. "She is quite the exceptional dragoness, isn't she Frost?"

"Yes, she is," Frost said with a giggle as Quill reached the top of the climb, flipping backwards to enter a dive through the same rings she just flown through. "Quill always finds a way to amaze me, Isis. She says she wants to set everything right. Show all of Equestria the truth about everything," Frost said while Quill strained her wings to level out from her dive in order to pull up into a quick roll before she circled around the track again. "Quill has such high goals, and she's taking every opportunity she can get."

Isis nodded her head as she rested her hands in her lap while Quill ran through the hurdles again, snaking over and under them in tighter and cleaner movements. "I can tell, and it is understandable. She and her brother were dealt a hand of lies and trickery that was left unanswered. It seems Quill wants the answers, and it's this will of hers that's giving her the ability to achieve any goal she sets for herself."

Frost smiled towards the sphinx, happy to hear that Isis had faith in her and Quill. However as she opened her mouth to thank Isis for her kind words, the sound of Quill shouting again caught their attention. "Rah, stupid fucking turbulence!" Quill roared as she struggled to keep herself on track, and from slamming through another cloud. 'Which is oddly harder when flying at blazing speeds', Quill thought to herself sarcastically.

Back at the starting cloud, Frost and Isis began laughing at the struggling dragoness, knowing that Quill would get it at some point. "Thank you Isis, it means a great deal to hear that from you," Frost said after the fit of laughter had ended, laying her legs out further on the cloud to get more comfortable. "Sometimes I worry about the path Quill and I are on right now, along with the future that it holds, but I'm happy to hear that from you."

"Frost," Isis started, draping a large black wing around Frost's body unexpectedly. "I can not guarantee that you two will make it through your intended path completely safe, however, I believe you two will make it through."

Frost sat still in Isis' incredibly warm wing as she soaked in both Isis' warmth and words, finding comfort in the surety in Isis' calm voice. "Th-thank you Isis," Frost finally breathed out after resting her head against Isis' arm, leaning further into the embrace. "I know it will be very difficult, and I know that other things come first," she continued as she looked up at Quill, who was again dashing skyward through the center of the rings before reaching the top.

This time however, as Quill performed the same backflip, she let out a flare of purple and green flames that shot out from her in two interlocking rings of the two colors. The sight caught both Isis and Frost by surprise when they saw the two rings burst out from Quill, and then left them in awe by the trail of fire she left as she dove down through the cloud rings.

Quill's velocity rapidly began accelerating as she approached the ground at breakneck speed. The strain of holding her eyes open soon became difficult to do, but she somehow managed it. Colors of the sky and her own flames began to blur her vision as the ground began warping to a single focal-point; where she would land face-first.

'Oh shit, oh shit, oh fucking shit!' Quill shouted in her head, trying to force her wings to open up. However, at the speed she was diving in, the wind current was far too great for the muscles in her wings to overcome. Thankfully, though, Quill caught a lucky break when a sudden gust of wind gave her a small chance to save herself. 'Come on, come on, come on. Pull up, Pull up!'

As Quill began to force herself to level out, her luck ran short when she caught the tip of a tall oak tree, throwing her off from her recovery and into the canopy. "No, no, Quill!" Frost shouted as she and Isis immediately opened their wings to dart after the fallen dragoness as fast as they could.

Though, half of their worries were proven wrong when they saw Quill flying up from the tree line to a low-hanging cloud. Using her changeling magic, Frost expanded the size of her wings to catch up with Isis as the made it to the cloud, landing right beside Quill as she rolled onto her stomach... giggling?

"Quill, are you alright?" Frost questioned her lover, worried that Quill might have injured herself while she was trying to recover. Yet, all Frost got from the dragoness was more giggling as she stretched out her wings. "Speak to me Quill, please."

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Quill said with a small giggle from the rush of adrenaline still going down her spine. She knew right now she wasn't going to feel any pain. However, from the many flying mishaps Quill gone through, she knew once the adrenaline was gone she was going to feel every tree branch. "My wings feel like they're on fire right now, but I'm fine...I never went that fast before, Frost."

While the changeling looked over Quill, Isis quickly used her magic to examine Quill's body closer, indeed finding nothing wrong. "Frost, Quill is telling the truth, she isn't hurt. However, I think a wing-massage would help lessen the pain," Isis advised, knowing that Quill was going to start feeling the strain of opening her wings while reaching speeds her wings couldn't fully handle. "I will direct this cloud closer to the temple in the meantime."

"Okay, thank you Isis," Frost said as she carefully straddled Quill's back to began gently kneading the muscles on Quill's back, getting a groan out of Quill. Frost could already feel the muscles in Quill's back and wings tightening from overexertion. From the tightness of them, Quill wouldn't be doing much flying tomorrow. "By the threads and moon Quill, what were you thinking?"

Quill bit down on her lower lip to fight off both a moan and whine from her lover's hands massaging the muscles around the base of her sore wings, rubbing away the burning feeling that was growing in them. As painful as it was, there was a hint of pleasure that rippled through Quill's body. She felt the pleasure move all the way down to the tip of her tail, causing her to wrap her tail with Frost's.

"I've never flown that fast before, Frost," Quill said with a moan when Frost pressed her fingers against Quill's wing-base, the scorpio mare channelling a small bit of magic into it. "Th-the world looked so different. I know it was reckless, and you can yell at me about it later. But that doesn't change anything."

Frost continued to keep any knots in Quill's back at bay for as long as she possibly could, now no longer worried for Quill but now just as curious as she was sensing Isis to be. "And just what isn't changed, Quill?" Frost asked as she worked her fingers underneath Quill's wings to further alleviate any pain she might start feeling. "Would that have something to do with becoming one with the ground?"

"Ha ha Frost, you're so fu...funny," Quill said, getting her words caught in a moan when Frost moved her hands underneath her wings. Quill had never had someone to massage her back like this before. She could start getting used to it. "No, I mean, that was the closest I've ever been to doing a Sonic Rainboom."

Both Frost and Isis furled their eyebrows at the smiling dragoness, never have heard of such a term before. "Quill, what is a Sonic Rainboom? Is that some flying technique?"

"Some flying technique?" Quill started, turning her head back slightly to Frost, sounding as if Frost had somehow offended her. "No Frost, it isn't just 'some flying technique,' it is the flying techniques to end all techniques. It's the barrier between the great flyers and the legendary ones," Quill said with a happy smile on her face at the memory she had of Rainbow performing the Sonic Rainboom in front of her when she was showing her how to use her new wings. "It's something that's only been done by one mare in all of Equestrian recorded history."

Frost became worried for Quill again at the sudden drop in both voice and emotions, figuring that it had to be something from her old life. "Quill, is everything alright? This Sonic Rainboom, does it have something to do with your old life with those ponies?"

"Ah, my loving mind reader, yeah it does," Quill groaned in bitterment, now wishing that she could take back what she had said about the Sonic Rainboom. "Remember what I said about that mare named Rainbow Dash?" Quill asked Frost after she let out a small sigh. When Frost nodded her head, Quill laid her head down on the cloud as they got closer to the temple. "She is the only pegasus to ever break the sound-barrier."

"Well then," Isis began, as she had only paid minor attention to the bearers of the original star fragments, finding each of them to be…'interesting' in their own natural way. "For a pegasus to do such a thing is quite impressive. I haven't heard tales like that since the time of Nightmare's elite soldiers."

Quill glanced up at the sphinx for a moment, then remembered that Isis could've been around since the formation of Equestria, just like Celestia and Luna. "Yeah, and Rainbow hasn't been able to do it a lot of times, either," Quill said, figuring that it would be better just letting everything out, instead of repressing it like she tried to do the other day with the ruby. "She's gotten better, but Rainbow says that her wings feel like they are gonna fall off if she does it too many times."

"Hm, I see," Isis mused for a moment as she willed the cloud to rest on the ground outside of the temple doors. Satisfied that the cloud wasn't going to get caught in any winds, Isis turned around to sit in front of Quill on her knees, as she still wanted to talk to the dragoness. "And I would be correct in saying that you would want to one day achieve this yourself?"

"Well...yeah, I do actually," Quill said as she sat up a bit on her elbows to look the sphinx in her eyes. Once Quill had made full eye-contact, she was thrown off by the motherly smile on Isis' face, making her think that she was talking to Blaze instead. "Flying is incredible Isis, if I could, I would probably waste every day just flying around. Rainbow was the one who taught me how to fly, and I want to know that same feeling."

"And what feeling might that be?" Isis asked with a smile on her face and a friendly tone in her voice.

Quill again stared at the sphinx, trying to understand why she was suddenly being caring like this, but grateful for it anyway. "The feeling of leaving my mark on the world. The feeling of having all your work shown out on full display," Quill finally spoke after a few moments of thought, remembering the first time she saw Rainbow pull off the Sonic Rainboom and all the colors that shot throughout the sky from it. "The feeling of creating something...beautiful."

"Quill, that's wonderful," Frost said as she bent down to place a kiss on the back of Quill's neck, blown away by the strength of feelings and thoughts Quill had placed into her desires. "I'm sure you'll be able to do it to. You just need to work the muscles in your wings a bit more," Frost continued to say as she gently lifted one of Quill's now limp and sore wings. "I'm sure if you help Spike with some fishing that-"

"N-no swimming," Quill shuddered with a bright blush on her face, as her wings almost instinctively closed tightly against her back. As Quill tried to hide in the cloud, she knew Frost was able to feel the fear she had of swimming, and that Isis would be able to tell just by looking at her. "I-I'm not a very good swimmer."

While the dragoness continued to hide in the cloud, both Spike and Wolf had spotted the group of females sitting on the it, and heard most of what they were talking about. "Try not a swimmer at all," Spike said with a laugh as he and Wolf approached the three females, having just gotten back from White Tail. "Quill doesn't swim so much as she just tries to avoid drowning."

Quill quickly snapped her head up at the sound of her brother's voice, glaring at him with fire blazing in her eyes. "Shut it Spike, you remember the last time I tried to swim, I am not going through that again," Quill growled at her twin, knowing that he was going to poke fun at her for not being able to swim.

"Hey I'm just helping my 'loving' sister out," Spike said in a defensive manner as he raised up his hands, still laughing at the memories of Quill trying to swim, only to end up failing miserably. A lot. "I mean, Twilight, Dusk, and Rainbow have all told you that you needed to learn how to swim. It would help with your flying, right?"

"You would be correct Spike," Isis said with a nod towards Spike while Frost nodded her head in agreement as well. "It has been quite some time since I last had a nice swim, but it does help build the necessary muscles in the back and shoulders to improve one's flying."

Quill opened her mouth to say something against what everyone was saying, but nothing came to mind. Nothing that would get them to stop, at least. "But I can't swim," Quill sighed as she dropped her head into the cloud to hide away from her shame.

"You should've told that to the swimming couch before you knocked his teeth out," Spike deadpanned at the memory of Quill freaking out and knocking the Canterlot swimming coach clean out. "Anyway Quill, I'm sure everyone here will help you learn how to swim. And I'm pretty sure that it would be easier for you to learn here than Canterlot."

"Quill, Spike has a point," Frost said, gently rubbing Quill's shoulders to coax her out of the cloud and to listen to what everyone was saying. "Learning to swim would be a great benefit to you and your flying. And since you're already an amazing flyer now, learning how to swim will only add to that. You'll be raising your chances of victory in the flight competition."

"I don't know...I mean-"

"Oh right Quill, I almost forgot," Spike suddenly spoke as he reached into the back pocket of his cargo shorts, pulling out a piece of paper to show to Quill. "I think you should take another look at that poster for the flight competition."

Quill raised an eyebrow towards Spike before she took the paper away from him to read it herself. Quill's eyes scanned over the poster, hands tightening on it as if what was on the poster brought out anger. "Spike," she said, looking straight at Spike with an unreadable expression on her face. "This better be legit and not one of your tricks, dude."

'That caught her attention.'

"Oh this is one-hundred percent legit, sis," Spike said with a sober look on his face, despite inwardly smiling to himself at the turn of events. "So, what were you saying about not wanting to do swimming lessons?"

"Yeah, I changed my mind. If that is what really is happening, and it had better be," Quill paused to glare at Spike in a threatening manner, still testing him to see if he was somehow pranking her. "Then learning how to swim would help, I guess."

Still not letting anyone see the poster, Quill folded it back up before handing it to Spike so she could lay back down on the cloud. "Spike, you do know what will happen if this is a trick right?" Quill questioned in a blank tone, so as to not tip off what was printed on the new poster for the flight competition. "We need this Spike, so don't lie to me about it."

"I'm telling the truth Quill," Spike said as he placed the poster into his back pocket for safe keeping. "I want answers as much as you do, and this may be our best shot. So at least try to learn how to swim, okay Quill?"

Quill glanced upwards towards Spike, seeing that he was just as desperate for answers as she was. Knowing that only made this competition that more important for Quill. She wasn't doing it just for herself, but also her brother. "Yeah Spike, I'll start in the morning," Quill said with a small groan, knowing that it was definitely going to be hard for her to get used to being in the water. "For now, my wings are killing me."

"Alright, but it still sounds to me that you're just trying to get out of it today," Spike joked with a small laugh that abruptly ended when Quill cut one of her purple eyes towards him in a strong leer. "Er, right. I'm gonna go see if Blaze or Cyclone needs anything."

As Spike and Wolf left towards the temple, Quill thought about the drake's feelings towards the whole situation with their lives, and realized she needed to know something from him. "Hey Spike, wait," Quill suddenly started, forcing Spike to stop.

He looked back at Quill to see what she wanted. "Yeah, what Quill? You're not having second thoughts are you? Cause I can-"

"Is this really what you want?"

Spike slowly closed his mouth at his sister's question, turning his head back around as he thought about the answer. The truth was, yes. Spike wanted answers for everything just as much as Quill did. And there was only one creature that could give them the answers.

"Quill," Spike breathed out in a small sigh of his green flames, taking a moment to keep his voice steady. "You and I both know we've been waiting for this chance for eighteen years. What do you think the answer is?" Spike questioned as he turned his head back to Quill to return the glares she had been giving him. "This is serious Quill, you're not flying for just yourself any more."

"I'm flying for the both of us," Quill said, finishing it for Spike as she laid her head back down on the cloud. "Yeah, I got it Spike. There's no way I'm losing now, but you do know that means you'll be sparring with Wolf from now on."

Spike's body visibly tensed up at the thought of having to train with Wolf for the foreseeable future, but he shook it off, as it was for the better either way. "Yeah I know, but that means you'll have to be learning how to swim for the next two weeks," Spike said in an attempt to tease Quill back as he walked off to the temple. Wolf had paused as well when Quill had called to Spike, trying to figure out what the twins were going on about.

He already knew what was written on the poster, and after a moment of connecting the dots, Wolf had figured why the twins were acting serious in their own way. "Frost, Isis, I trust that you can tell this is very important to the twins, right?"

Isis turned toward the changeling mare, who turned back to her, and nodded. "Yes master," Isis started after she turned her head back to Wolf. "We can clearly see that this competition of aerial skills is indeed important for the twins, and we'll do everything in our power to ensure that Quill is ready in two weeks time."

"Yes, if this is important to Quill and Spike, then it's important to all of us," Frost said with a firm tone, a smile on her face as she again started rubbing underneath Quill's wings, getting a large dose of gratitude from her dragoness. "We're with you Quill."

"Heh, thanks you guys, it really does mean a lot," Quill said with a smile and blush on her face as she enjoyed Frost's fingers on her back. Not only that, it was comforting to know that she had the support of the pack on her side. "I promise I won't let you guys down."

"We know you won't Quill," Wolf said as he rubbed his hand through his dull-blue hair, thinking about how he could encourage the pack to help Quill get over her fear of swimming. "Just be sure to do your best. Also, we're all taking baths today, so you two can just say out here and I'll just have someone to grab a change of clothes for the two of you."

"I'll do that master," Isis said as she slid off the cloud to follow her master into the temple so she could gather the young couple a change of clothing. "If that's alright with you two?" she asked as she turned towards said couple.

"Yeah sure Isis, everything still in that purple duffle bag in our room," Quill said to the sphinx, getting a nod from her as she and Wolf left into the temple. Once the two were behind the closed door, Quill let out a long sigh, knowing that the next week and a half was going to be trying for her.

However, she had to do it, not for just her, but for her brother. For the answers they'd been denied all their lives. For ending the lies they had been told all their lives. For retribution.

Canterlot Castle, Meeting hall

In the walls of the Canterlot castle, Celestia had called for another department meeting to discuss any and all findings of the occult after the unicorn filly. However, this part of the meeting was mostly one sided, as only Obsidian's team and the department head of the research had any real information. However, both were able to only merely confirm everyone's thoughts about the enemy.

Obsidian then moved to the proposal that Dusk brought up the previous night about how to approach the enemy. He had to admit himself, the thought of being forced on the defensive left a bad taste in his mouth. However, the little amount of information they had on their enemy left them with no other rational option. And he further proved his point by saying they were already taking measures in defense by increasing the number of the guard.

In spite of many of the other department heads wanting to say otherwise regarding Obsidian's proposal, they couldn't fight his logic. And with no other proposals to suggest, they were forced to agree to the plan for now.

The meeting soon moved on with the head of the research department saying there might be a pattern to the enemy's reported movement. Thus far in each detailed report, small and fairly unremarkable towns had been the targets of the occult. From what the mare was able to tell, it seemed like the enemy was sweeping through the smaller towns and villages before moving up to higher-tier and more populous cities.

This led all of the department heads to believe that the enemy's final destination of attack would be Canterlot. When the question of how to track the enemy before their sights would be set on Canterlot came up, no answer was able to be given for the simple fact that they were not dealing with just one threat.

Every report that was filed had a different description of the perpetrator; gender, height, and magic abilities. However, the two things that always fell in line were the robes they wore and the fact that each of them was a unicorn.

The information was quite unsettling for the department heads to take in, as they didn't want to say anything out of line regarding the unicorn - or any - race. However, with the information saying every attacker was a unicorn, all the department heads couldn't help but wonder why a group of unicorns would want the still-missing filly.

With the heavy part of the meeting over with, Celestia moved onward with a lighter tone regarding her attending an upcoming flight competition to give a small cloud city some more recognition.

"Princess," Major Endive started, standing up from her seat to be recognized by Celestia. "With the threat that we are facing now, I don't think that it would be wise for you to be exposing yourself in such a manner."

"Actually Major, I think otherwise," Celestia said with a small, yet visible, smile on her face, knowing that the major was only opposed due to concern for the sun monarch. "After speaking with Commander Tempest, I'm quite sure that any attacks on a cloud city would not be a cause for worry."

Major Endive looked down the table towards the pegasus commander, who only gave the major a sly smile, forcing Endive to sit down in a small huff. "Yes, that's true," Tempest started, standing up from his seat to be recognized by the room. "What with all that's been happening over the last few months, I figured that it would do Equestria some good if they were reminded that they were still safe underneath Princess Celestia's rule. What better way than taking audience in a flight competition?"

"A nationwide fight festival?" Obsidian joked with a small laugh that was only shared with the commander as he sat back down in his seat. "Ah, but in all seriousness, I agree with Commander Tempest. It's our job to worry about the enemy, let the citizens live their lives. They deserve it."

Celestia knew that Obsidian was actually speaking of the Elements of Harmony, but she didn't say anything on it as she knew that he was mostly right. "Yes, both Sergeant Obsidian and Commander Tempest are correct. We can not allow the enemy to drive us into a constant fear of attack. We will show them that we are planning for them, that we are ready for them, and that we will not fail."

Suddenly, each department head stood from their seats, and gave the celestial mare a strong group salute, showing their complete allegiance to Celestia. "I know this matter is something none of us could have foreseen, which is why I'm asking for everyone's cooperation with anything we can think of. Until we have further information, all of you are to stay at your assigned posts and continue your duties. Meeting adjourned."

With the meeting over, the department heads left out of the room to return to their duties. Each of the soldiers planned to continue to try and piece together the enemy's plan, but all of them weren't sure due to the lack of information they had.

"So Sergeant, how are the two Republic soldiers coping with their new jobs?" Commander Tempest asked as he, and the castle in whole, had heard about the arrival of the two half-breeds and their 'introduction' to the new recruits yesterday. "I heard whispers that they are going hard on the recruits, and yet not a single one of them has left yet."

Obsidian began laughing at the commander, still surprised himself that none of the new recruits have left yet despite it being two days into the Week into the Tartarus for them. "Yeah those two are tough, but they are doing it on purpose," Obsidian said as he and the commander continued their walk through the halls. "What they are doing is awakening a sense of nationalism in them, I am guessing. After that, I'm assuming they'll try breaking them down."

"Haha, yes, just like I tried with you, no?" Tempest laughed with a nudge of his elbow into Obsidian's arm, getting the dog to laugh with him. "Yes, these last four years seemed to have passed so fast with so much happening. And here we are."

"Indeed, it seems something comes up every other week," Obsidian said as he continued to walk with the commander, thinking back to when he first joined the guard. "Though, the one thing I thought I would never see is one of the Elements joining the guard."

Commander Tempest raised an eyebrow towards the dog, trying to understand how he knew such information while the commander did not. "Which of the Elements, Sergeant?" Tempest questioned the dog, sounding as though he wasn't too fond of knowing that one of the Elements of Harmony had joined the guard.

"Loyalty, Rainbow Dash," Obsidian answered, turning his head back to the commander as the officer stopped walking, wondering what was the matter with him. As Obsidian continued to look to the pegasus commander, he saw a flurry of emotions ranging from confusion to anger in the stallion's eyes. 'Why would the news Rainbow Dash joining the guard bother Commander Tempest?' "Sir, is everything alright?"

Tempest's head shook as though he was snapping himself out of some thought he was having, looking back up to Obsidian. "Y-yes everything is all right, just surprised by the news is all," Tempest lied as he began backing away from the diamond dog. "If you'll excuse me Sergeant, I have to take my leave."

"Oh, of course, Commander," Obsidian said, saluting the pegasus off as he turned around and began rushing through the hall. This new action only further confused Obsidian, but he was easily able to see that there had to have been some sort of connection between the commander's action and Rainbow joining the guard. "Hm, time for me to learn more about the new recruits."

As Obsidian ventured through the halls, he continued to wonder about what connection the commander had with Rainbow, and why would it force the pegasus to act in such a manner. Soon the question of why Sky hasn't ever really spoke about Rainbow being her cousin came to mind, but he waved that off as Sky just being Sky.

However, there was something the in the back of his head telling him that it was something a lot larger than he was waving it off to be. Obsidian remembered that there were a large number of pony families having old traditions from way back before Celestia and Luna took power. So that was a possibility, but before he made any further assumptions, he needed answers. And Rainbow Dash was his best bet to get them.

Coming to a stop in front of the recruits' barracks, Obsidian opened the door, walked into the lounge area for all of the new recruits, getting salutes from each of them. "At ease, all of you," he started, please to see that Verdite and Wave have been able to beat respect into them. "I came here to see Recruit Dash, where can I find her?"

"Uh, I think she said something about working out?" one of the recruits, a pink unicorn mare, answered as she sat in front of the television with another recruit next to her. "I think that's what she said, sir. That mare really is high-strung though, like there's something scaring her more than having Sergeant Wave kick her ass."

"Yeah I know what you mean," the silver pegasus mare sitting next to the pink mare started as she kicked her feet on the coffee table. "She's been mumbling stuff to herself ever since we got here."

Obsidian's curiosity only got worse from the recruits' words, knowing that none of them were to leave the barracks for the day without his or Verdite's permission. "So I take it that she's in the workout hall then?" Obsidian asked as he looked at the two mares with a strong frown on his face. "Because if that's the case, I have a bit more to speak about to her than I thought."

"Uh, actually, sir," a male voice sounded from behind Obsidian, turning to find that it belonged to a black-feathered griffin who was sitting on a stool near a pool-table. "Last I heard, she was doing some wing-ups in her room just a few minutes ago. And from the sounds of things, it seemed pretty intense."

"Dude, you listened into her room?" a pale white earth-stallion asked the griffon while Obsidian left the lounge area, not paying attention to the recruits' talk any more since he knew where Rainbow was.

Now things were starting to get even more curious with the mare's behavior. Obsidian would've sworn she would've tried to befriend the other recruits, or act as their bull-hearted leader. But that didn't seem to be the case. The closer Obsidian got to Rainbow's room, the more his ears could pick up on the sound of the mare grunting and counting out her reps.

"Recruit Dash, open this door, I would like to have a word with you," Obsidian called outside of the door, only hearing Rainbow's grunts and counting. Not inclined to wait, Obsidian pushed open the door to find that the rainbow-maned mare was on the ground with her arms crossed behind her back as she used her wings to push herself up. "Recruit, I know you heard me. Why are you straining your body like this?"

Rainbow still didn't hear the dog, as all of her focus was on her workout. "S-sixty-e...sixty-eight!" Rainbow grunted as she pushed herself all the way up, throwing her head back, sweat pouring down her face.

Unwilling to let the mare continue this foolishness, Obsidian stepped into the slightly messy room, reaching for the mare's elbows to pull her off the ground and sit her on the bed. "Hey what's the big i-"

Rainbow was cut off by the anger that flared in Obsidian's silver eyes, flinching from the thought of what he could punish her with in his position. "When I speak to you, you answer. Understood, recruit?" Obsidian growled at the mare, glaring down into her eyes as his hands curled at his sides.

"Y-yes sir..." Rainbow said as she failed to escape the powerful look in Obsidian's eyes, reminding herself that she could no longer act freely like she did as an Element of Harmony now that she had joined the guard. "It won't happen again, I promise."

"It better not recruit. This isn't some misadventure with your friends, so remember where you are," Obsidian said before he turned to close the door, making sure that no other recruit was nearby that could listen in on their conversation. "Look, I know you've only been here for less than a week, but that doesn't excuse this kind of behavior. Despite all of your past deeds, you're in the Solar Guard now. Act like it."

"I understand sir," Rainbow said with a small huff, knowing that what she had done as an Element wasn't going to count for anything here in the Guard. That fact had been proven the moment Rogue had decided to take her Element away from her until Rainbow graduated from the guard academy. "So, why did you come to my room specifically, Sergeant Obsidian, sir?"

Obsidian took a seat next to Rainbow, using that time to think to himself about his reason for showing up in the mare's room. "Rainbow Dash, I'm going to ask you one question, and I want the truth from you," Obsidian started, staring straight into Rainbow's rose colored eyes. "Are you related to anypony else in the Guard, somepony that's in a high position specifically?"

Rainbow's body tensed up when she realized what Obsidian was asking, biting down on her lip as if she didn't want to answer the dog, but knowing she had to. "Y-yes...I am, and you probably already know him."

"Commander Tempest, I'm assuming?" Obsidian asked, quickly making the connection without Rainbow having to say much else. When the mare nodded her head, Obsidian's curiosity only heightened. "Then let me ask you this. Just a few moments ago, I mentioned to him that you joined the guard."

"Wait lemme guess, he wasn't too 'happy' with it either?" Rainbow interrupted, remembering what Sky Bloom had warned her would come true if her guess was right. Looking into the dog's eyes, Rainbow could almost feel the answer coming from him, forcing her to sigh. "Figures, Dad always said that he was the up-tight kind of stallion."

"So you are related to him, but how?" Obsidian asked, mostly to see how he could be possibly related to Sky Bloom. That would be an awkward family reunion. "Is he like your cousin of some sort? Uncle, maybe? He is up there in years."

Rainbow began laughing a bit at Obsidian's joking, even though he was sounding quite serious. "Yeah, I think he's in his late forties," she joked as she nudged Obsidian with her arm, breaking him out of his thoughts. "But, yeah...he's like, I dunno, my first cousin once removed or some crap like that. I just know that he's my dad's cousin."

"Oh, okay, but why would he have reason to be worried about you joining the guard?" Obsidian asked he was still missing the final missing piece he needed to solve the puzzle. "Surely, after everything you and your friends have been through as Elements, he wouldn't worry. Or even seem upset, but yet…"

"Because his family is sworn to protect mine," Rainbow suddenly blurted out with her hands tightening in her lap, waiting for some kind of response from the dog. When none came, Rainbow let out a sigh to calm herself down. "Look, like a long time ago Tempest's and Sky's families swore to protect my family's legacy. Which was our flying skills, okay?"

"But that's not the reason you enjoy flying, is it?" Obsidian asked, knowing there had to be more to this than some blood-pact that was made in ancient times. "I mean, let's be honest, you turned down the Wonderbolts. Twice. All because you didn't like the way they were running things. If you were following tradition you would've stayed."

"If I was following tradition I would've already been a Wonderbolt," Rainbow sighed at her past choices, still not sure if she should be grateful for them, or to hide somewhere in a corner from shame. "Obsidian, most of my family looks at me like some sort of failure, and I gotta be honest with you. I'm only joining the guard to get into the military side of the Wonderbolts, but even then they'll still hate me."

Obsidian opened his mouth to question the mare when he saw the sadness dampening her fiery-red eyes, and began to think about the mare's situation. "Then let me ask you this," Obsidian said, looking up to the ceiling of the small space and thinking back to the day he made the fateful decision to leave his den back in the Republics. "That choice you made, do you regret it? Do you wish you could go back and change any single event?"

"Well…" Rainbow paused, thinking back to everything that'd happened in her life. Sure she could've been a famous flyer by now, but she would have never met her friends or became an Element of Harmony. She wouldn't have been true to herself. "No, not really. My life has been pretty awesome so far, and I wouldn't change a single bit of it. If Commander Tempest doesn't like that I'm here, that's his deal. This is my life, and I'm gonna live it the way I want too, damnit."

Obsidian nodded his head as Rainbow said the exact answer he wanted to hear from her, chuckling a little from it. "So here's my final question," Obsidian started, getting a small huff and eye roll from Rainbow. "Why are you doing wing-ups, alone in your room when instead, you could be bonding with the other recruits?"

"Uh, why would that matter?"

Sighing, Obsidian shook his head as he patted Rainbow on the back, nearly knocking her off the bed. "A lot, recruit," he stated in a firm voice as he went back to staring straight into Rainbow's eyes. "Those soldiers out there are now the closest thing you have to friends. Because let me tell you this, the rest of the guard isn't gonna give two shits about you new guys. So if you want to go anywhere you do it with their help."

Rainbow flinched back from what Obsidian had just told her. If the rest of the Guard was as cold as he was making them sound, then her only hope was indeed with the other recruits. "Eesh, is that really how it is?" Rainbow asked, only to get the dog in front of her to nod his head. "Maybe I should go and hang out with them. I've been nothing but a jerk to most of them."

"It's never too late to make a change you know," Obsidian said as he got up from the bed, only to turn around to reach a hand out to Rainbow. "All it takes is for you to make the first move and take control of your life."

Rainbow looked down at Obsidian's hand, and thought about everything he said to her. "Yeah, you're right Sergeant," she said, taking Obsidian's hand with a firm grip before he pulled her off the bottom bunk bed and onto her feet. "I can only imagine that it'll take a while before I can get in the Aerial Force for the Wonderbolts, so I'll do my best here first."

"Now you get it," Obsidian said with a laugh, getting a surprise when Rainbow suddenly gave him a strong salute, showing him that she might actually have what it takes. "Alright you, at ease. Go join the others in the lounge, and don't worry about Commander Tempest. I'll deal with him."

"Thank you sir, means a whole lot," Rainbow said as she followed Obsidian out of her room and into the lounge area where the other recruits were still sitting on standby. Rainbow quickly moved to sit with her roommate, probably to apologize for whatever mess she cost the black griffon.

Obsidian didn't say anything as he left out of the room, mind clouded with the thoughts of Rainbow's family 'tradition.' He already knew that it wasn't too much of an uncommon thing, but he would need to keep a close eye on the Commander. Something told him that the next few weeks, or possibly months, would be the most eventful periods of time during his job as a guard. /-/  
/ Ch. 50: For the Truth part two/-/

High Moon Ch. 50:  
For the Truth part two

Time pushed on as the days passed for the High Moon pack, each member doing their part to make life as easier for the group as a whole. Curiously, Lily took a few days of leave, saying there was business that she had to attend to alone, and that she would be back by the end of the week to help. Wolf questioned the flutterpony about what she was doing, but all he could get from her was that she was doing something that could benefit High Moon, if things went the way she hoped they would.

Wolf pushed for more answers, but still only got the same response from the mare: "I'm sorry, but this is really important. To me and the pack. This will work out in the end, I just need a week and I'll be able to tell you more, Wolf." Eventually he gave up and said that it was fine, he just wanted to know what she meant.

With the mare gone, the pack focused on Quill's training for the flight competition. Which meant that she had to face her biggest fear. Swimming. Frost, Spike, and Cyclone all said that they would gladly help Quill get over her fears. Wolf handed the matter off to them, trusting the four to make sure that Cyclone still got some practice with her magic.

Spike said that after Quill had gotten used to swimming, he would take all of the females to someone that helped him with his swimming. When questioned about who was this someone, Spike merely said that it was someone that was an expert at teaching folk how to swim. So first, Spike took all of them to the Rainbow Stream, or more accurately, a smaller river that broke off from it, where Quill could begin her swimming lesson.

During which, Spike filled in for Frost with teaching Cyclone her water-magic, continually getting distracted by the cute dragoness. The same could be said for Quill regarding her own girlfriend, as Frost's swimming attire consisted of a dark cloth wrapped around her chest, while she used the bottom part of Quill's black bathing-suit, which had luckily been able to be adjusted for Frost's smaller waistline.

Quill had opted to use her bikini top and a pair of black short-tights to swim and fly in. And just like Spike had oh-so-humorously pointed out multiple times before, Quill had a tough time getting used to moving in the water. Thankfully, she didn't act how she had when she was younger.

Frost, having taught herself how to swim for the fun of it, began giving Quill tips on how to use her wings and tail to move in the water, even giving demonstrations in the water with the aid aid of her magic. One handy tip she gave Quill was that dragons had a thin film of secondary eyelids that could let her see underwater.

Quill questioned Spike if he knew about it, shocked when she learned that Spike had known about it since they first learned how to swim. He had never bothered to tell Quill because he thought that she already knew about it.

Ignoring the fact that Spike hadn't told her about it, Quill worked on getting used to using the secondary eyelids. Unsurprisingly, Quill was able to get used to opening and closing the second set of eyelids fairly quickly.

With his sister finally getting used to at least seeing underwater, Spike turned his attention towards Cyclone, showing his new girlfriend some of the motions that came with using water-magic. Spike was surprised at how fast Cyclone was picking up the different motions, giving them leeway to mess around and tease one another.

Spike's teasing wasn't as sensual as Cyclone's, given his nervousness about their relationship. It was funny, Spike no longer had to worry about the limiters on his wrists, but now he had to worry about keeping Cyclone interested in him. 'Out with one problem, in with another.' Spike thought to himself as he got Cyclone to laugh at an admittedly corny joke.

However, Cyclone picked up on Spike's nervousness. She was able put most of her drake's worries to rest when she said it was okay for him to get adventurous. All she wanted from him was for Spike to just be himself over anything else. That was what she liked about Spike the most, him; smart, funny, loyal, and always thinking about others before himself. As long as he stayed true to himself, Cyclone would continue to love him.

Spike reeled back a bit in shock, surprised that Cyclone had said she loved him. "Cy, I… really? You love me?" They hadn't known each other that long, and had only just recently gotten together.

Cyclone blushed brightly, looking at a point between Spike's face and his shoulder. She couldn't believe she'd let that slip. "I… well, yes." She nodded her head and met his eyes. "I do. I think I've found the perfect drake." She wrapped her arms around Spike's neck, leaning forward to place a small kiss on his lips.

Spike leaned back in her arms, mirroring her blush, while his mind worked. "Well Cy, I…" His jaw kept moving for a moment, in spite of nothing coming out. 'She's so amazing and beautiful, but the last time I was so sure I was in love…' Spike inwardly grimaced, trying to keep the thought from reaching his face.

Apparently, he'd failed. Cyclone's smile was replaced by a worried frown, and she asked, "Spike, are you ok? I-If I'm going too fast-"

"No! No, it's not that, I promise. It's just that, Cyclone…" Spike took a deep breath. "You heard from Quill how I… felt about Rarity. I'm just scared of making that same mistake again, and I don't want to hurt you…" Spike's voice trailed off, sure that he'd screwed up now.

Surprisingly, Cyclone giggled. "Spike, if you're not ready to say it, don't. I don't want to push you if you're not ok with things." She trailed a claw down his chest slowly, adding, "Of course, I wouldn't mind if you got a little more… frisky." She winked at him, another blush shining on her scales.

Spike naturally blushed at this, but said that he'd try if that was what Cyclone wanted. The close contact between the two became a bit more affectionate than before as Spike tried to act like the drake he thought he should be. The two exchanged more kisses when they thought Frost and Quill weren't looking, enjoying the closeness.

Soon that day ended, with everyone taking turns catching fish. Spike caught the largest number, with Frost and Cyclone right behind him, and Quill dead last. However, the dragoness only took that as incentive to continue trying harder to learn how to swim. She was still having troubles, but was making some progress.

The next two days were mostly a repeat of the same, the only variation being who showed up. Blaze, escorted by Isis, as Wolf was busy training Veil, cheered on Quill's swimming and flying as they were starting to improve. She even was able to show Cyclone a few more things about her magic. Blaze challenged the dragoness to combine her water and fire magics, saying that she would get a special reward for completing the task.

Cyclone took on the challenge, starting herself off simply by gathering a small thread of water from the river and a heated ball of fire. Her first few attempts were a struggle, but she was making small progress in the form of a barely visible azure shard forming in the center of her white and blue flame. In spite of the difficulty, and the fear that her magic would get out of control, Cyclone continued to try until she could finally succeeded in mixing her two types of magic together.

"Come here Cyclone," Blaze said, gesturing for Cyclone to move a bit closer. She walked away from the waterside and over to Blaze where she took a seat next to the Clan-Mother. Cyclone's head was promptly pulled down into Blaze's pillowy breasts, forcing Cyclone to softly sigh. She allowed herself to be enveloped in the natural warmth Blaze gave off. Cyclone could feel her aches simply melt away as Blazed hummed gently. "I'm proud of you, you know that? You are so talented Cyclone, and you continue to get stronger each day. That's why I gave you this challenge. Think of it as a right of passage."

Cyclone didn't question Blaze. She had too much faith in the mare to do so at this point. "Since you succeeded, I have a special gift for you." Blaze sparked her horn, conjuring up several solid gold rings. Each of them came fitted with adjustable leather straps and an empty slot where a fair-sized gem could be placed. Cyclone stared at them in wonder, quickly realizing that they were made for dragons. "Beautiful, aren't they? Fill the slots with your magic, and they are yours, dear."

"I'll do my best, Clan… mother."

Meanwhile, Veil had started opening up to everyone in High Moon aside from Spike, who, to her annoyance, she couldn't find a single moment to get to know. More annoying was the fact that she was beginning to feel more and more alone after every night she went to bed without Cyclone.

She missed sleeping with the dragoness, but it wasn't her say whether or not Cyclone could sleep in the same bed as Spike. Honestly, she was happy that Cyclone had someone that could make her dreams come true. And from what everyone kept telling her, Spike was a good guy, just not the same way she was raised to think guys were supposed to be. Some things just stuck with her from her childhood in a den full of diamond dogs.

Males were suppose to be decisive, strong, and reliable. For as long as Veil had been in High Moon, all she had seen from Spike was him getting beaten and battered around by Wolf, or him just following others. So far as she was concerned, he was just reliable. Every dog could be trained, so could dragons, apparently. Though, she still had a hard time understanding how she felt about Spike. It was even more confusing with Cyclone only having good things to say about him. Admittedly, there wasn't a single thing Veil could see wrong with him. Which only added to her frustration and confusion. He didn't fit with what she thought males were supposed to be, and yet for some reason it didn't bother her as much as it should have, especially with Cyclone having picked him.

Quill was proud of her brother for finding someone to cherish, and promptly gave him a few tips on how to make things spicy between him and Cyclone. The drake, naturally, became flustered at the sound of his sister giving him tips to use on Cyclone, but like the teenage male he was, let Quill continued her advice. On the other side of that, Blaze did what she saw as her duty as Den Mother of the pack by giving Cyclone a few pointers of her own to use on the drake.

When the time came for Spike to learn how to think in the moment, Wolf began sparring with the drake. Wolf didn't spare him any punches, knocking Spike around the same way Wolf had with Quill.

After a few more days of training, Spike took Quill and the others to the secret someone that was supposedly able help Quill with her swimming.

"Alright, spill it Spike," Quill said as she followed her brother through Everfree along with Cyclone and Frost, wearing her swimming attire. "You've been keeping this under wraps for the last few days, who's this mystery teacher guy you keep taking about?"

"I'll give you a hint," Spike started with a smug smile on his face, having enjoyed messing with Quill these last few days with the secret. "He has fabulous moustache. And he-"

"Oh, him," Quill said with a sigh as her shoulders dropped from the memory of meeting Steven Magnet a few times with Twilight and the other Elements. His flamboyant personality was like a male version of Rarity. Except he was a serpent. "Makes sense though, what with him being an actual sea-serpent."

"And yet you don't sound too happy with the idea," Frost said as she could easily tell by Quill's emotions that she was less than thrilled to be taking lessons from the serpent. "By how well Spike can swim, I would think that you would be jumping at the idea."

Quill let out a small groan as she kept forgetting that Frost could almost read her mind since she tended to let her emotions control her actions. "It's not that I don't 'like' the idea, it's just that I'm not sure what to make of him. That's all."

"Yeah he's the… flamboyant type, and it gets weird sometimes," Spike said with a small laugh as he rubbed the back of his head, thinking of all the times he had been asked an odd question from the serpent. "But he's a really nice guy. So I'm sure he can help."

"Yeah, I hope so," Quill mumbled to herself as they approached the river that was home to the sea-serpent. As they got closer, Spike gestured for the females to stay behind while he went call Steven out from the water, whistling loudly in a high-pitched tone.

Quickly, the calm river began erupting as a long, purple body came crashing through the water, frightening Cyclone as a creature let out a massive roar when it breached the water's surface. However, that quickly ended when a yawn followed the roar as Steven began scratching his back with a sleepy look on his face. "Boy, that nap was just divine!" Steven said as he gave a small stretch before he looked to see who had called him from his nap. "Oh well isn't it Spike Dragule, what brings you here? Oh and you have friends!"

"Heh, hey Steven," Spike said with a quick smile as he waved over the females to introduce them. "I would like you to meet Frost," he paused to wave over to the scorpio who gave the serpent a curious wave, then over to his sister. "I'm sure you remember my twin sis, Quill Dragul. And lastly, my girlfriend, Cyclone."

"Oh my! Spike, you're finally over Rarity I see? And may I say that you picked a far better beauty," Steven praised, causing Cyclone to feel flustered as she brightly blushed, pulling at the hem of Spike's gray shirt she borrowed. "Aw, she's such a cutie too. So, what brings all of you out to my little river? Do you need to get to that old dusty castle?"

"No actually," Spike said as he shook his head at Steven, slightly blushing from the serpent's words. "My sister needs some swimming lessons, and since you helped me out, I was hoping that you could do the same for her?"

Steven raised an eyebrow at Spike before moving over towards Quill to look her in the eyes. Paying no mind to the dragoness flinching back, Steven, in spite of only having a small influence on the natural magic in the world, sensed the roaring inferno in Quill's purple eyes.

"Hm, yes, yes, a dragon of fire. I do see the problem. Ah, and she's a Queen Dragoness," Steven noted as he rubbed his golden-orange goatee before moving back into his river to look down at Spike. "My boy, you have quite the sister on your hands, but I think I can work with her."

"Great Steven, thank you so much. Quill is training for a flight competition that's happening in less than two weeks," Spike informed the serpent, figuring that he would be able to think of some swimming exercise that would boost Quill's training. "It would be a big help if she could swim using her wings and tail."

Steven looked over towards Quill, examining her physique for a bit as he thought. "Hm...yes she has such wonderful wings, and that tail looks like it could pierce through stone. However those head-spines of yours aren't very, oh how would you say, streamlined, I am afraid. But it could work, if she focused on her wings and tail."

"Alright, so how are we going to do that?" Quill asked as she stepped closer to Steven, wanting to get better at controlling her wings and tail underwater, so flying in the air would be a breeze. "I've been doing practically everything in calm water with them. So what else can we do?"

Steven laughed at the dragoness for a moment before moving his tail-fin out of the water and over to Quill, waving it a bit to get her attention. "Grab onto my tail, and don't let go no matter what, that's what," Steven said in a joking manner that got Spike laughing, since he was the only one that knew what was going to happen.

Looking over at her brother, Quill raised an eyebrow at him, wondering what was going to happen. However, with the clock ticking down to the competition, Quill didn't have much time to be stubborn. So with no other option left, Quill raised her hand to grab on to Steven's purple and orange tail-fin.

The moment she had a good hold, Steven pulled Quill up into the air before dunking her underneath the river water in a quick motion. Quill reemerged from the water a second after she was pulled underneath, glaring at her laughing brother.

"You knew that would happen, didn't you coal-head?!" Quill shouted at the laughing drake on the riverside, having serious thoughts about setting his tail on fire when she got out of the water. "This had better work Spike, or you can kiss your tail good-fucking-bye!"

"Oh take a chill-pill, Quill," Spike said as he waved a dismissive hand towards Quill, rolling his eyes at how childish she was acting. "It's going to work, just don't let go of Steven's tail and remember to take a breath of air when you're pulled out of the water."

"Fine! Let's do this then," Quill said, making sure she had a solid grip on Steven's tail, and taking in a deep breath of air before nodding her head to the serpent.

Steven, still laughing at the twins' short banter, nodded his head back at Quill before he began moving his lower body up and down to cause a ripple that reached all the way to the tip of his tail, forcing Quill to be again dunked underwater as she held on for dear life.

She quickly remembered what Frost had told her about keeping her wings fully outward to cut through the water while her legs and tail kept her straight, flapping it in time with the motions of Steven's tail. It was hard, but she had to do it if she was going to have any hope of outdoing the competition in Stormfront.

While Quill underwent water training, Frost thought she could do both Cyclone and Spike some good by teaching them a few things she knew. Which began with getting Cyclone used to walking on top of the water. The day continued on with Spike and Frost showing Cyclone the gentle steps to walk on water, while Quill continued to push her wings to their limits.

Taking some of his sister's advice, Spike kept his hands around Cyclone's waist to show his interest, and his self-control by not going any lower until she gave a hint that she wanted him to. Cyclone rewarded Spike by returning the interest as she would periodically, and 'accidentally,' rub her rear-end or breasts into Spike.

This display of affection didn't go unnoticed by Frost, and she decided to give the new couple a few tips of her own that she had learned over the past week with Quill. This got the new couple to blush when the scorpio didn't realize that there were certain things that shouldn't be said out in the open. However, they thanked her anyways and continued through their day.

After a few hours, Quill was getting another wing-massage from Frost on top of a low hanging cloud, while Spike and Cyclone sat on the ground close to one another, eating a quick lunch of apples and a few freshly prepared fish.

After having a small conversation with Steven, Spike and the others waved him goodbye since he said he had to return to his underwater grotto. Once the serpent was gone, Quill let out a long groan of pain as she slumped further into the cloud.

"Come now Quill, you did wonderful today," Frost said as she reached underneath Quill's wings, since that seemed to be the spot she liked to be rubbed the most. "And it is showing in your flying. You've gotten faster, been flying higher, and your endurance has nearly doubled in only a few days. In fact, why don't we test that endurance after we get back home?"

"Frost please…" Quill giggled as Frost bent down to place kisses on the back of her neck, feeling her mare's fangs brush it. A small blush formed on Quill's cheeks as she felt her mate drag her tongue along the back of her neck, still thinking that Frost was joking around. That thought did a complete one-eighty when she heard the lustful giggle that Frost had. "Uh, you were joking right...Frost?"

"So powerful, just a nibble, one nibble." Quill felt Frost drag her fangs along the side of her neck, remembering how they felt plunging into her-and more importantly, what the toxin could do to her.

"Shit."

Back on the ground, Spike continued to sit close to Cyclone, one arm around her waist as she rested her head on his chest. These last few days with her had been...a learning experience to say the least, but a very fun one. As the hours and days passed, Spike quickly learned that he didn't have to do anything special. There was no secret trick, no special way he had to act around Cyclone.

"Hey Spike," Cyclone started, breaking Spike out of his thoughts as he looked down into Cyclone's soft pink eyes. "All this work Quill is doing, is it really for the clan?" she asked after having heard Quill mumble something about getting answers a few times today, and many other times before that. "I know she has good intentions, and that the money would help the clan, but...it doesn't feel like she's doing it just for that reason."

Spike sighed as he knew it wouldn't be fair to lie to Cyclone, and there was no real reason to hide what the twins were after, anyways. "Yeah Cy, you're right," Spike said as he started to look at the ground, remembering what Quill's real goal was. "Cyclone, there's some stuff we've got to know about. Stuff only one mare can tell us. And the only way we're going to get close to her is if Quill wins."

Looking at the sadness in Spike's eyes, Cyclone quickly moved to get rid of it by saddling Spike's hips and placing her hands on his bare chest. "Spike, is everything alright? You can tell me anything, okay? Please Spikey, I want to help, but I need to know if everything is alright."

"Cyclone," Spike said as he moved his hands to Cyclone's cheeks, pulling her closer for a soft kiss. He doubted he'd ever get tired of her sapphire-like taste. "Yeah, everything is fine. It's just that there's a lot riding on Quill, and she doesn't want to fail." He moved his hands down to her waist, squeezing gently.

Cyclone smiled and rested her head in the crook of Spike's neck. "Okay Spike, I just wanted to be sure, that's all," Cyclone said as she began rubbing one hand on his chest. She liked it there, wrapped in Spike's arms. "You're warm," she said, nuzzling into his neck more.

Spike smiled, his cheeks tinting red just slightly. "So're you," he replied, one hand trailing up and down her side.

Her smile turned impish, and she kissed the side of his neck before giving it a slow lick. "Mmm, you taste like gems. I want more," she purred, sitting up and meeting his eyes.

Spike swallowed, certain his face was on fire now. He tried to ignore it, smiling as he replied, "Y-yeah? Well, I'm not going anywhere." He moved one hand up to cup her cheek.

She trailed her hands up his chest, wrapping her arms around his neck as she leaned forward, pressing her sizable chest up against him. She got close to his ear-frill, giving it a lick before whispering, "Good, because I'm still hungry." She emphasized the last word with a slow grind of her hips against Spike's.

Spike's smile grew, and he leaned forward a little to give Cyclone a quick lick on her neck, causing the white dragoness to shudder and hum for a moment. "I live to serve, my lady," Spike managed to get out before Cyclone sealed her lips on his.

Everfree, Diamond Quarry; two days later

"Really? Is that what she said?" Wolf asked Spike as they were making their way to the diamond quarry again to try their luck finding a gem that Wolf believed would be worthy enough for Blaze and his cub. To add to this, they also had to find enough gems to pay for the entrance fee for the flight competition that Quill was entering for.

Wolf wasn't sure about the whole thing, so he just left that up to Spike to deal with since Quill was his sister. Right now, the two males of High Moon were following a tip that Frost had given them about fire rubies, saying that they were usually gathered in roughly the same area. So if you could find one, there were likely more around. The idea was for Spike to remember where he'd found his own fire ruby.

"That's what I'm saying, Wolf," Spike answered the dog as he hopped down the rocky cliff with Wolf before entering the quarry. "I kinda want to believe Frost too, she seems to know what she's talking about. I mean, could you imagine us stumbling onto a large stash of those things?"

Wolf chuckled at the drake's positive attitude, assuming that he was still happy to have the limiters off of his wrists, along with the joy he must be feeling with having Cyclone as his girlfriend. "Yeah, that would definitely be a lucky break," Wolf said as he and Spike ventured into the quarry, hopefully to where Spike remembered he got his ruby originally. "Ever since Blaze saw that necklace of yours, she has been going on and on about how it would be so helpful to have more around."

"Helpful like how?" Spike asked, looking over to his left to see the dog thinking about something presumably important. A moment of silence overcame the two as Spike continued to wait for Wolf to answer him, with the dog seemingly too preoccupied to notice. "Uh, Wolf?"

"Hm? Oh right, well, she likes to go on about how she could infuse the rubies with her magic, like with the firestones," Wolf said after moving out of his thoughts, still trying to understand it himself. "Something about fire rubies being more conductive of magic or whatever."

Spike raised an eyebrow at the dog, trying to understand it as well, but coming up with nothing. So all he knew was what Wolf was able to tell him, and what he already knew about magic in general. "Hm, well I think she's saying that she might be able to put full spells in them without the ruby breaking from the magic, I guess," Spike said, not so sure or knowledgeable in crystal magic. "Has she tried to put spells in the fire-stones before?"

"Yes, she has," Wolf said, laughing a bit at the memory of a much younger and more hyperactive mare that he still loved to this day. "About five years ago I think, she tried to use the fire-stones for different things other than door openers, but heh, that kind of blew up in her face," Wolf laughed at the memory, since Blaze hadn't gotten hurt from her explosive revelation. "Anyway, the stone just fell apart after she put too much magic into it. After that she tried more stones, which sort of worked, but cost way too much to be worth the effort."

"I had a feeling that might have been it," Spike said in thought, trying to think if there was something he could do to help out with the pack and Blaze's need to experiment with her magic and other materials. That's when he thought about how much the mare was enjoying the books about modern day unicorn magic. "What if I got Blaze a book about crystal magic? I'm sure it would have some stuff in it that would help her, and some crystals if I can manage it."

Wolf raised an eyebrow at Spike, surprised that Spike would even know where to get something like that, but he soon remembered about his and Quill's past lives. "Only if you think you can Spike, but it would be a great help and I'm sure Blaze would love it if you do," Wolf said with a nod towards the drake, feeling somewhat proud of Spike that he was willing to go out of his way for the pack, and more specifically Blaze.

"Sure, Wolf," Spike said, taking a mental note to ask a favor from Twilight the next chance he got. However, right now he had to focus on what was happening, and that meant gem hunting. "Let's go gem hunting shall we?"

Wolf chuckled again at the drake, waving his hand over the empty quarry ahead of them before saying, "Lead the way." Shortly after, the two began digging in the quarry, going over a few spots where Spike knew some gems might be at, and taking their time to search for any fire rubies. However, as the hours passed, their luck hadn't changed, especially when Spike admitted that he didn't really remember how or where he found his fire ruby in the first place.

All the drake could remember was finding it one day, and not much after that. Defeated, Wolf waved it off as Spike's mind having been clouded with some dragon-greed that made it hard for him to remember where it was. On the plus side of things, the two had been able to unearth a large haul, hopefully enough for the tournament fee.

Or at least, it would be, if Spike could stop eating them.

"Spike, quite eating the gems already," Wolf scolded the drake, snatching the sack that had the small hoard of medium-sized gems and diamonds in them, all of which were fairly common. "If you want a snack, you'll have to come out here tomorrow and try your luck. Because I'm going to see if I can find some more deer to store."

As they made their way into the temple, Spike thought about what Wolf had said, and soon his mouth began watering at the idea of being able to dig up gems to eat again. So what if he had to put in all the work, he had already done that with Rarity, but now he would be doing it on his own terms.

"Alright, if you say so Wolf," Spike began as they walked through the final door to Blaze's work area, only to find that everyone aside from Lily - who had yet to return - was lounging inside as the day came to an end. "Maybe I could score some for Cy and the others."

"Score what, Spikey?" Cyclone asked, walking away from Blaze's work table to greet her drakefriend with a tight hug and a slow kiss, and catching a whiff of Spike's scent from working out in the diamond quarry with Wolf all day. "Heh, you smell like gems again."

"H-heh, hey Cy," Spike stumbled, returning his dragoness' embrace while Wolf walked over to Blaze and Isis. "I was just asking Wolf if I could go get some gems to snack on tomorrow, that's all," he answered Cyclone's question as she nuzzled into his chest a bit.

Blaze happily watched Cyclone display her affection for Spike in front of them, having a feeling that it was a dragoness' way of showing the rest of the clan, or pack in their case, who her chosen mate was.

Wolf on the other hand, paid little mind to it, though he was still glad that Spike would learn what it meant to take care of another. "Hey Quill," he rumbled, looking over towards the dinner table where Quill sat in Frost's lap while the mare gave her a back rub, Veil sitting across from them. "Catch."

Quill snapped her attention to Wolf when she saw him tossing something at her, catching it before it could hit her face. She quickly recognized the object as a sack filled with something that felt like rocks. "Okay...what is it?" Quill asked, knowing Wolf wouldn't hand her something if it didn't hold some worth.

"It's the entrance fee for the competition," Spike said as he and Cyclone made their way over to the other younger members of High Moon, pulling out a chair for Cyclone to sit down next to Veil before he grabbed a chair to sit next to Cyclone. "It should be enough. Those are some pretty common gems though, so there's no telling what they're really worth."

"Eh, it should be enough," Quill said, not really worried about how much the gems were worth, since there was a large amount of them. "So what, you're just gonna be getting gems to eat tomorrow? Don't you think you could be doing something better with your time? Something important," Quill said, hinting towards Cyclone with her head.

Spike rolled his eyes at his sister's failed attempt at subtlety, shaking his head a little at her. "Don't worry sis, I got this," Spike said as he patted his own chest with a sly smile, wrapping his tail around Cyclone's next to him. "I already know where to look, and I'm not gonna spend the whole day out there. I know what I'm doing."

"Sure you do," Quill said in an exaggerated tone of voice as she tossed the sack of gems up and down in boredom. "Well if you really know what you're doing, we'll be at the falls tomorrow."

"Huh, why the falls?" Spike asked, knowing that Quill had already gotten used to swimming in calm water, especially since she had been practicing for the last five days. So it was hard for him to see why Quill, and he was assuming Frost and Cyclone would be at the falls tomorrow. Unless… "I'm guessing it's more for Cyclone than you, right?"

Cyclone began blushing a little when Spike was able to guess that it was her idea. "Yeah, I actually liked walking on water, so I wanted to practice on it some more. Frost thought that the falls would be the best place to do it, since the water is generally calm and the pools are fairly large."

"That's great Cyclone," Spike said with a happy smile, glad to hear that Cyclone was enjoying her training rather than looking at it as something that was a chore for her to do. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and went on, "You were really great at it the other day, so I'm sure you've already got it down pat."

The blush on Cyclone's face got brighter from her drake's praising words, causing her to sheepishly smile at him and lean against his shoulder. "Aw thank you Spike, but I would never have gotten it if it wasn't for you and Frost."

"It wasn't any trouble Cyclone," Frost said, laughing a bit at how much love the two were giving off. It would have been hard for her to keep control of herself if it hadn't been for Quill. "It's like I said when I first started helping you, you're a natural Cyclone."

"See Cy, I-"

"Okay, I just hate to break this love-fest up," Quill started with an eye roll at her brother for being in what she called the 'Cupcake phase' of a relationship. "But there is a bit of news I wanted to tell you, Spike."

Spike raised an eyebrow at Quill as she leaned back into Frost's arms with a small sigh. "Well what is it? It wouldn't have anything to do with the Elements, would it Quill?" Spike asked, knowing that everything might still be on shaky grounds. "You didn't run into Rarity, did you?"

"Would you calm down? I said it was some news, not the end of the world," Quill joked to get Spike to stop his worrying. She still wasn't sure about telling Spike what she'd heard from Dusk, but Spike deserved to be kept in-the-know. "Anyway, remember when me and Frost paid a visit to Dusk yesterday?"

"Yeah, and how did that date of his turn out? He seemed a bit worried about it," Spike said, remembering back to the day he came to see the half-breed, only to have to rush through it.

"From what I could tell great, but Spike," Quill continued with another sigh, not in sadness, but in discontent of how things had turned out. "Dude, Rainbow joined the Solar Guard, and from what Dusk told me, she going all the way into it," Quill said, still trying to figure out which emotion would be proper to describe how she felt about the whole thing.

Honestly, Quill had hoped that Rainbow would've gone back to Ponyville for a little while longer before making a move like this. It was the mare's life to live, though, and Quill was going to leave it as such. "I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about it, but I thought you should at least know," Quill said as she turned her head towards Spike, who had a thoughtful on his face. "Other than that, Dusk said everything was generally fine with the Elements. Even Rarity."

"Huh, I see," Spike said as he continued to think about what Quill told him, and just how he felt about it. Really, it wasn't their problem any more, but there was a sense of...wanting an end, for a lack of better terms, of the whole thing. "Well that was kinda unexpected of her. I wouldn't think Rainbow would've join the Guard after everything that's happened. At least, not so suddenly."

"To be honest," Quill started as she rubbed the top of her head while Frost kept her hands busy by rubbing them on Quill's lower back. "I saw it coming, but not so suddenly. Something must have pushed her to do it. My question is what."

Spike sat in silence as he and Quill thought. Spike thought of Rainbow as an impulsive mare, always acting on the first thought that ran through her head. Quill, however, knew the mare always thought things out. Especially when it was a big decision like joining the Guard.

Money wasn't the issue, that much Quill knew. No, Rainbow had to have had a bigger reason to join the Guard. Something that she could only get from the Guard. Something that she'd do to achieve her dreams.

"Just figured it out," Quill said with a snap of her fingers after making the connection, breaking Spike out of his thoughts.

"Well, come on, don't leave me in the dark sis," Spike said as he couldn't think of a reason for Rainbow to have suddenly joined the Guard. He still felt a little bad that he had never actually spent any real time with Rainbow like Quill had, but there was no way of changing that.

Quill shook her head as if she still didn't like the answer that she'd just came up with, making Spike think there was more to it than he originally thought. "She joined the Guard to become a part of the Wonderbolts' Aerial Force. I guess that could work, but it wouldn't be the same for her though."

"How's that, Quill? Rainbow is still joining the Wonderbolts, so she would still be living her dream, right?" Spike was now even more puzzled about the situation. For as long as he had known Rainbow, she had done everything in her power to become a Wonderbolt. Even though she had turned them down after that Lighting Dust incident. "Wouldn't it be better for her to join the Aerial Force anyway?"

"Yes and no," Quill sighed as she moved out of her lover's arms to grab her sketchbook that sat at their feet. After she placed it on the table, Quill opened the book up to an empty page, gesturing for Spike to come around to her side of the table.

By the time Spike had walked over towards the other side of the table, Quill had already sketched out the symbol of the Wonderbolts, consisting of a bolt of lighting with a pair of wings outstretched on either side. This was the more well-known logo for the team of daredevil flyers, something both twins had seen before. However it was what Quill was drawing on the other side of the lighting bolt that had Spike wondering.

Just like the other logo, this one was a lighting bolt with a pair of wings, stretched out exactly the same. What set this one apart was the crosshairs Quill drew around it, along with a whirlwind going around the lighting bolt.

Spike took another moment to look at the drawings before shaking his head, asking, "Okay...yes and no as in?"

"Yes, as in Rainbow will be getting the chance to live out her dreams. No, as in it isn't exactly the way she wanted it to be," Quill explained further as she had drew a line down between the the two logos. "The Aerial Force is the military side of the Wonderbolts, which means higher pay for higher risk jobs."

"So, that's a bad thing how?" Veil asked, having trouble keeping up with the conversation since she knew next to nothing about the twins' old lives before High Moon. "I know it's none of my business, but if I was this Rainbow chick, I would have been trying to get in the Aerial Force from the start."

"And that's what separates Rainbow from most," Quill shook her head with a small, almost sad laugh following after. "She doesn't really care about money at all." Quill began tapping the top of the Aerial Force's logo with her pencil, a habit she had when thinking, and her sketchbook was at hand. "All Rainbow cares about is being there for everyone. And flying, of course, but that's just in her blood."

"So, is it a bad thing that your friend joined the Guard to be in the Aerial Force?" Cyclone asked, having just as much trouble as Veil with keeping up with the conversation, but still feeling a need to help in any way she could.

Again, Quill shook her head with a sigh as she kept tapping on the military logo. "It's not a bad thing that she did, especially since it's her life to live. It's just that I didn't see it coming this soon is all." Quill moved the eraser part of her pencil to scratch the top of her forehead, still searching her mind to find an answer to Rainbow's sudden decision. "Something had to happen for her to do this. Just what though?"

While Quill continued to think about Rainbow's choice, Spike's mind wandered back to what he had thought was going to happen when he, Quill, and Frost had delivered the note that Rainbow had left for the Elements. "Well, this sucks," he suddenly spoke, breaking Quill out of her thoughts. "I would have at least figured that Rainbow would've gone back to Ponyville for a while before anything else happened."

"Yeah, I thought the same thing, but I'm kinda happy this is happening," Quill said, going back to drawing on the page since there wasn't a reason to let it go to waste. "It's a sign that they're moving on, Spike. The Elements are finally getting on with their lives, and we shouldn't intervene in any way. Got it?"

"Yeah, loud and clear Quill," Spike said, knowing there was a second meaning behind Quill's words, as he too been waiting for the Elements to start moving on. "Guess we should start on dinner, right Frost?"

"Alright Spike, only if you're up to it, though. This whole thing sounds very important to you two," Frost said as she got up from her seat, still trying to sort through the wide variety of emotions that had come from the twins during their conversation about Rainbow Dash.

"Heh, nah I can handle it. Been through worse before, ya know?" Spike laughed as he began to walk over towards the corner of the room where all the cooking supplies were being stored, Frost following close after.

"Oh, I wanna help too," Cyclone said as she got up from her chair to help Spike and Frost cook dinner for the pack, leaving Quill and Veil at the dinner table.

So with nothing else to do, Quill continued to draw on the page with the two logos on them. Veil was left with nothing to do until Quill, for no apparent reason, pulled out a gaming device she had in her back pocket and slid it over to the hound.

Veil raised an eyebrow at Quill for her sudden move, but took the device anyway. "Uh, thanks Quill," she said, turning the device on to play a game or two, but wondering why Quill would hand it over in the first place.

"Eh," Quill shrugged her shoulders, honestly having almost forgotten about the device in her back pocket. "You sat through me and Spike talking about our old lives, and even tried to help out. Also, you looked pretty bored over there and I wasn't using so you can have it for awhile."

"Gee, thanks Quill, but uh," Veil looked over towards the three chefs as they all took turns making dinner for everyone in High Moon, seeing the smile on Cyclone's face as she stood close to Spike. "What about Cyclone and Frost? Aren't you gonna give them something too?"

Quill glanced over to where Veil was looking, seeing the smile that Spike was able to bring out on Cyclone's face. "I got Frost covered, don't you worry about that. As for Cyclone, though," Quill trailed, taking a seat across from Veil as she resumed her drawing. "She gets my brother."

"Yeah… I guess she does," Veil said, looking at the three preparing the pack's food. She saw the bright smile on Cyclone's face, and ran a claw over her necklace, a thoughtful look on her face. With a final glance at Spike, she turned her head away from the three to begin playing the game, making a decision of her own.

Later that night, after dinner was served and cleaned up, all of the residents of the valley left to their respective sleeping areas for the night to get an early start on another day of work and training.

Down in the mansion, both Veil and Cyclone got ready for bed in their room with the clothes that Quill and Spike were letting them use for night wear. "Oh this week has been amazing, Veil," Cyclone said, wearing one of Spike's larger white t-shirts and a pair of short purple shorts from Quill as she sat on her knees on the bed. "Everyone is helping with my magic so much, I haven't had any problems since we got here."

"Heh, yeah I guess this week has been great," Veil said, wearing her white tank-top with one of Quill's black shorts as she sat on the foot of the bed. "Alpha has been showing me a bunch of stuff, and Quill and Frost are pretty cool to hang out with."

"Mm, yeah they are pretty cool." Cyclone thought back to the last week of hanging out with the twins and Frost, learning from them, and growing closer to them as well. Not only that, but Wolf, Blaze, and Isis had all been very nice to both her and Veil since they got to High Moon. "Well anyway, goodnight Veil," Cyclone said as she got up from the bed and gave Veil a tight hug. She left to go into Spike's room to sleep with him again.

"Yeah, sleep easy Cy." Veil didn't bother to question where the dragoness was going. Right as Cyclone closed the door behind her, Veil fell back on the bed with a huff. Her best friend had been going out with the same drake for a full week now, and Veil still didn't know a single thing about him.

If everything went as planned tomorrow, though, then that might change. Hopefully.

As the sunlight of the morning shone through the small cracks in the wall, Spike let out a small groan when he felt a weight laying on top of him. Slowly opening his eyes, Spike's vision was filled with the peaceful look of Cyclone sleeping on his chest. A red hue began shining against the drake's cheeks, still not quite used to waking up to such a cute face.

Normally, Spike wouldn't waste time with laying in bed, but with Cyclone still sleeping on top of him, he figured he could make an exception to the rule. For her. As Cyclone continued to peacefully sleep on top of him, Spike noticed something soft and round in his hands, causing him to squeeze out of curiosity.

"Oh Spikey~ Wait a little longer," Cyclone suddenly moaned after Spike had squeezed the flesh of her ass cheeks. The blush on Spike's face grew brighter when he realized what he was holding onto, forcing himself to keep calm as he moved his hands up to Cyclone's lower back.

Still, the movement finally got Cyclone to wake up as she nuzzled into Spike's chest before she sat up in his lap, their blankets pooling behind her. She rubbed her eyes to get the sleep out of them. As she rested in his lap, Cyclone felt something rather hard, and large, prodding at her.

"Good morning, big guy," Cyclone giggled, moving her hands down Spike's chest as she began moving her hips into Spike's to tease his morning girth. When Spike's cheeks got even redder, Cyclone again giggled as she moved down to his face. She began planting soft kisses around his neck. "I hope you slept well Spike," Cyclone breathed before she placed another kiss underneath Spike's jaw.

"G-good morning to you too Cy," Spike stammered as he rubbed his hands over the base of Cyclone's tail, as per a tip from his sister. The move worked just like Quill said it would, as Cyclone shivered and moaned softly against his neck. "I slept fine, you?"

Cyclone kissed her way up Spike's jaw line before eventually placing a kiss on his lips. For a moment, the two remained lip locked, Cyclone slipping her tongue into Spike's mouth while the drake attempted to keep up with her. It was hard though, since his mind was trying to find some way to describe the feeling he had right now. Cyclone's soft and sweet lips had something that was powerful enough to spark a fire inside of Spike's heart. It was a wonderful feeling that didn't even end after they had finally parted.

"Waking up to this made it better," Cyclone sighed as she placed her head on Spike's shoulder, nuzzling into his neck and sighing in comfort. "Too bad we have to go do things though. I could stay like this all day."

Spike smiled at the thought of simply relaxing with his mate, but she did make a good point about them having things to do today. "Y-yeah me too Cy, but if we're lucky I could meet up with you and the other at the falls early. That'd be great, right?"

"It'd be awesome, Spike. Come on big boy," Cyclone teased as she moved her hips against Spike's again while her hands trailed down his body. "Best not keep everyone waiting." Cyclone finished with a kiss on Spike's lips before she got off the bed with him following after, both leaving the room to go wake Veil up.

After getting the hound, the three of them began making their way towards the temple with Spike and Cyclone walking close together as Veil slugged behind them, still sleepy. As they made their way into the temple, they were greeted by the sight of Blaze brewing some sort of potion, with Wolf and Isis acting as her assistants for the day.

A quick breakfast of fruits and vegetables was served, before the younger members gave Wolf and his two lovers some space for the day, all telling them where they'd be.

It was to Spike's surprise that Veil wanted to tag along with him to the diamond quarry for a quick gem hunt, but he didn't question it since the more help he had meant a larger number of gems he could haul back.

As they made their way towards the quarry, for some reason that neither could understand, they were quiet. Not because they had a lot on their minds, but because of the awkwardness between them.

Spike was going out with Veil's childhood friend, even after he had failed to save their home in White Tail. It wasn't fully his fault though, at the rate the fire had been eating through the house, and how large it was, there was no saving it. But that wasn't what made this walk awkward, regardless of the leftover guilt Spike still felt.

What made this walk awkward was the fact that neither one knew each other very well, yet they'd had plenty of time to do so, but hadn't made any use of the time.

'Guess now's as good a time as any.'

"So…" Both Spike and Veil started at the same time, Spike's hand on the back of his head and Veil's hand her around her arm. When they realized that they had spoken at the same time, the two began to nervously laugh, which seemed to serve to break the ice.

"You go first Veil," Spike said with another chuckle, continuing to lead Veil to the diamond quarry, and calming down just a bit.

"Heh, thanks. So, anyway, how are things going with Cyclone's training? She's been talking all about how everyone has been showing her all kinds of things. You, especially," Veil said as she raked her hand through her messy black and white hair, mumbling about needing to do something with it. "I haven't seen her this happy in a long time. So I'm guessing that she's doing great?"

"Yeah, Cyclone's doing a lot better than any of us were expecting her to." It still surprised Spike how fast and well Cyclone was able to get through things with her water-magic. The same could be spoken about her fire-magic, from what he'd seen from Blaze teaching her. "You should see her sometime Veil, Cyclone is a natural. All she needed was someone showing her the ropes. I think Frost was saying something about teaching Cyclone more advanced healing spells soon."

"Oh really? That sounds great," Veil said as they continued down the dirt path, silently marvelling at her friend. She never would've thought that Cyclone would be a natural like Spike was saying she is, but Veil was happy to hear that anyway. "I'm glad to hear that, Spike. So what did you want to say?"

"Oh right, I was just gonna ask you if you knew any gems that Cyclone liked to eat?" Spike asked with a sheepish grin on his face, rubbing the side of his neck. "I wanted to see if I could get her something that she'd like, and since you two have been friends for years now, I figured that you would know."

Veil thought about it for a moment. She may hate digging, but there were still times where she and Cyclone had came across a gem or two. And one memory stuck out to her more than the others. "Uh, yeah, I think she said she likes blue sapphires, for some reason. Something about them being sweet."

"Blue sapphires, huh?" 'Maybe that's why she always tastes so good…' Spike began rubbing his chin in thought, trying to remember if he and Quill had stashed any gems from Rarity while out gem hunting with the mare. He wasn't sure about Quill, but he remembered his spot wasn't too far from where he and Veil would be going. "Mm, sounds like me and Cy have that in common, I guess. I love me some blue sapphires."

Veil looked over to her right to see the drake licking his lips with his serpent tongue, drooling as he thought about the gem's taste. "Man, you dragons and eating gems," Veil said, shaking her head as she never got why dragons would eat gems when they could be forged into something more useful than a treat. "Don't you think we could use those gems for something more useful?"

"Whaddya mean, Veil?" Spike asked, not knowing what diamond dogs typically used gems for, since Wolf had Blaze just repurposed them into tools and other items that they could use around the temple and city ruins. "Dragons need to eat gems, keeps our scales healthy and our internal flames at controllable levels. And they're really good too."

"They…they do?" Spike nodded his head towards Veil to answer her question, not too surprised she didn't know about that, since he hadn't known either until he and Quill arrived at High Moon. And to think, all this time she thought it was just some sugary treat for dragons, when really it was more like a vitamin pill.

"Huh, guess you learn something new everyday," Veil said as she crossed her arms over her chest in thought. "Us diamond dogs usually take them and reshape them into tools, weapons, armor, and stuff."

Now it was Spike's turned to be confused, always having been curious about diamond dog culture. "I get the tools thing, but armor and weapons? Why would a den of diamond dogs need that when their claws can cut through stone?"

"Because to use our claws, we have to be up close and personal. Sometimes it's not a smart idea to be that close," Veil said, having some small experience working as a guard hound for her den, but little experience in actual fighting. "It's the bigger beta dogs that wear the heavy armor while the smaller ones like me," she paused, gesturing over her toned physique with her hand, "Get the light armor metal with a weapon."

Spike took a moment to think about the time he, Quill, and the Elements had their first encounter with diamond dogs. From what he could remember, that pack had been all males, with not a single female throughout the entire den.

"Hey uh, Veil? What's it mean when a den only has guys in it?" Veil slowly started turning her head towards Spike with a blank, and very unreadable, expression on her face. "Cause me, Quill, and some friends of ours came across a den, and from what I remember it was mostly, if not entirely, males."

For a moment, Veil just stared into Spike's green eyes with a look of disbelief on her face. Spike started to worry that he said something he shouldn't have, but ceased worrying when Veil started laughing, even though it sounded bitter.

"Wait lemme guess, this 'den', how many alphas did it have?" she asked with a fake-looking smile on her face, telling Spike there was something he wasn't getting.

However, to see where this was going, Spike thought back to that day before answering. "Uh, three I think. A tall one, a medium one, and a really short one. If I remember right." Veil's laughter only got louder and more sarcastic for her part. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Is it a bad thing, he asks," Veil mumbled to herself as she dropped her head so that her eyes were covered by her hair, still hollowly laughing before suddenly locking her eyes onto Spike's. "It's a really bad thing. That den was dying Spike, and those alphas were probably to blame. Bet they were failures, weren't they, Spike? Tripping up on their own two feet."

"Well…" Spike again thought back to the moment he and the others had made their way through the den and to where the alphas were holding Rarity 'hostage,' and how tight of a leash Rarity had them on. "Yeah, those guys were basically idiots. I mean...we beat them without having to do a single thing. And I was all ready to fight."

"Well you would've been wasting your time with that Spike," Veil spat with a slight eye roll, not surprised at all that that was the case. Regardless of what had happened. "They may look tough, but alphas like that are nothing but weak half-lives. Wolf is the best example what an alpha is supposed to be."

As Veil crossed her arms over her chest again, Spike thought about what she said and the memories he had about it. There was no doubt that those alphas were weak mentally, but physically they looked pretty tough. However, Veil thought otherwise, and it was starting to make Spike think otherwise as well.

"Okay but what about the betas? You know, the guys doing all of the grunt work?" From the way Veil made it sound, Spike had a feeling that those alphas wouldn't last very long without a den to back them up. So his concern turned towards the betas that were forced to work underneath those idiotic three.

Veil looked over at him with a questioning look, as she wouldn't think Spike would care about those he hadn't even met before. But she thought about his question for a moment to give him an answer. "I dunno, anything could've happened to them by now. They could've left that den in search of a new one, or even overthrown those alphas. Once an alpha has shown that they are unable to take care of the den with their own power, the den starts to turn on them."

"Ah, I hope they found a new home then, if that's the case," Spike said, now feeling bad for those betas that had most likely been tricked into working with those three alphas. "Is that what happened with you Veil? Did you leave your den too?"

Veil started to nod her head slowly as they finally reached the diamond quarry and the edge of the forest. "Yeah, I knew that my den was going downhill. Fast. So I left them behind, and so far, I haven't looked back with regret yet."

Spike looked over towards the hound as she continued to stare blankly out at the quarry with a slightly bothered look on her face. He began to say something when Veil cut him off with, "Hey Spike," as she turned her head to look towards him, flashing an honest smile. "Do me a big favor, keep taking care of Cyclone for me, will ya? She never smiled this much when it was just her and me, so keep doing whatever you're doing. Alright, Drake?"

"Uh, sure Veil, I hadn't thought of changing much anyway," Spike answered back, not sure where the hound's sudden change in attitude came from.

"Good, now let's get Cyclone those blue sapphires." Without letting the drake say anything, Veil hopped down the rocky face of the cliff, with Spike following shortly after he gave up with trying to figure the hound out.

Veil's decision to essentially give up Cyclone had been a hard one, but one that it seemed she wouldn't have to regret. Spike seemed to be one of the good drakes, and she planned on using this trip to get to know him more. At least after this, she wouldn't feel as guilty about giving Cyclone up to someone she didn't know.

Now she just needed a way to get rid of the empty feeling in her heart.

High Moon Temple, Two days before flight competition

Time flew by for the High Moon pack as the flight competition got closer. Quill, Frost, and somewhat surprisingly Isis, all got ready to leave to get Quill registered for the competition. The reason Isis gave for wanting to go with Quill and Frost was so she could see how much the outside world had grown while she was in self-isolation. Another reason was that she could use a teleportation spell of hers so she would be able to bring the group back home quickly.

When Wolf questioned the sphinx as to why she couldn't use the spell now, and Isis explained that she had to actually have seen the place she was teleporting to with her eyes. A third reason was she was far too curious of Quill's skills to allow the opportunity of seeing her give it her all go to waste. And lastly that she would be able to allow the entire pack to see the competition through her eyes, but she would have to be in attendance.

Wolf waved the sphinx off after she listed everything he needed to know for everything to be set up, saying that they would get everything ready for her. Spike quickly volunteered to do whatever he could along with Cyclone and the others. It seemed that everyone had high hopes for Quill's performance after seeing the dragoness push herself for the last week and a half.

Once she had her master's permission, and all the necessary provisions, Isis turned to leave with Quill and Frost to this cloud city, something she hadn't stepped foot on since before the three pony tribes were united. However, the trip to the cloud city began on a shaky start when Quill admitted that she didn't know where Stormfront was at. Thankfully, Frost, having had scouts travel to several parts of Equestria during her time as a changeling princess, knew of the small city's location, and took the lead to fly there.

As Isis followed the scorpio mare, she gazed at the open world outside of the valley. So much of it had changed, so much of it was different, and so much land had been transformed for the living. Isis still could remember the battles that were part of the equine's past, along with the rulers that were ready to throw their tribes aside to the cold just for their insignificant pride.

However, such a rule no longer existed. Mostly, that is.

"Okay you two, we should be approaching the city soon," Frost said as she sparked her horn, creating a bright blue flame that rippled down her body, revealing her dragoness disguise, which thankfully fit in Quill's gray t-shirt and black jeans. "Better safe than sorry though."

Quill quickly got up from the cloud floor to wrap her lover in her arms, placing a loving kiss on the back of Frost's neck. "Don't worry Frost, it won't be like this for much longer. I promise," she whispered into Frost's ear as Quill held her tight.

Isis took a moment to herself as she watched the two young lovers embrace, thinking about their goals for the future. "So that is what you wish to achieve," Isis said slowly as she got off the cloud herself, breaking the two lovers out of their own thoughts. "Equality for all species... Well if that's the case, then," Isis paused as she sparked her own magic, casting a veil of red light over her body that soon faded away.

Isis was slowly revealed to be a little shorter than she was before, along with her wings having crimson tips on the edges of the feathers and a single dash of red going down her black hair. Along with her reduction in height, the shirt she borrowed from Spike was now trailing down to mid thigh, and with the shorts she got from Quill fit better. Once the light fully faded, Isis opened up her now piercing red eyes to look towards the couple.

And she was a pegasus.

"You two have my full support," she said in a higher sounding voice, almost sounding like she was Quill's age. "No kingdom such as this will last much longer if it continues on the path it is on now. And I am more than sure that you two will see to that, so you have my support in any way I can assist you."

Both Frost and Quill were speechless at the sight of the newly transformed sphinx in front of them, questioning just how much she really knew in the realm of magic. However, Frost was able to break out of her daze before Quill. "Uh, thank you Isis. That means a lot to hear from someone such as yourself, but I do have one question."

Isis titled her head at Frost for a moment, trying to think about what question she could have for her. Then the obvious realization hit her. "Oh you mean this?" Isis inquired as she gestured to her new form, stretching her wings outward. When the two lovers wordlessly nodded their heads, Isis actually allowed an honest blush to come across her cheeks. "Yes, well, it is just a simple illusion spell. Just like you said Frost, better safe than sorry."

"Right then, shall we?" Frost asked, gesturing to the cloud city off in the distance. Both Isis and Quill nodded their heads before they took off toward Stormfront to get everything ready for Quill to compete in the flight competition.

As they got closer, excitement and anticipation began to rise inside of Quill, causing her to fly slightly ahead of the group, swooping over the city as she headed straight for the stadium off to the eastern side of it.

Trailing behind the two, Isis took in the sights for two important reasons. One, to make sure she had enough information to properly use her long-distance teleportation spell. And two, just to see how far Equestria really had come underneath Celestia's lone rule. From the looks of things, the style of architecture had definitely came a long way from the archaic times she once remembered, yet it still had the same subtle style from the past.

'Hm, interesting,' Isis thought to herself before she followed Frost down with Quill, landing right in front of the stadium's entrance. Quill didn't waste a single breath before she started to lead the other two inside the arena while Isis continued to marvel at the way the stadium almost looked like a colosseum.

Colosseums where sky-warriors had once came to showcase their skills for the generals of the pegasi. Where two flyers entered, only for one to leave in exile. Now it was being used for more recreational purposes, such as this flight competition.

"Very interesting indeed," Isis mused as she looked around the inside of the stadium, still following Quill to the commissioner's booth so she could be registered for the competition in two days.

"What's interesting, Isis?" Frost asked, looking back to the sphinx as she continued to look around the stadium interior with a curious look in her eyes. In fact, that wasn't the only thing that was curious. For once Frost was able to get a more clear and profound sense of Isis' emotions, something she wasn't able to do before her transformation. "Do you mean the stadium, or is it something from the past that you are remembering?"

For a moment, Isis didn't think about Frost's question as she continued to think about the past and the customs that seemed to have been passed down from it. It was only when her gaze moved over to Frost did she process her question.

"All of it, really," Isis started, waving her hand over the inside of the stadium as she and Frost walked over to Quill. "This all reminds me of when warriors would come to battle one another for glory and honor. It's...somewhat pleasing to see that some of that has not changed much."

"Hm, I su-"

"What do you mean you can't take them!?" Quill cut in, shouting at the attendee inside of the booth as she slammed her hand on the cloud booth. "They're gems! If anything, they're worth more than any gold bit you can find, so what's the deal?"

"Quill, what is the matter?" Frost asked as she placed a hand on Quill's shoulder to get her attention. "Is there something the matter with the payment fee?" All Quill did was point straight at the tan pegasus stallion behind the booth, who was trembling a little from the enraged dragoness shouting at him. "Excuse me, but is there a reason you can't take our payment fee?"

"W-well a-ah don't mean any harm, missy," the stallion said, straightening himself to speak with the more level-headed dragoness, rather the other purple one that seemed to be a ticking timebomb. "But the the fee specifically says twenty bits per entry, and well, ah don't know how much ya'll got right here. It could be more, could be less, and there ain't no way of telling unless ya take it to a bank."

"A bank? What in the threads is that?" Frost asked with a confused tone, not knowing what a bank was, or what the real trouble was with the payment that they've brought. "Please sir, don't you think that a few gems would be worth the same amount? If not more?"

"Th-that's the problem missy," the stallion said, becoming nervous with the group of dragons and the severe-looking pegasus standing before him. "Ah'm sure that ya'll have more than enough, but my mama taught me not to short change nopony, er dragon. Ah'm sorry."

Quill slammed her forehead against the wall of the booth while Frost and Isis tried to think of a way to resolve the matter. They could see the problem at hand, it was obvious that this stallion was taught far too well by his mother to just take money from them without knowing how much they were over the required amount, even though they could easily get more.

"Well this is quite the predicament," Isis mused as she looked into the stallion's eyes to only see the conviction he had regarding his teachings. "I suppose that we have no other options but to visit this 'bank'. Where might we find one of these, kind sir?"

"Uh, there's one on the other side of town, but they aren't-"

"Excuse me, I believe I'll be able to help with this," a feminine voice called out from behind the group, surprising both Isis and Frost as they hadn't heard, nor sensed someone coming towards them.

As they looked back, they saw that the voice belonged to a dark, midnight-blue canine with long snow-white hair that obviously had dragon blood in her, visible because of the dragon wings on her back. "I don't mean to pry into business that is not mine, but I do know a bit that could help you."

"Really? Thank you so much!" Quill said with a cheer now that she didn't have to worry about everything going to waste, thanks to this unknown half-breed luckily and randomly showing up. "You don't know how much this means to me," Quill said with a calmer voice as the half-breed walked up to the counter where Quill had sat the gems down and began shifting the gems around. "So, how much do we really have here?"

The half-breed was quiet for a moment as she continued to count the amount Quill had placed on the table in her head. "A lot," she giggled, "Like nearly nine times the payment fee." Quill's jaw nearly fell to the ground from what the half-breed said. If that was the case, they had to have been carrying what could be over one hundred-eighty bits.

Smiling, the hound began separating the gems to the required payment, and reached into her purple jeans to pull out twenty gold bits. "Here, this should cover for her," she said as she handed the bits to the stallion behind the booth.

"U-uh, thank you?"

Once the stallion took the bits from the hound, she scooped up the gems that were worth the same amount. "And this should cover me for lunch. That's fair, right?" she asked in a polite voice, looking over towards Quill, her left eye covered by her hair. "You still have over a hundred bits worth of gems on you. So don't spend it all in one place."

"Heh, yeah thanks," Quill said as she rubbed the back of her neck, already listing a few things in her head that she wanted to grab for High Moon.

The hound began walking off, saying, "Anytime, Ferox."

And she disappeared.

Quill quickly turned around when she heard the nickname that Dusk had given her, but by the time she did, the hound was gone without a single trace, leaving her confused as to who the half-breed was.

"Quill, is everything alright?" Frost asked, sensing the distress coming from her lover about the mysterious half-breed that came and left with the wind. "Do you know her or something? She did call you by the nickname that Dusk gave you."

"H-huh? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, she just threw me off a bit," Quill said before she turned back to the stallion behind the booth. "Well? That does cover everything right?" she asked, pushing the strange happening with the half-breed aside for later.

"Yup, sure does missy," the stallion said as he reached into a drawer to place the golden bits in and to get a registration sheet out for Quill. "And may Ah say, that was some mighty fine luck right there. Wonder where tha' hound ran off ta in such a hurry, though?" he mused as he slid the paper and pen over to Quill for her to fill out the form.

'Yeah me too,' Quill thought to herself as she began filling out the paperwork for the competition. It was odd that the hound, who Quill had never seen before, would know about a nickname that Dusk gave her over two weeks ago. However, she couldn't allow that to be her main focus as she had more important things on her mind.

"And….done," Quill said after she finish filling out the sheet, handing it back to the stallion. Years of working with Twilight had given her and Spike the ability to fill anything out at a mere glance, which finally seemed to be useful. "So, is that everything?"

"Sure is missy," the boothkeep said after examining the sheet of paper for a moment and before he placed it away. "See ya in two days at three forty-five, sharp. Competition starts on the dot. So for your sake, I wouldn't be late."

Quill nodded to the stallion, making sure to imprint that time in her head before she walked out of the stadium with Frost and Isis close behind. Since they were in a town, and they had gems that were worth over one hundred bits, Quill thought that they could spend them on stuff for High Moon, while she was burning with the drive to win the competition. /-/  
/ Ch. 51: No More Lies/-/

High Moon Ch. 51:  
No More Lies

"I believe…"

"What do you believe?!"

The day had finally came. It was time for Quill to take a chance at her and Spike's opportunity to finally get their answers from Celestia. If she could do this, then finally, that voice in the back of their heads that had been screaming, crying, and begging for answers ever since they reached their late teens would go away. They would finally be able to put it at ease and move on with their lives with a free conscience.

All Quill had to do was win.

And standing outside, both Spike and Quill were getting ready for the competition in a way that the rest of the pack had never seen before. Both twins had their hands on each other's shoulders as they jumped up and down simultaneously. "What do you believe Quill?!" Spike shouted at Quill in an attempt to get her pumped for the competition as they continued to jump rhythmically.

"I believe I will win!" Quill shouted back at Spike with the same amount of energy, locking her eyes dead on Spike's. Ever since yesterday, Quill had been filled with this energy about her, and that energy was shared with the rest of the pack. "I believe I will win, I believe I will win, I believe I will win!"

"What do you believe?!" This energy was especially shared with Spike as he had as much of a stake in this as Quill did. And just like any brother would, he was right by Quill's side to the very last moment, helping her any way he could.

"I believe we will win!" the twins continued chanting to themselves while the rest of the pack watched, filled with curiosity and hope for Quill's victory.

The previous night, Blaze took a moment alone with Quill to speak with her in private, gifting her with an arm bracelet that was decorated with some purple and black feathers from Cinder, and adorned Quill's firestone necklace with two bright blue sapphires before she placed a tender kiss on the top of Quill's forehead and embracing her with a motherly hold for most of that evening.

"I believe we will win!" Quill had honestly never felt so peaceful like this before. The whole thing let her know that it would be okay if she didn't win the competition, so as long as she had given it her all. And for some reason, that just made Quill want to win even more. "I believe we will win!" To let everyone know that the many hours that she'd put into her flight training hadn't been wasted, that Quill wouldn't let them down. "I believe we will win!" That she was going to give it her all, and come out on top as the victor.

"Woohoo, alright let's do this!" Quill shouted as she and Spike pushed away from each other. "I won't lose, I can't lose. Not after all of you guys helped me get so much done."

Chuckling, Wolf nodded over to Isis, who had chosen to attend in the younger pegasus form, giving her permission to take her leave to Stormfront with Frost. "And with that, I believe it is approaching the time that ticket-seller advised you to arrive at Stormfront," Isis said as she stepped towards the twins, Frost following behind.

Quill looked over towards the sphinx and Frost with a determined smile on her face, nodding her head as a sign of her being ready to go before she looked back over at Spike. "Dude, I'm gonna win this thing for us, and we'll get those answers. You ready?" Quill stuck out her hand towards Spike, committed to winning the competition.

Spike chuckled at Quill a bit before grabbing onto her wrist as she grabbed onto his. "You know I am sis, just go win this thing already," Spike said with the same smile towards Quill, as he was confident in her skills and drive to win.

"You know I will." Nodding to each other, the twins let their wrists go so Quill could leave with Isis and Frost. Turning towards the sphinx and half-breed mare, Quill cracked a smile with a nod to them. "I'm ready Isis. Let's head to Stormfront so we can win this thing."

"Speaking for the pack, I see," Isis mused as she closed her eyes, beginning to gather her magic to ready the teleportation. "Very well you two, get ready because I am going to be using the teleportation spell."

Both Frost and Quill stepped closer towards Isis, reaching out to each other's hands to intertwine their fingers. Just like everyone else in the pack, Frost had been a major help with her swimming and flying lessons over the last two weeks. And Quill loved her for every bit of help Frost had given her.

Suddenly Isis' wing snapped upwards before they flexed outwards, seeming to be exponentially larger than they normally were. From the sudden movement, some of Isis' loose black feathers surrounded Quill and Frost, floating freely in the air around them, but not seeming to fall to the ground. As the black fathers continued surrounding them a bright halo of crimson light formed above Frost and Quill's heads, that encircled them entirely from the shoulder-joints on Isis' wings.

As everyone admired the bright display of Isis' magic, a mirrored image of the cloud city began to coalesce inside the halo's circle. Before they had any time to marvel at the scope of how powerful Isis was, both Frost and Quill began lifting off the ground slowly, along with Isis, who began directing her hands up towards the center of the circle.

While everyone was still in shock and wonder at Isis' powers, Spike snapped himself out of it to run towards the edge of the halo's circle. "Hey Quill! Don't you dare think about losing you hear me? No one needs this more than you and I do, so win alright?"

Quill looked over towards Spike before she began confidently smiling and giving him a thumbs up right before Isis motioned her hands outwards, sending her and the two lovers into the image where they vanished. Moments after the three's departure, the halo of red light faded away.

Once the light was gone, Wolf began leading the pack back towards the viewing area that had been set up yesterday thanks to Spike and Isis. With the dragoness off to the competition, all any of them could do was hope for her victory and watch. 'You can do this Quill. Show them that we're stronger than they think we are.'

Stormfront, Sky Stadium

A short distance from Stormfront's stadium, a bright red halo began forming in the clear blue sky with a reflected image of the High Moon temple, before Quill, Frost, and Isis fell through onto a cloud above the cloud city.

As they landed on the cloud, Isis' wings returned to their normal size against her back, and she breathed out slowly. A quick scan of the area showed that they had landed in the exact area where she wanted them to be. She then turned her attention to the two lovers standing in front of her. "Are you two alright?"

"Yeah, come on it's starting," Quill said as she flew off of the cloud straight to the stadium, Frost and Isis following in their disguises. The moment Quill landed she was already being directed towards where the competitors were being held to wait while, Frost and Isis both bought tickets with the extra bits they were able to get off of the gems they had from what they used for the fee payment.

As Quill waited in the side entrance to the arena, she kept her mind on the task at hand while the rest of the competitors were starting to get nervous. Especially with a dragoness in the competition now. Yet Quill ignored the other competitors since she had winning on her mind, but she noticed that Rainbow was nowhere to be found. Not that it would change anything.

Outside in the stadium, the starting ceremonies were beginning to take place with Celestia welcoming everyone to Stormfront and wishing luck to all of the competitors. It was obvious she didn't know that Quill was in the competition. Continuing with the opening ceremonies, Celestia gifted the crowd with a pre-show performance by Dusk Flare and his younger sister, Wave Flare.

Quill, along with the other competitors, peeked out to watch the two half-breeds' performance. However, the moment the two performers came in sight, Quill, Frost, and Isis were surprised to recognize Wave as the same half-breed who helped Quill out the other day.

"Well now, that's Dusk's sister? Let's see what they can do," Quill mumbled to herself as she watched the two half-breeds make their entrances on top of the VIP spectator stands with the others. Quill didn't understand why Dusk had a hairband in his hair, but for some odd reason, it looked good on him. It at least kept his hair out of his eyes.

Quill was forced to stop paying attention to Dusk's new hairstyle when Wave raised her hand, holding three fingers up as she started to count down along with Dusk. "Three!" Wave shouted in her cheerful voice, moving her hand down to eye level as she held up two fingers.

"Two!" Dusk roared with a small flare of purple flames, snapping his wings outward in a mighty display of the power he held in the two large appendages. Soon an equally wide, and toothy, smile came onto the two siblings' faces as Wave brought her hand closer to her face, holding up only finger to her mouth.

"One."

Suddenly, a massive vortex of wind erupted around the two, a collective gasp escaping the crowd from the furiousity of it. Once the tempest had died down, the two siblings were nowhere to be found. That was until someone spotted them high above the stadium as they lazily floated on their backs.

As the two slowly floated down, Wave spun around so she was facing down towards Dusk while he flipped so he was pointed face first towards the stadium. Once again, a strong whirlwind of air surrounded the two, shooting them into two different directions.

Plummeting straight to the ground, Dusk gave the crowd a scare as he pulled up, breathing out a controlled torrent of blue and purple flames. To make the flames a bit more showy, Dusk shook his head left to right as he continued this stream all the way back to the VIP box before arching back up to the sky midway.

Before the flames could disperse, Wave tore right through them with a corkscrew spin before she too joined her brother into the sky as she continued to rotate. The two soon began whirling around each other as they ascended higher into the clear sky, both releasing a shockwave of wind-magic after reaching the apex of their ascent.

As the crowd cheered for more, Dusk switched elemental magic, sparking electricity around his body and superheating the air around him and Wave. Meanwhile, Wave began encasing her own body in a strong gale of wind. At the same time, both half-breeds closed their wings tight, entering into a dive towards the cloud-arena. Swirling together, Dusk's lighting-magic and Wave's wind-magic began mixing into each other, creating a windstorm of purple and black electricity that was given shape by Wave's wind.

Upon closer inspection, the shape that the wind and lighting was given looked to be that of an elder dragon soaring downwards. But this changed as the pair began to make another turn upward to change the meaning behind the stunt. Now it wasn't a dragon heading to its doom, instead it was a dragon soaring higher than it ever had before.

The pre-show ended with the two causing another massive shockwave of wind and electricity, flying off into the distance as the coward let out a loud cheer and roar for the awesome display of Dusk and Wave's dragon magic.

After seeing that first hand, Quill felt a fire growing inside of her as she was now more than ready for the competition. After the pre-show, the competition quickly got underway as the announcer called in the first of the competitors. Time seemed to carry on forever for Quill as the competition started off on a good note with a few of the best flyers that Stormfront had to offer. Somewhat surprisingly, it wasn't just pegasi that were in the competition. Griffons of different kinds and one very exceptional winged canine were also in the running for the win.

However, with each performance, the fire that had been burning in Quill's chest only got hotter and more intense. She was flying with her pack's wishes. She couldn't let them all down, not after they put in so much time to help her out. Thanks to the night she'd spent alone with Blaze, Quill knew that nothing would change if she did lose, but that didn't change what she had planned to do.

Quill had to admit though, all of the competitors were really good, and some were just doing it for the fun of things. Others though...to put it nicely, they didn't perform up to par. However, that didn't matter now as the last of the other competitors left out of the waiting room before it was Quill's turn to go out.

"Mares and gentlecolts," the announcer started, apparently the same stallion that had been working at the entry booth the other day. Since she was the last contestant of the show, Quill got ready as she got down onto all fours, wings flexed to send her propelling out. "Ah am happy to give ya'll another big surprise with our final contestant. From parts deep inside the Everfree Forest, Quill Ferox Dragul!"

'Show time.' Quill launched herself out of the side entrance, rocketing straight towards the crowd before kicking off of the cloud ground to send her skyrocketing upwards. Spreading her wings open, Quill began to climb higher into the air at an alarming rate. As she climbed into the air, Quill began envisioning the practice course back in the Everfree.

She waved in and out of the imaginary rings, adding spins as Quill reached the top of the climb. Shutting her wings tight, Quill flipped backwards to dive back down into the same set of imaginary rings, pulling out with a spin upwards. Quill rapidly approached the VIP seats, spotting Celestia observing her performance with a look Quill never seen on her face before. Quill banked down and left, leveling out mere inches above the cloud ground.

Imagining the hurdles were right in front of her, Quill started snaking in and out of the cloud, looking like a shark in water. Thinking how this impression could be made, Quill ducked down into the cloud floor, just so her sharp head-spines could be seen, giving off the impression of a shark.

This trick was harder than Quill had thought it was since she had to cut through the dense packing of the cloud floor, but thanks to all of the swimming and flying lessons, she did it with ease.

Bursting free from the cloud floor, Quill soared above the stadium's ground, causing a trail of clouds to move upward from her sheer speed. Kicking off the cloud floor for extra speed, Quill rocketed up towards the sky, shutting her wings to allow the extra momentum to lift her up higher before again flipping downwards with a fast and tight spin.

As her rotation continued to build up, the strain of holding her eyes open became difficult to do, but that's when Quill remembered a trick that Spike had told her about his meditation, hoping for the sake of getting their answers from Celestia that it would work.

Closing her eyes, Quill began the difficult task of calmly breathing as she dove towards the ground, but achieving it through the meditation. 'One...' Quill slowly counted in her head, tearing through a soft cloud as all outside sounds began to fade away. 'Two...' Though, unlike her brother and his girlfriend, she didn't have to imagine a peaceful reality. No, she had all she needed right here in this moment. Quill had everything she could need with the life she had right now. And soon, she would have all she could ever want. 'Three!'

Snapping her eyes wide open, Quill slammed her right hand into the cloud floor, kicking out her legs, wings, and tail to aid in stopping her rotation. Due to the sheer force of her landing, the cloud ground that served as the competitors floor blew downward out of the arena, leaving Quill flap her wings again to keep herself lifted up. Taking a deep breath, Quill slowly spun around to face the VIP seats, a proud smirk on her face.

The crowd suddenly went into an uproar at the dragoness' performance, all equally blown away that Quill was able to destroy the hard-packed cloud floor. Even some of the other competitors had to give Quill a standing ovation, unable to lie about her skills.

As the cheering continued, the announcer got on the AC to proclaim, "And with tha' blazing performance, Quill Ferox Dragul wins the Stormfront flight competition!"

Hearing the crowd's cheers, Quill used the strength in her wings to launch herself upward with a spin-flip, this time landing in front of the audience to give them a bow as they again went into an uproar.

She had done it. Quill had won the chance to get the answers she and Spike had been needing all their lives. Questions that only one mare had the answers to. "And to present the grand prize of one thousand five hundred golden bits and a golden ticket for three to Canterlot Castle, the proud ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia!"

Slowly walking down a flight of stairs, Celestia took in a slightly shaky breath after seeing just how much Quill had grown outside her watch. It was far more than she thought it would be, and she could only guess that the young dragoness had help achieving this. It made her curious how much her twin had grown as well.

Proudly walking towards Celestia, Quill still felt the same burning flame flowing all through her. She done much more than win the chance for answers. Right now, Quill could hold her head up high to Celestia, knowing that she had been able to learn so much without the help of the goddess, and it just stoked the flame that was burning inside her.

Petty it may be, but she felt it was highly deserved. Quill worked hard to get where she was right now. And she only had her family in High Moon to thank for it. "Well, never thought we'd meet again like this, Princess," Quill lied, playing at having no real reason for her being in the competition in the first place. "Honestly, I would never have thought you would attend this kind of event in this out-of-the-way city. Props I must give."

"Well, I honestly must say that I would never thought to see you here as well, Quill," Celestia giggled a bit before sparking her horn in a golden light, summoning a tan colored bag with the grand prize money inside and three golden tickets. "And I am honored to name you the winner of this competition for your extraordinary skills, Quill."

As Celestia floated the two objects over towards Quill, the dragoness glanced back towards where Isis and Frost were seated and smiled. "No," Quill laughed as she turned her head back around to Celestia, who had a puzzled look on her face. "I'm not the winner of this competition. My pack is."

Before Celestia could question what Quill meant by her words, both Isis and Frost flew from their seats, landing behind Quill. Frost quickly embraced her lover by wrapping her arms around Quill's neck, and placing a quick kiss on her cheek.  
While the two young lovers continued to display their affection, Isis, still concealed by a hooded cloak she borrowed from Blaze, reached a hand out towards the objects that were still in Celestia's grip. "I'll just take that from you now," she softly spoke as her hand began to be encased in a bright red light, quickly overpowering Celestia's magical grip.

Celestia's eyes widened in shock at what the hooded creature was able to do just now. No other normal creature in the world was supposed to be able to do what she, assuming it was a female by her voice, had done. There wasn't any form of magic that Celestia knew of that could possibly overpower her own, and the only creature that could dispel her magic like that without causing neither of them harm would be…

"No, impossible," Celestia breathed out, having an idea as to who the creature was, but not believing that a ghost could be standing right in front of her. "Um, excuse me, I know this may sound odd, but have we met before? I know I would remember a type of magic that could dispel mine if I'd seen it before."

Isis blankly stared at Celestia, debating with herself whether or not should she answer the mare's question or not. She should just to get it off her mind, which was the same reason the twins had for wanting Quill to win the competition. She failed to see why it would matter any longer.

Looking over towards Quill, Isis searched the dragoness' eyes to look for an answer since Isis couldn't find one herself. When Quill caught onto what Isis was looking for, she nodded her head in silence, knowing she could wait her turn later now that she won a full day with the sun mare.

Slowly turning her head back to Celestia, Isis looked into Celestia's violet colored eyes for another quiet moment before she reached for her hood. As she did so, she dispelled the illusion she had cast over herself. Once removed, Isis continued to blankly stare at the wide eyed princess, oddly not feeling any sense of anger, hatred, or any other emotions of instant gratification that she always thought she would feel.

'Perhaps I really have moved on from the past,' Isis thought to herself as a smile began to grow on her face. "Hello Tia," Isis laughed, still puzzled as to why she wasn't feeling any anger or betrayal in her heart. However, after all that she had done with her new family, she truthfully no longer cared. "It has been quite some time. A thousand years or so since we last saw each other face to face. How have you been? I see you're doing quite the job as ruler of this kingdom."

"Isis...Isis is that really you?" Celestia questioned, already knowing the answer, but trying to understand how the sphinx was still alive. The last time she had seen the sphinx was during the Nightmare Rebellion over a thousand years ago. It would be safe to say that they did not end on good terms.

"Indeed it is Celestia, I live and breath to this very day. Though, you seem almost shocked to see me," Isis tilted her head in some amusement she was now seeing the mare being forced to relive the events that led up to all of her past sins. "Humph, well no matter. That was far in the past, far too back for us to do anything about it now."

"Isis wait," Celestia pleaded, trying to stop the sphinx before she could leave. "I...I am sorry for what happened." Isis' smile slowly began to drop back into a blank stare from Celestia's futile pleading and feeble attempts to make amends. "Back then I truly thought you had perished, and-"

"Celestia, please spare your breath. It will not change a single thing that has happened, you should know this by now." The calmness in Isis' voice had it's intended effect of getting Celestia to calm herself a bit. Yet she still had a look of remorse on her face. "There's nothing we could do to change anything that happened. All we can do is look towards the future."

Closing her eyes, Celestia let out a small sigh that turned into a weak laugh, nodding her head as she was forced to agree with the sphinx. "Even after all this time, you still are much wiser than I, Isis. Very well, if that's how you truly feel," Celestia paused, only getting Isis to nod her head. "Then I would like to wish all of you the best of luck. Farewell for now."

As Celestia turned to leave, Quill honestly had to fight herself from asking, no, demanding the answers that Spike and herself had been denied all their lives. However, just like Isis, she couldn't just let the mare walk off without saying something. "Be seeing you tomorrow Celestia," Quill called out to the mare while her golden chariot landed on the ground a few feet in front of Celestia, being pulled by two white stallion guards. "I'm sure that Spike is going to love the time that we'll be spending together, you know, talking about our parents."

Before Celestia left in her golden chariot, Quill caught the look on the mare's face. It showed disbelief and maybe even a small amount of spite glistening in her eyes. Quill wanted to say that it had something to do with her confronting Isis for the first time in centuries, but there was a small part of her saying that it regarding what would be happening tomorrow.

Quill's thoughts were soon cut short by the sound of two pairs of wings beating against the air, causing her and the other two females to look up to see Dusk and his sister flying towards them. "Yo Quill," Dusk called out to Quill as he and Wave guided down to the cloud ground, landing smoothly in front of Quill while Wave landed behind Dusk on his right side. Dusk quickly gave Quill a high-five for the performance she had just pulled off, seeming to be completely impressed with her. "Quill, that was amazing! You've seriously gotten a lot better. Hey listen, if you want, I could show you a cool trick or two with your fire-magic-"

"Oh silly big brother," Wave giggled, hopping up on Dusk's back as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Can't you tell that this dragoness needs some time to rest? I mean after a show like that I would be tired. Isn't that right Ferox, or should I say Quill?"

"Quill's just fine," Quill smiled towards Wave since she played a small part in Quill being able to participate in the competition in the first place. "And I gotta say this, your guys' performance was incredible. I mean, that gale dragon you guys had...just amazing, you guys."

Both siblings smiled at the dragoness for her words, both of them equally happy with the way the stunt had turned out. Especially since they came up with it on the fly, but they sure weren't going to tell anyone that. "Heh, thanks Quill. But I got one thing to ask before we head off," Wave said as she let go of Dusk's neck, moving to stand in front of her elder brother. "You do know that there wasn't a rule against using magic, right? I'm sure you could've won with using only half of the tricks you did."

Quill smirked at Wave for a bit, opening her mouth to answer the half-breed when the words processed in her head. She couldn't lie by saying she hadn't thought of using magic, but then again, she couldn't lie by saying she didn't even know about the lack of a rule. "Well I...because you see...yeah, I didn't even know about that, to be honest," Quill said, scratching her cheek with a sheepish grin. "But even if I had known, my flying is way too good for me to add magic to it." The smile on Quill's face grew as she pointed her thumb towards her chest, giving off a vibe of pride and confidence. "I couldn't lose, not with my pack backing me up."

"Oh Quill, we're your family, of course we're going to help you," Frost said, tightening her grip around her lover's neck as she began nuzzling into Quill's cheek. "I'm sure everyone back home is really proud of you right now. You've done all of us proud today, Quill."

"Yes Quill, Frost is correct. Today has not only been a momentous day for you, but for all of us in High Moon," Isis smiled towards Quill, feeling her own sense of pride because of Quill, and knowing that the rest of the pack was likely feeling the same thing. "Come, let us return home so the others can see your achievements in person."

Quill nodded her head towards the sphinx, more than ready to get back to High Moon to give the good news to Spike in person. It wouldn't be much longer before they had the truth. "Yeah alright Isis," Quill laughed a bit, just thinking about the look on Spike's face when they got back. "See ya around Dusk, Wave. We gotta head back home."

"Go on then, and congratulations," Dusk said, waving the dragoness off with the other two females. However before they could leave, Dusk remembered something sort of important that he needed to ask from Quill. "Oh right, and tell Spike there's something I want to talk about whenever he has the time. It's kinda important, but he can stop by whenever. Just tell him to do it sometime soon."

Quill nodded her head at Dusk as Isis began performing the same teleportation spell, expanding her wings over the two lovers, and creating a halo of red light that began rippling on the inside with a image of High Moon. As she began lifting herself and the two lovers, Dusk and Wave's eyes widened at the awesome sight of the sphinx's magic. Right before they were pulled into the halo, Quill gave Dusk a hearty thumbs up to silently show how much joy she was feeling.

Once the three were gone, and the light had faded away, Wave began moving part of her hair over her purple eye to let Rogue ask a question she needed to. "Dusk, that blue dragoness," Rogue started in a cold and curious tone of voice as she turned her head back up to Dusk. "She's a changeling, isn't she?"

Dusk began chuckling a bit, not surprised that his sister was able to pick up on the changeling's natural scent. He knew that he needed to tell his sisters if Quill was going to use that extra third ticket on Frost like he thought she would. So now the trouble was, knowing his sisters, they would want the full story.

"Heh, yeah, it's a long story…"

Rogue turned around in a swift motion, walking in the direction towards Canterlot, getting ready to fly back there with Dusk. "Well I'm sure it's an interesting tale, one I'm positive Verdite and I will just love to hear."

"Of course you will." Sighing, Dusk turned around to follow his sister for their flight back to Canterlot, knowing that it was going to be a long one.

Everfree Forest, High Moon valley; Mansion ruins

The moment Quill, Frost, and Isis got back, Quill was showered with praise from the pack, all congratulating her in her victory today, with Blaze saying they'd have a feast to toast to it. Spike was able to make it a bigger party when Quill found out he had actual chips and drinks to go around the pack. Everyone had a good time as the party continued onwards into the night, telling jokes, and celebrating Quill's victory.

Quill's victory truly was shared throughout the pack, and it was shown in the merriment everyone expressed. After some time, the dragoness of the hour and her twin brother both took their leave to speak with each other in private, sneaking out a few cans of sodas and bags of chips with them.

As they made their way through the tunnel, both took turns sharing what they felt during the flight competition with each other. Spike finally got Quill to admit that she had been nervous about the whole thing, but that it was certainly understandable for her to feel that way. Honestly, Spike had been worried just as much as Quill was, especially after seeing that winged-canine rip apart a thunder cloud with his bare claws.

Everyone in the pack had been worried for Quill, not for whether she would win or not, but worried that if she didn't, she would blame herself for wasting everyone's time. Quill tried to wave it off, but she knew in the back of her head that Spike was right. She would have felt horrible for wasting everyone's time like that and not having something to show up for it.

But luckily, that hadn't happened, so they didn't have to worry about it. As they reached the mansion, Quill offered Spike a ride up to the roof like she had done before, but Spike waved her off, saying he could climb up on his own.

Shrugging her shoulders, Quill gently opened her wings to fly up one of the shorter the roofs before climbing all the way to the top one. Back on the ground, Spike ran into the mansion to climb the stairs to the top floor so he could climb out of the window and up to the top of the roof with Quill.

After climbing up to the roof, Spike spotted Quill sitting with the small book bag with their share of sodas and snacks in it. "Heads up." Quill tossed Spike one of the drinks as he made his way towards her, glancing at it to see that it was an orange soda. Spike chuckled a bit as he sat down next to Quill, popping the top of the can and taking a sip of it.

Quill did the same thing as Spike, letting out a small sigh afterwards, both looking straight at Princess Nightmare and Princess Luna's bright pale-blue moon. "So," Spike breathed out, leaning back against a balcony. "This is really happening. We're really gonna get all of the answers we've been begging for all our lives."

"Yup," Quill emotionlessly answered after taking another sip of her cherry soda, still staring at the moon as though she was looking for it to somehow answer their question. As impossible as that was.

Spike looked over to his left side, only seeing a look of deep thought on his sister's face. A look he only saw when Quill was thinking about something really important. "So why doesn't it feel like it Quill? To me, it feels like we're gonna get the same crap that we've always gotten." Spike scoffed, laughing as he turned his head up to the starry night sky, admiring the beauty of the night. "It feels like we're just gonna get a tour of the castle, and some cheap momento."

"No. We are gonna get more than that, Spike," Quill huffed, shaking her head at the moon, still trying to get it to respond to her. Or maybe she was trying to somehow reach the controllers of the moon, sighing in defeat afterwards. "We're the ones that have her backed into a corner. I mean, you heard the things Isis said that Celestia used to do, and you know she can prove it too. Celestia knows what we're coming for, I made sure she knew that much. I'm just trying to think of how we're gonna do it."

"Ah, yeah that is a tough question," Spike mused as he took another sip of his drink, tapping his claws on the roof in thought. Of course they wanted answers, but the question was how to get someone like Celestia to tell them the truth. In spite of how determined they were, the mare could easily tell them a lie without flinching, just as she had all their lives. "Well, what about that extra ticket? We could bring someone that could tell that Celestia would be lying."

"Yeah...but that doesn't leave us with a lot of choices," Quill sighed, already having a list of all the members of High Moon who fit the task. However, that only meant they could take Frost, Isis, and Lily. "Isis already sounds like she doesn't want anything to do with Celestia anymore, though."

"And Lily was talking about something big and important with Wolf during the party," Spike added, having already made the same list as Quill had, knowing who that left. "Quill, are you sure about this? Bringing Frost could be a problem. A big one. I mean, if Dusk was able to sniff her out, what's stopping that diamond dog sergeant from doing the same thing?"

Quill sighed as she knew Spike was right regardless of how she looked at it. They could take a chance and have Frost come with them, but they would be running the risk of her getting caught even if she was in her dragoness form. However, Frost had been able to be around Celestia without raising any suspicions before, and that's what they needed.

Still, though, there was Obsidian. Quill could still remember the dog and those Nightmare elite soldiers tearing through the courtyard of the castle and to the main ballroom, leaving a bloody trail of destruction in their wake when Chrysalis had invaded. Quill knew it was a stretch, but Obsidian was different from the other guards. He didn't act like a mindless drone, like most of the other guards did.

Obsidian listened to reason, and he was the only reason that they had been able to stay out in High Moon in the first place. Surely if they could get him to understand the situation, then everything could go smoothly. Then again, there was always the chance of things turning south.

"Yeah I know Spike, but Sergeant Obsidian may be different. He helped us stay out here, and he let Dusk keep his collar after he became an Element. He could be a big help one day," Quill argued, still hating the idea herself, but needing answers. "And Frost isn't dumb. She knows how to keep herself hidden and under detection. The biggest thing we have to do is either completely avoid Obsidian or be upfront with him about it."

"My vote goes for avoiding him as much as we can, but if not, then we'll be upfront with it," Spike said as he sat his soda can down on the flat roof before reaching into their bag to pull out a bag of potato chips. Quill sighed as she did the same as Spike, pulling out a bag of spicy-hot chips. "The last thing we need is for Frost to get locked up over something that happened three years ago."

"And that's what gets me," Quill spat as she shoved a handful of chips in her mouth, munching down on them before speaking again. "The invasion happened three years ago, and Equestria didn't even suffer any losses. And yet now the entire kingdom is closed-mindedly scared of changelings when there's another, much younger yet bigger, neighboring kingdom that has no problems with them. Heck, there are probably changelings all around the world!"

"Quill that's because the Lunar Republics were formed with every type of species. Equines, canines, bovines, avians, felines, and even dragons. Equestria is… well, a kingdom for ponies," Spike sighed, also wishing that there was something he could do about it, but not knowing where to start. "They're two different kingdoms Quill, and that invasion was a major insult to the Guard and even Celestia. What Chrysalis did scared everypony out of their minds. Of course they're going to be afraid when it comes to changelings."

Quill again sighed as she continued to munch down on the spicy chips, not feeling any of the heat due to the overpowering flame from her dragon's soul. "But that doesn't give them the right to discriminate against all changelings. Not all of them are bad." Quill looked down towards the roof with a growing look of disgust on her face. "I mean, what could we do to fix it Spike? It's not like we could just out all of the other hives in Equestria. Neither Frost nor I are gonna sell them out for that."

"Well there's not much you can do Quill," Spike said with a small sigh of his own. He knew he'd promised to help in anyway he could, but it was going to be hard to change an entire kingdom's view like that. If Quill and Frost wanted Equestria to forgive the changelings for what happened three years ago, then she and Frost would have to do something that outshone the invasion. "Quill, maybe you should do something else. Something beside trying to get Equestria to forgive the changelings."

Quill sat in thought for a moment, thinking about what Spike was saying. She already knew that it would be nearly impossible to get Equestria to forget the changeling invasion, especially since they tended to fear things they don't fully understand. To Quill, that'd always been Equestria's biggest flaw. Fearing something you didn't understand because it was new or different.

"Yeah Spike, you might be right. For now I guess we should worry about beating Frost's mother before we do anything else. But that's for the future. We still gotta get our answers from Celestia," Quill said in a low tone of voice, knowing that she and Frost would have to draw a plan out out before they made any kind of action against Frost's mother. "There's no guarantee that Frost will be on board with it, though. So don't be surprised if we have to bring Cyclone or Veil as backup instead."

"Ah, yeah that makes sense," Spike mumbled to himself as he turned his head back up to the starry night sky. He wouldn't mind showing Cyclone where he had once lived; there were a few shops around Canterlot that he would love to show her. "Well here's my question, how are we gonna get her to tell the truth? It's not like we could just walk up and say, 'Hi Celestia, you seem great, hey what was that story you had about finding our egg?' I have a feeling that won't work."

Quill rolled her eyes at Spike's obvious observation, wanting to smack him on the back of the his head for it, but discarding that thought. "Thank you Captain Obvious for the ever so grand observation, once again," Quill deadpanned, getting Spike to laugh as he reached for his drink. "But you're right, we need a way to get her to tell the truth. Which is why I wanted to bring Frost, she'd be able to tell if Celestia was lying to us or not."

"Again, that makes sense. So I guess it's settled then?" Spike asked, sounding as if he didn't want to discuss the matter any longer. This much Quill could agree with since it was a hard and tricky matter to work around. Not only would they be trying to get an immortal to tell them exactly what they wanted to hear, but they would have to be able to call her out on it. "I mean, if Frost doesn't go, we're gonna have to hope that Celestia tells us the truth on her own. And well…"

"Yeah I know Spike, I know. But I'm sure Frost will come with us, all we can do now is wait for the morning," Quill said reach for her drink to take another swig of it to calm her nerves down. "By the way, Dusk wants to talk to you about something. Sounds important, but I don't know what it is."

Spike raised an eyebrow at Quill, especially since he hadn't spoken to Dusk since he'd brought Cyclone over to tell him about the dragoness' broken dragon's soul. So Spike couldn't think about anything that Dusk could want to talk to him about, unless it had to do with Rarity or any of the other Elements.

"Um, okay," Spike shrugged, unable to think what the half-breed could want from him. "I guess I'll talk with him after we settle things with Celestia," he said reaching out for his drink again to finish it off, but stopping when a sudden thought came into his head. "Hey Quill."

"Yeah, what Spike?" Quill asked looking at her brother as he raised his soda can up into the air with a toothy smirk. Soon understanding what the drake was doing, Quill laughed for a bit before she raised her drink as well. "A toast huh? Alright, to what though?"

"Us," Spike said, not intending it to be a joke in anyway. Though, the humor was shared between them since it lightened the air after the heavy conversation they'd had. "To finally moving on with our lives, to knowing the truth about ourselves, and to finally get our answers." Quill smiled at Spike, happy to see that he was finally realizing that their lives would be better out here in Everfree and not trying to make everything up with the Elements, only for them to try to rope the twins back.

"To no more lies." /-/  
/ High Moon Ch. 52: Pride & Sacrifice part 1; Discovering the Truth/-/

High Moon Ch. 52:  
Pride & Sacrifice part one; Discovering the Truth

Later that night, everyone decided to retreat to their beds to be ready for the next morning. Quill sat in bed with Frost, softly stroking her lover's blue and purple striped mane as the mare considered the plan that Quill had just told her about. Quill still wasn't sure about bringing Frost, but the scorpio mare was the only one that could give her and Spike the leverage they needed against Celestia.

The request was intensely dangerous for Frost, however. If caught, Frost, Quill, and Spike would be looking at a serious change of plans. But if not, Quill and Spike would have the answers that they had been denied all their lives, and it would finally be the truth.

"Quill," Frost finally spoke after a few minutes of thought, moving up from the comfort of Quill's lap to look her lover in her beautiful purple eyes. Frost could easily see the worry in them, along with the sadness she was trying to hide. Placing a hand on the inside of Quill's thighs, Frost moved closer towards Quill's face to rub her cheek against Quill's. "I'll do it. You two have been through too much on your own; no more."

Quill moved her hands to Frost's lower back as the mare began rubbing the inside of her legs and moved her fangs over Quill's neck. Frost straddled Quill's lap, sliding her hands up in Quill's black tank-top to rub her hands against Quill's toned abdomen.

Quill sighed from Frost toying with her neck using her fangs, enjoying the feel of Frost's breath on her neck. She tilted her head up and to the side to give Frost more access to her neck. After a moment of enjoying her lover's delicious fangs, Quill moved her head back down, softly whispering, "Are you sure, Frost? This could be really dangerous for you. I understand if you don't want to come with."

Frost moved her hands up to Quill's shoulders, pushing Quill down to her back. She gazed into Quill's worry filled eyes before leaning down to take a small nibble of her neck. "I don't care Quill, my love." Frost began rubbing her hands along the sides of Quill's body as she continued place small bites on Quill's neck. Frost kept this up until she couldn't feel any more of Quill's worry. She then moved to Quill's ear-frill to flick it with her tongue. "You would do anything for me, and I would do anything for you, Quill. I know there's a risk involved, but I won't let you and Spike face this alone. I love you Quill, and I want to help you."

"Thanks Frost." Quill smiled up at Frost as she moved her hands up Frost's back. "It means a lot to me to hear that from you." Frost returned Quill's smile as she leaned in for a kiss, trailing her hand up to cup one of Quill's breasts while she slid her other hand down to Quill's hip. Quill answered Frost's affectionate touches by moving her hands down to the mare's firm flanks, giving them a quick squeeze.

Frost moaned into the kiss as Quill's claws dug into her shorts, causing her to push herself further against Quill. As the kiss deepened, the two lovers twisting their serpent tongues together, their breasts rubbing against each other, forcing moans out of the both of them.

Soon Frost pulled back from Quill's soft lips with a lustful gasp as Quill's hands firmly gripped her flanks. Loud moans began leaving her lips due to Quill continuing to toy with her flanks, and from the loving emotions her dragoness was feeding her. Biting down on her lip, Frost sparked her horn to use the soundproof barrier spell that Blaze had instructed her on a few days ago.

Once she was sure that the spell was complete, Frost let the gasping moans flow out from her lips, quickly reaching for the hem of her shirt to toss it over to the other side of the room. Frost began cupping her own breasts, pinching and pulling her own nipples with her nails to tease Quill with the sight.

"Mm, sweetie, your wings must be so sore after that wonderful performance today. Why don't you turn around and let me treat that for you?" Frost cooed, batting her eyelashes at Quill, a trick she'd learned from watching how Blaze acted around Wolf when the mare was feeling playful. The trick had its intended effect as Quill slowly nodded her head, almost seeming like she was in a trance from Frost's shining blue eyes.

Frost got off of Quill's slender hips to let Quill turn over to her stomach before moving back on top of the smaller dragoness the moment she laid down. Frost's hands moved down Quill's toned back, briefly passing over the tender muscles of her wing-base, eliciting a moan from her. Closing her eyes, she laid down on Quill's back, biting down on Quill's neck and enjoying the sweet warmth of her loving emotions.

Quill let out more moans from having Frost's fangs on her neck and her mare's soft breasts in the space between her wings. "F-Frost, quit toying with me already," Quill sighed softly as her wings flexed out to make more room for Frost's gorgeous breasts, quickly becoming impatient with her lover's slow touch.

A hum came from Frost as she took a bite of Quill's neck and moved her hands to Quill's small breasts, groping the small, smooth scales. Quill's wings shot out to their full spread from Frost's teasing, her marefriend stoking the fire that had been building inside her body.

Quill's arms soon gave out under Frost's loving assault, that burning sensation growing inside certain points of her body. Her mind quickly started to cloud over from a heavy feeling of lust from the toxins lacing Frost's fangs. A brief flash of intimate moments Quill had spent with Frost flashed through her mind, making a wide, pleased smile form on Quill's lips.

"You've overworked your wings again, and now it's finally catching up with you," Frost breathed in Quill's ear before taking a small bite of the green ear-frill. "But don't worry love, I'll take care of you tonight. You won't have to worry about a thing." Frost moved down from Quill's neck, sitting up on her knees and lifted Quill's black tank-top to just over her wings. She sparked her horn in its blue light, channeling it to her fingertips. Once her hands were fully enveloped in the blue light, she moved them down to the base of Quill's wings.

Quill let out a throaty moan from the tingling running through her spine. After hearing Frost's giggles, a blush came onto the dragoness' face as she bit down on her bottom lip.

Frost leaned down to Quill's ear as she slipped one of her hands around Quill's waist. She reached down to her lover's nethers, slipping her hand into Quill's green and black shorts. She blew softly on one of Quill's ear-frills as she began teasing the outer walls of her quivering slit.

Quill could no longer hold back her moans from the feeling of Frost's magic stimulating her flower. From the familiar feeling, Quill guessed that Frost was using the shaft-growth spell, and she let out out a moan of approval for Frost to continue.

"M-more Frost…" Quill moaned, gripping at the bed covers as her body was quickly being overcome with a needy feeling in her body. Frost pulled another moan from her lover as she pushed her two middle fingers inside Quill's moistened slit.

The dragoness' moans started to fill the room as Frost began pumping her fingers inside Quill in a slow and rhythmic movement. She slid down from Quill's neck to the bases of her wings and began taking small bites out of the both of them. Quill bit down on her lower lip to focus on fighting back the pressure that was quickly building inside her loins. However, this task was beginning to prove difficult because of the half-breed's sense-enhancing toxins running through her veins, and the mare's fangs at the bases of her wings.

"Ease yourself love. Let it come forth," Frost murmured, grazing her tongue over the space between Quill's wings, and slowing the pace of her fingers inside of Quill. "Don't hold yourself back."

Quill took Frost's advice and began easing her body up to let Frost do as she pleased, savoring every small motion more than the last. As Quill began to ease herself, Frost went back to using her spell. Frost increased the movement of her fingers and the intensity of the spell to get it completed faster, causing Quill's sighs and moans to increase in volume.

Until eventually...

"Hugh, Frost!" Quill's wings flexed outward from the surge of bliss as her walls clamped down around Frost's fingers, before a rapidly growing shaft forced them out. She slumped down against the bed, a sweaty mess breathing raggedly.

Frost released Quill's wings from her fangs before sitting up from Quill's back. She turned the panting dragoness over, removing her shirt and green shorts to gaze at the thick shaft throbbing against Quill's toned green underbelly. Just like Frost had theorized, the spell changed shape depending on the intensity of the spell and its user's desires. And right now, Quill's shaft was long, hard, and covered in smooth barbs; just perfect for what Frost had planned.

"Ok sweetie, sit up for me? Pretty please?" Frost asked, still borrowing Blaze's speaking patterns for the night just to see how they would work. Yet again, Quill slowly nodded her head as she sat up on the bed, resting her head against the wall.

Frost giggled for a bit before climbing her way into Quill's lap, placing her hands on Quill's shoulders. Frost began grinding her outer walls against Quill's already-coated shaft to tease the both of them while Quill recovered from her first climax. Frost bit down on her lip from the feeling of the barbed shaft rubbing against her, and from the surge of lust and love she felt from Quill.

"Mm, Quilly~ you performed so wonderfully today," Frost said as she moved her hands to the back of Quill's head to tilt it up so she could see into Quill's eyes. Unable to resist, Frost moved in for a kiss on Quill's lips, darting her tongue into Quill's mouth. Both Frost and Quill moaned into the kiss, Frost still grinding against Quill's purple shaft, leaking her sweet nectar on it.

Quill slowly began moving her hands from her sides, onto Frost's thighs as she regained her senses. Leaving one hand on Frost's succulent thighs, Quill moved one of her hands up her mare's body to her blue mane, locking her fingers in it.

As Quill began taking control back over the kiss, Frost thought back to a tip that Blaze told her and Cyclone a few days ago. "Remember girls, I know you two are young, but this is a very important lesson. Your mates, the twins, as dominant as they come off, will love it when you two take control. All mates do, from time to time. Just like my Wolf..."

Blushing as she remembered the rest of the mare's words, Frost fought against Quill's hand in her hair, pulling back from the kiss before Quill could fully take control. Frost giggled at the adorable, needy look on Quill's face as she had her tongue hanging out. "You've done so much for everyone here, Quill," Frost started as she moved a finger around from the back of Quill's head and down her body.

Quill let out a soft sigh at Frost dragging a claw down her body, teasing the soft scales on Quill's hardened nipples. Quill sat back against the stone wall, watching Frost drag her finger all the way down to her throbbing shaft.

Frost licked her lips as she moved her finger all the way up to Quill's tip, coating it in a clear dripple of Quill's pre-cum. Quill moaned again as Frost brought her finger to her lips and sucked the pre off, murmuring, "Delicious…" She moved her hand back to Quill's shaft and started to fondle it, causing Quill to throw her head back and let out a noise that was halfway between and growl and a groan. "What you did deserves something special," Frost said as she aimed Quill's tip at her marehood. "I do hope you enjoy it, my love."

Slowly, Frost began sliding down the barbed shaft, moaning from the smooth barbs pressing tightly against her marehood. She gave a start when Quill suddenly gripped Frost's thighs, shoving the mare down the rest of the way. Frost's head shot up, letting out a loud moan from the sudden intrusion.

Quill didn't waste a moment before she moved her hands around to Frost's flanks, taking hold of the round, firm, ass cheeks and using them to start lifting the mare up and down her shaft. Frost's wings were spread outwards from the jolts of pleasure running up her spine as Quill began slamming her down Quill's towering shaft.

Frost cried out in joyful pain as Quill's claws began sinking into the soft flesh of her flanks, and the fast pace Quill used to lift her up and down her meaty pole. However, her cries of of delight were muffled when she took hold of Quill's cheeks to pull her dragoness in a kiss. A soft, blue glow began to show on Frost's smooth, curved, horn as she started to grind her hips into Quill each time she was forced down.

Both lovers moaned deeply into the kiss as they both fought for dominance over the other. Frost moved one of her hands to Quill's shoulders to gain some control of their lovemaking while Quill's tongue intertwined with hers. Frost began spraying out her juices onto Quill's toned stomach and waist with every heavy drop she was forced, yet more than happy, to take.

Quill grunted in pleasure as she attempted to hold off her climax a little while longer. Lewd, wet sounds came from the two lovers as Quill's lower regions quickly became covered with her mare's sweet juices, while Frost's walls were slowly becoming filled with the dragoness' pre-cum. Quill's shaft pushed all the way into Frost's depths, reaching far back to the half-breed's cervix, which twitched in both pain and joy.

A deep, heavy, throb came from Quill's shaft each time she pushed into Frost's hot walls. Small sparks began going off around Frost's horn as her body tried to absorb the massive amounts of love Quill had for her. Frost quickly pulled back from the kiss, throwing her head upward as she increased the force behind her drops. Frost's tight slit clenched down around Quill's shaft, squeezing and preparing for every drop Quill's thick, throbbing, shaft was good for.

"O-oh Quill...I-I love you so m-much!" Frost shouted while Quill started to move her tongue over Frost's neck, getting another shudder out of Frost.

Quill began taking small bites on Frost's collarbone and neck, sliding one of her hands up to the base of Frost's wings to press down on the muscle with her two middle fingers. Quill was loving Frost's cries of passion as she began massaging Frost's flank with one hand while the other one did its best to find the sweet spot on Frost's wing-base.

Frost gasped at the feeling of Quill's claws prodding the base of her wings, causing them to stiffen more than they already had. Her body spasmed uncontrollably the moment Quill's fingers reached the very middle of Frost's two bat-wings, pushing her over the edge.

As the mare's walls clenched tightly around Quill, Frost's shaking climax forced her to fall backwards, pulling Quill with her as she continued to let loose a small torrent of her feminine juices all over Quill's lower stomach.

Quill's head became buried in between Frost's soft, round breasts while her lover took in deep, gasping breaths. "K-keep going Quill…" Frost breathed out as she moved her hands around the back of Quill's head and neck to hold her where she was.

Quill didn't need any more motivation than that, taking hold of Frost's slender, powerful, hips as she began to resume her fast pace inside Frost, knocking the air out of the mare. When Frost finally stopped shuddering breathlessly, she let out a series of delighted squeals from Quill ramming her shaft deep inside Frost's drooling marehood.

Each forceful thrust inside the mare caused her full breasts to jiggle up and down in Quill's face. The mesmerizing mounds soon prompted Quill to latch her teeth around one of Frost's sensitive nipples, causing her mare under her to scream in joy. Quill gently pulled at the hard nub with her teeth, getting Frost to wince slightly as small tears formed at the corners of her eyes.

Quill's rough thrusting pushed all the way into Frost's deepest parts, the flaring head brushing against the high wall of Frost's cervix. Quill pulled up off of the mare's breasts as she began focusing on reaching into Frost's womb. Her mission was aided by Frost's back arching up from the pleasure of Quill slamming her shaft into Frost.

Drool began forming at the corners of Frost's mouth as her tongue lolled around. All the mare could do was lay her arms down on the bed while Quill happily had her way with her. Through her foggy mind, Frost was able to feel herself getting closer to the edge again as her marehood started to clamp down on Quill's round barbed shaft.

"Q-Quill...I-I'm-" Frost was cut off by Quill suddenly thrusting upwards all the way into Frost, holding onto Frost's thighs as she tried to force every single inch of the twitching shaft inside Frost's clenching marehood. Frost screamed as a torrent of Quill's hot seed fired straight into her core, causing Frost's blue eyes to roll into the back of her head from sheer pleasure, and making her reach her own peak.

Frost released a flood of her juices onto Quill's already-wet lower stomach again, soaking both her and Quill's lower bodies in her feminine cum. Quill, driven mad by lust, lifted Frost all the way up to the very tip of her shaft, only to slam her back down before she let out the largest of her streams, forcing both her and Frost to cry out together in bliss.

Quill soon slumped after her waves of release ended, falling on top of Frost's soft mounds with a small huff while the mare was heavily panting to catch her breath. Moments later, Frost embraced her lover in her arms, slipping her left hand down Quill's back to toy with her wing-base. Quill let out a small hum from Frost playing with her tired wings as she moved her hands up to Frost's sides, pushing herself up to rest her head in the crook of Frost's neck.

The two silently basked in the afterglow of their rather rough lovemaking, tenderly holding each other before Frost nuzzled against Quill. "Mm, Quill...we should be more careful," she giggled, moving her arms around Quill's neck as she took a quick nibble on Quill's ear. "If we keep this up, I may be giving you a child soon."

Quill started laughing, thinking that Frost was telling a joke. "Yeah, but you wanna know something? I wouldn't mind having a kid with you Frost," Quill said with a bright smile and an honest tone in her voice. Her emotions mirrored her words, causing Frost to tighten her grip around Quill a bit. "I already want to spend my life with you, so having a kid of our own would be great."

"You really mean that, don't you Quill?" Frost asked in a rhetorical manner, since she could already tell that Quill was being completely honest with her words. "Okay then love, let's have a child, but we have to wait until after we do a few things before then. Would that be alright with you?"

Quill laughed again at her marefriend, beginning to suspect that Frost wasn't joking, but waving that off as her reading too much into the mare's words. "That's fine Frost," Quill said as she closed her eyes to finally rest up for the day they had planned for tomorrow, murmuring, "For you I would wait an eternity."

"And for you my love, I would wait by your side for an eternity as well," Frost said before she slowly began to fall asleep in Quill's arms.

Canterlot Castle, Firing Range

It had been hours since lights-out had been called for the new recruits of the Solar Guard. And it had only been a few moments since the change to the night shift, yet two soldiers not of the night shift were still up, testing a theory of theirs. Obsidian and Gizmo were taking their only free time to get back to work on a secret project that been taking up much of their time.

Repurposing the spell-gun. The spell-gun had been made primarily for unicorn magic; the least volatile of the different types of magic. However, now the two engineers were trying to strengthen the magical compressor that gave the weapon its long range and power that it was known for. Naturally, this wasn't an issue for Gizmo, since she was a unicorn, but they were trying to get it to where Obsidian could use the weapon with the dragon's soul pulsing inside him.

The trouble was that Obsidian didn't have much control over his dragon magic, and the gun itself couldn't hold and compress the magic into a single shot small enough to come out of the barrel of the gun.

Over the last two weeks or so, Obsidian had been doing whatever he could to control the magic within him with great difficulty. He had even made the choice to tell both Wave and Verdite about the dragon markings on his hands and the story behind it. The two of them were shocked by the information, not for the markings on Obsidian's arms, but that a Fallen Saint would join the guard.

It was after that that Verdite started helping Obsidian with the dragon magic inside of him, at least to the point where he could summon the magic. The rest she left him to discover on his own. Obsidian couldn't complain much about the half-breed's teaching methods, especially since they weren't stationed in Equestria for that.

The only real trouble with it was, each time Obsidian tried to use a spell-gun, it would either break apart from the magic, or the crystal inside would fractured from the intensity of it. However, the two engineers had been getting closer.

"Okay boss-dog," Gizmo sighed, dressed in her street clothing, which consisted of a black tank top that had a symbol of a green bolt of lighting going across from the right side and denim pants. She walked over towards Obsidian to hand the dog another blank-white crystal that served as the magical compressor for all spell-guns. "We're down to our last dozen that we were able to get for this 'experiment,' so use them wisely, bud."

Nodding, Obsidian raised the black, heavy-metal spell-gun pistol he had been using for this experiment to pull back on the top part of the gun, called the slider, revealing a chamber with a small, damaged, ash colored crystal. Obsidian carefully used his claw tips to pick the crystal out of the chamber, holding it up until Gizmo took it in her magical grip.

"Well, at least the damage to the crystal is diminishing each time we do this, boss-dog," Gizmo noted as she sparked her horn in a green light to lift the used crystal out of Obsidian's claws, examining the small cracks on the crystal. Still too damaged to be used with other spell-guns, at least until she could get them repaired. "That has to be a step in the right direction."

"It is," Obsidian said as he took the new crystal from Gizmo's hand with his index and thumb claws, placing the fresh crystal into the gun chamber before pushing the slider back into its neutral position. "It's less work on the crystal-smith, and it means we're getting somewhere with this. Just wish we'd figure this out already."

"Don't worry boss, we're getting there. You know what they say, 'innovations weren't done in two weeks,'" Gizmo joked as she turned to take the used crystal back over to the others while Obsidian took aim with the single pistol.

It was easy for him to line the sights straight down range to the target that was set up exactly twenty meters away from him. This was thanks to a variety of things: heightened evolutionary eyesight and denser bone structure to fight back recoil, two weeks of getting used to the gun, years of being a Fallen Saint, and even more years of being a blacksmith. Obsidian was now able to line his sights almost perfectly with each attempt he took to fire the gun. The trouble began when it came with his magic.

Closing his eyes, Obsidian began focusing his will on the dragon's soul that was infused in him. Slowly, the black markings on his hands began coiling up to Obsidian's shoulders, stopping just at the sides of his chest. Along with the markings growing, engravings on Obsidian's spell-gun began shining in a sliver light, signifying that the crystal was beginning to integrate with Obsidian's dragon magic.

The light show was a sign that the first step was done, and that the crystal was now able to convert the magic into a single compressed burst shot. Now came the part where Obsidian tried to fire the gun. Usually this ended up with the gun breaking apart.

'Okay, let's do this. Come on Obsidian, remember what Gargoyle always said before using a spell.' Steadily, Obsidian opened his silver eyes, which were shining with an unearthly glow. He quickly took aim at the target down range. Filled with the memories of his fallen friend, Obsidian opened his mouth to whisper, "Ignis."

A brief, bright red light gathered at the muzzle of the gun, growing brighter before a sudden a concentrated burst of fire shot out of the burrel. The next second, the thick oak target down range, which had suffered through countless other magical shots, suddenly combusted into bright crimson and silver flames.

Both soldiers were startled by the sudden combustion, neither one thinking that Obsidian would finally get a shot out without the gun jamming on him. "Dude, Sergeant, you did it! You actually did it!"

"Yeah I know Gizmo, but let's put out that fire first," Obsidian quickly said, still trying to understand how he did it in the first place, though he was more worried about waking the entire castle from an experiment, like he and Gizmo used to do when they first started out as soldiers.

Gizmo nodded her head as she sparked her horn to summon a fire-extinguisher, quickly floating it over towards the flaming target and putting it out with a cloud of cooling chemical agents. Once the fire was out, Gizmo placed the red fire-extinguisher back in its place on the wall behind them.

Not wasting a moment, Obsidian moved the slider of the gun forward so he could see the condition of crystal compressor. Upon first glance, the crystal seemed to have not suffered any sort of damage or fractures. Instead, it had fused with the gun's chamber; which was what it was designed to do.

"Heh, this whole time all it needed was a low level fire-spell. Who would've figured?" Obsidian laughed as he marveled at the now sliver crystal that filled the chamber walls. "Well it's official, the experiment was a success. Hand me the other one. I want to finish this before you leave for home in the morning."

Gizmo nodded her head before she hurried over to the table where they had set up a second silver tinted pistol of the same ore as the black one. She loaded it up with another blank compression crystal before taking it and the leather belt holster Obsidian had fashioned to hold two spell-gun pistols over to the dog.

Obsidian took the belt holster away from Gizmo, fixing it around his waist with the gun slots on either side of his dagger behind his waist. "You know, I got a good feeling about tomorrow, Gizmo," Obsidian said after placing the black pistol in the right gun slot. He then took the silver gun away from Gizmo and took aim at the slightly charged target dummy with a smirk.

"Ignis."

XXX

"Blueblood, are you sure about this matter?" Deep within the ruined structure of the Followers of the Fallen Star, four of its nine members gathered to discuss the futility of their mission and what they should do about it. All were starting to agree that finding the filly was becoming too much of a problem, and with the guard increasing their size, it would soon be impossible.

Each of the four now agreed that the filly would be a dire waste of time, and that by now she most likely would've died of starvation or some other cause. If that wasn't the case, the filly had to be able to move about Equestria at will, for they had not been able to track her down in any of the various towns or cities they had looked in. Already, each of these four had experienced some kind of resistance or another, Saint more than the others due to that unexpected half-breed from Ponyville.

Nonetheless, each had some struggle keeping their secret. Whether it was Blueblood being questioned by Celestia regarding his constant disappearances, Saint being pestered by his shareholders from his family's company, Angel Wing, a soft pink unicorn mare supermodel, under the watchful civilian eye of the kingdom, or even Silversteel, whose company was responsible for the vast amount of resources Equestria used.

Each of the nine unicorns had some noble or royal connection through the Equestrian crown. Being this close to the crown, it was simple enough to convince any that they were not the true evil that lurked in the shadow.

Regardless, their current endeavor was turning out to be a failed wildgoose chase. With the royal crown looking for any leads on their organization, the only ray of luck the nine could have had was finding the filly before Celestia did. Fortunately, the fact that their magic was nearly untraceable by any conventional methods meant they could still operate and plan from the shadow.

However, the time for planning had come to an end.

The master was far too stubborn with his plans to overthrow Celestia with the power trapped inside the filly, and the other members were either too loyal to the cause, or nowhere to be found. To add to the failure of the original plan, the undeniable truth of the filly being dead constantly plagued the conscience of the nine occult members' minds, at least what was left of it.

So now these four had gathered to forge a new plan of their own, without their master's knowledge. A task that was proving to be more difficult than they had originally thought.

"Do you realize how foolish this plan of yours sounds?" Angel Wing questioned, gracing the other three with the a beauty that was hard to match. Her face had a severe loveliness to it, and her radiant sky-blue and white mane had a small flash of purple dashed through the left side. "This plan of yours is more foolish than the master's vanity. May I remind you that something like this will most definitely get us killed?"

"Cease your complaining at once, you harlot!" Blueblood shouted at the mare, his horn and eyes glowing a bright silver, both reacting to his anger. "I will NOT be questioned by the likes of you. You are to do as I say, understand me, mare?"

Angel snapped her jaw at Blueblood, not bothering to calm the stallion down. The past two weeks, he had been showing signs of a rapidly deteriorating mental state. Not only him, but Saint as well had been slowly losing his mind ever since he was forced to run away after his fight with the half-blood.

"You self-centered...Fine!" Angel shouted at the white stallion, hopping down from the stone wall she was sitting on to stand in the stallion's face. "Please tell us, what is this glorious plan of yours supposed to achieve? Because it sounds to me like you are doing nothing but attempting to put yourself in the spotlight."

"Wretch...you should be happy that I'm even allowing you to aid me in my plan," Blueblood spat out at the pink mare with his haughty attitude, too angry with the mare to care what he was saying. "Just follow your part and I'll see if I can fit you in my majestic rise to power. That's if I am feeling magnanimous towards you, mare."

"That is it! I have had it with your narcissistic, vain, self-absorbed…"

While the two unicorns continued to squabble with each other, the other two of their inner alliance stood against a broken stone wall, just listening into Blueblood and Angel's horn lock.

Silversteel, who was skeptical of the sanity of all of the members of the cult, including his own, looked over towards the two quarrelling unicorns with slight disdain. He knew he couldn't back out of what he had gotten into, he had never thought about it seriously. However, it didn't help that Angel and Blueblood were a serious liability due to how they acted around each other.

Saint was no better given his state of mind. Even his physical state was starting to deteriorate. Whatever that half-breed had done to him left a mark in Saint's magical nerve system, and it seemed unfixable by any methods they had tried; almost like a curse.

Periodic muscle spasms, violent twitches, and even periods where his magic would shut off completely for hours on end. Saint may have gotten away from being killed that day, but the damage he sustained was far more costly. Now he was a ball and chain that seemed to be weighing the others down.

"Would you look at those two?" Saint mocked as Angel and Blueblood continued their argument over nothing of any real importance - themselves. "If they're not careful, someone might mistake them for a married couple."

Silversteel didn't return Saint's laughter, as he was far too preoccupied with thoughts of how much of a failure this plan that Blueblood had was. It was obvious their master didn't have intentions of truly sharing the fabled power of the Fallen Star with any of the others. So, it would be more beneficial to consider all contingencies.

"That's enough, you two," Silversteel commanded in a deep voice that carried over the two bickering unicorns, thankfully stopping them from using their magic, and avoiding future headaches. "Angel, until you have a plan of your own, I suggest that you cease your arguing. There might be a small chance that it actually could serve us some good, regardless of how far-fetched it is."

"What did you say, you brute?!"

"Far-fetched?!"

"I said ENOUGH!" Silversteel shouted at the two, incidentally causing his own horn to shine a bright silver from the frustration that he was feeling. These two petty unicorns were too blinded by their own selfish intentions to see what they all were trying to achieve. "Will you two shut your mouths for five minutes, and think before you speak?! Now," Silversteel paused, calming himself down to speak in a more controlled tone. "Blueblood, are you sure you this plan of yours will work? Because if it doesn't…"

Blueblood's eyes widened at the larger tan unicorn stallion, in pure disbelief that someone of his upbringing would even think to question, much less order, one such as himself. "You dare threaten me?" Blueblood asked, shoving Angel aside as he step in front of Silversteel. The younger stallion tried to stare down the older, taller, and more physically fit stallion with little success. "Listen here, you land laborer, I am r-"

"You will be nothing if you don't answer my question, you impotent colt!" Silversteel shouted at the stallion, grabbing his black robes by the collar, and lifting him off the ground with one hand. Blueblood tried to struggle against the stronger stallion, but a life of not having to lift a single finger couldn't compare to the hard labor Silversteel had put himself through.

"You, of everyone here, are the last one that deserves to call themselves a noble, much less royalty. Just because you were born into it does not mean that you have the honor or pride to call yourself as such. Now don't ever let me hear you trying to call yourself that. You understand me, brat?"

All Blueblood could do was grip at the metal gauntlet that Silversteel was wearing on his arm, but he was unable to stop being choked by the stallion. "F-fine, just release m-me already," Blueblood ordered in a shaky voice as he had given up on squirming his way out of the powerful grip.

"Answer my question first, colt," Silversteel demanded before he violently shook Blueblood once to shake the stallion's hands off of Silversteel's steel-clad arm. "Will this plan work or not? And if it does not…"

"It will, just you watch. I am not a failure or weakling like some of these foals," Blueblood said pridefully, stoking Angel's anger and even dragging Saint into it. The only thing that was stopping the two from doing anything about the stallion was the even larger and more dangerous stallion holding the 'prince' by the collar. "Is that not what you wanted to hear? My plan will work, all you three need to do is follow your roles."

Silversteel stared deeply into Blueblood's golden eyes for a moment, seeing pure conviction in the stallion's eyes. "Very well," Silversteel finally said, dropping Blueblood back to his feet, and moving his hand back into his robe while the white stallion attempted to regain his composure. "If this plan of yours truly will help with our cause, I am willing to follow your lead."

"Well, it's good to hear that some of you-"

"However, Blueblood," Silversteel cut in, glaring down towards Blueblood with a menacing leer that shook the prince to his very core. "If by chance your plan should in fact fail...I will make sure that you fall with it using every drop of power and influence I have. You are at full responsibility here Prince, mess this up and you will be the only one to fall. Not me."

Blueblood watched in shock as Silversteel turned away to leave, not giving Blueblood the time to think of something in retort to the elder stallion. While the stallion was in shock, Saint mockingly laughed at Blueblood before he faded away into a cloud of black smoke.

"What're you gonna do now, Prince Blueblood?" Angel mocked as she walked past Blueblood, shoving her shoulder into the prince's back as she did so. "It's funny, isn't it? Even when you think you have control of something, you're still nothing but a lonesome puppet for others to use." Angel began laughing at the growing look of shock and anger on Blueblood's face, sadistically enjoying it.

Blueblood's body started to violently shake from the mare's laughter and mocking, blood boiling from the lack of respect the other unicorns had for him. A thick vein soon made itself known on the sides of Blueblood's head, causing Angel to continue to laugh at the pathetic prince. "Oh, poor, sad Blueblood. It's pathetic." Angel turned her head away, lighting her horn in a faded pink light, constructing two pure snow-white wings on her lower back, and using them to take flight.

As the mare quickly became a small speck in the sky, Blueblood let out a bloody scream of hate and anger, pure magic arcing from his horn. The shout was that of a stallion finally crossing over the threshold of sanity; the most dangerous form a stallion could take.

"Rah! I am the Prince of this kingdom, the rightful ruler! No one speaks to me like that. You should all be bowing to ME, you should be fearing ME! I am the Prince, I do not fear anyone, I do not take orders from low-life heathens like as you!"

Still continuing his self-centered rage, Blueblood failed to notice one of the hooded occult members that had been watching him and the others since the moment they began to form their plan. However, luckily for those four, this member of the occult also had different plans from the master's, and she was going to use Blueblood's foolhardy plan to ensure her own.

'Oh Blueblood, you truly are pathetic and desperate. Your own self-directed pride will be your end.'

Everfree Forest, Cerberus' Falls; The next morning

Bright and early the morning, the pack of High Moon was up to take a quick dip in the Cerberus Falls. They all hoped it was going to be another easy-going day for the pack, since they didn't have much planned. With the greenhouse done, and the seeds planted and growing at a rapid rate, food wasn't going to be an issue. And since the twins were going to be gone for a few hours, if not the whole day, there wasn't much to do.

After Lily had returned from her week-long absence, she declared there was something Wolf had to look into since it would affect High Moon as a whole. After being informed that Lily would teleport him to their destination when he was ready, Wolf agreed to see what the flutterpony had been up to.

This, naturally, would leave Blaze in charge of High Moon during Wolf's absence. And seeing how it could benefit the pack, Blaze told Veil and Cyclone that they would be learning how to make medical potions just in case some unexpected emergency occurred. Since neither of them could find a reason not to, and they enjoyed the mare's company, Veil and Cyclone agreed to the lesson from Blaze.

But before anyone could leave, Blaze wanted to spend some time bathing with the other female members of the pack. So, after journeying to the falls, all the females took to the second level pool while the two males took their spots at the bottom one. It was there that Quill expressed why winning the competition was so important that she forced herself to overcome her fear of drowning. Her and Spike wanted the answer to where they had came from. Who their parents were. Why Celestia had their egg. Why they'd never known about any of their relatives, if they had any.

"Dang Quill, that sounds really important. Like, really, really important," Veil said, hanging off to the side of the pool's bay with Cyclone. The white dragoness was still wearing a shirt she had borrowed from Spike. She had claimed she was too embarrassed to be fully undressed in front of others, which had Quill raising an eyebrow, and wondering why that would embarrass the dragoness. Quill hadn't questioned the dragoness the last time they'd all bathed together, as she'd been too busy nursing her sore wings.

"Come on, Cyclone, it's not like you don't have anything we haven't seen," Quill pressed on, figuring that Cyclone was just embarrassed. "Besides, what about when you and Spike-"

"Quill!" Cyclone interrupted her, blushing hotly. "That's… well… your growth-spurts haven't even-" she snapped her jaw shut, her blush redoubling.

Quill raised an eyebrow. "What do our growth-spurts have to do with anything?"

Cyclone tried to look anywhere but at Quill, before finally stammering out, "W-well, in dragon c-clans it's considered… n-normal to wait until both mates have hit their growth-spurts before…" she trailed off.

Quill cocked her head, interested in learning more about traditional dragons, but not wanting to let that derail her from her original thought. She shook herself, saying, "Well still, that doesn't explain why you're nervous about being naked." Quill took a few steps towards Cyclone, hand outstretched. "Now come on, let's see what you're so scared of."

Veil, after seeing Cyclone trying to hide behind her, barked at Quill to stop. Quill realized that it was a touchy thing for the two, and she dropped it, backing off back to her spot near Frost. She apologized, saying that she didn't realize it was so sensitive a subject for the two. She just hoped they could all get back to the calm peacefulness that came with bathing.

Cyclone took a deep breath. In spite of knowing that Quill would hurt her as soon as Spike would, she was still a little afraid of the Queen dragoness. She knew she had nothing to fear from Quill, but she was still one of the royal breed. "Sooo, how are you guys even gonna get Celestia to tell you the truth?" Cyclone asked, wanting to change the subject. She held the hem of Spike's gray shirt down to keep it from floating up. She made a mental note to learn how to instantly dry herself off like Spike or Frost did. She'd have to remember ask Spike when he got back from Canterlot.

"That's the easy part, kinda. Me and Spike have already heard every story she has to offer." Quill sighed as she leaned her head back to look at the clear skies above their heads, recalling a few of Celestia's stories. "Found our egg floating in a stream. Humph, yeah right. Anyways," she paused, turning her head back at Veil and Cyclone. "We already know every inch of the castle. So finding a place where Celestia would be inclined to tell us the truth should be easy."

"Okay, but how are you going to know what she says isn't another lie?" Cyclone asked again, worried for the twins even more now that she knew a little more about how they had been treated when they lived with the ponies. "I mean, there's no real way of knowing."

Blaze quickly looked at Frost, guessing, "Unless…"

Slowly, the females' collective attention was drawn to the changeling mare resting beside Quill. "Yes, I will be accompanying the twins to Canterlot," Frost acknowledged the stares after sensing a collective worry from everyone, including Quill. "As dangerous as it may be, I refuse to allow Quill and Spike to be lied to again. So I'll be going with them in disguise. Hopefully nothing will go awry."

"Frost, are you sure?" Isis inquired, having viewed the entirety of the Canterlot invasion, and the tragedies that were committed by both both sides. "I can't fully agree going with your dragoness disguise would be effective. That would most definitely draw attention towards you, more than there already will be. I can go in your place if you would rather play it safe."

"No," Frost shook her head. While she was grateful for the sphinx's offer and concern, Frost had already made up her mind. She was willing to risk herself for Quill. "My mind is already made up. I will be the one to assist the twins."

As reluctant as everyone was to admit it, Frost going with the twins would be better for them. Out of everyone, only Frost would be able to accurately detect emotions, and would know when to call a lie out. Isis could go, yet there was a sense of detachment from her and Celestia. Besides, though it had taken her quite some time to do so to do so, the mare had learned how to build a mask over her outer appearance.

Now, it was going to take much more than subtle twitches or flinches from the mare for someone to be able to call her out on a lie. Quill turned to her marefriend. "Frost, you don't have to go, it's-"

"No, Quill," Frost interrupted, catching Quill off guard by wrapping her arm around Quill's neck, pulling Quill closer to Frost so the mare could place a kiss Quill's cheek. "I'm not abandoning you two, we already talked about this last night. Remember?"

Quill's cheeks flushed a bright red at her mare's actions, and the memory of what happened late last night. But soon Quill began to smile softly at the mare, nodding her head before returning the affectionate kiss on the cheek. "Thanks Frost, this means a lot. I promise if shit hits the fan, I'll make sure nothing bad happens."

"I know you will Quill, but it's fine. Promise."

While the females continued to bond, the two males down at the bottom pool sat in the water in almost complete silence. Ever since Spike had woken up with Cyclone in his arms again this morning, Spike's mind been stuck on how he and Quill were going to confront Celestia about how she had came across their egg. With Frost coming, half of his worries were put to rest, yet more came up just from that very same fact.

'What if something happens? What if a unicorn is able to see through her disguise? What if Obsidian isn't as different as Quill believes he is?' These thoughts and more were going through Spike's head. He knew Quill was a bit more worried than he was about the whole thing, given her bond with Frost.

There was no telling what could happen in Canterlot today, and Spike couldn't shake the feeling that it was something bad. "Hey Wolf, can I ask you a question?" Spike asked, breaking the silence of the bottom pool.

Wolf turned around to face the drake, who had had a worried look all morning. Today was a big day for the twins, that much Wolf knew. What puzzled him was why they were worried about it. "Yeah Spike, what is it? Are you worried something is going to happen in Canterlot?"

"Yeah…" Spike sighed as he should've known Wolf would have been able to tell what was on his mind. "Wolf, what if something does go wrong? I've got this bad feeling that today is going to end very badly, and it's messing with me."

"Well that's what you've been training for, Spike," Wolf replied after a moment, turning around to face the drake on the other side of the pool. As he rested his elbows on the edge of the bay, Wolf looked up towards the clear sky, and started to get a small sense of what Spike was talking about. "We trained you so you would be ready to fight and defend yourself, or others, when necessary. I know the feeling you're having Spike, and it's not an easy one to deal with. But you have to do it."

"I know, but still...I just can't shake this feeling," Spike sighed, unable to understand this feeling, but knowing that whatever would happen, he and Quill were ready. "It might just be my nerves getting at me though. I mean, we're gonna be confronting Princess Celestia. An immortal. The sun goddess. Last thing I want to do is provoke her."

Wolf nodded his head, completely understanding why Spike would feel so nervous. "I understand Spike, but you can't let your worries stop you from getting what you want. I don't know what lies you and Quill have been told, but I do know you need to hear the truth. Even if it's not something you'll like hearing."

"Yeah, you're right Wolf. Just wish I knew what this feeling was, though." Spike rubbed the side of his neck with a groan of discomfort that all this worrying had brought him. To think, this all could be over in mere hours. He and Quill would have their answers, it would be over.

Yet there was something still banging at Spike's head, screaming that today was going to end badly.

Minutes later, after everyone was fully dressed, the pack gathered outside the temple to say goodbye to the twins and Frost. Blaze gave all three hugs goodbye, wishing them luck and telling them to come home safe. Cyclone too gave Spike a tight hug and kiss on the cheek. She pulled him close, nuzzling against his neck. "I love you, Spikey," she whispered before squeezing him tightly and letting him go. She wished him and Quill luck on their quest to get their answers.

Once the goodbyes were said, Wolf and Lily both took their leave as well so Wolf could see what the flutterpony had been up to. As they left, Quill decided now was the best time to leave as well, taking flight to the skies with Frost while Spike ran underneath them.

Quickly cutting through the Everfree, all three were at the bottom of the mountain leading to Canterlot in no time. Even before they fully made it out of forest, Quill spotted the telltale signs of a storm brewing at the top of the mountain. As much as she didn't want to think about it, Quill had a feeling that they might get caught in it before they could leave Canterlot. However, before they could began to ascend the mountain, the sight of a chariot gave them reason to believe that Celestia was expecting them.

After boarding the chariot, Quill and Spike started to go over a plan to get Celestia to confess the truth to them. They knew it wasn't going to be easy, especially with Celestia's way of avoiding questions, but Quill said that she had a plan that had a small chance of working. They already knew that Celestia wasn't going to tell them the truth with others in the room, especially guards. So their only option was to find a way to get in a room alone with the mare, and the only way to do that was to push Celestia into a corner.

When the other two asked just how they were going to do that, Quill simply said that they were going to have to follow her lead. Spike wished he could get more out of Quill, but with Canterlot coming into sight, there wasn't much time to further question the dragoness.

After the chariot came to a full stop outside of the castle doors, the three exited the chariot, greeted by two dark-gray unicorn guards, dressed in their full golden armor with their swords at their sides, who were apparently assigned to escort them into the castle.

"Well, if it isn't the Dragul twins," one of the guards mused with a deep chuckle as he and his partner led the twins and Frost into the castle. He took a moment to note how much the twins had grown in these short two and a half months, chuckling in humor. "Look at you two, you're actually starting to look your ages."

Both guards began laughing. There was a joke around the Guard about how the twins looked younger than they really were. "Heh, yeah, you sure can say that again," the other guard said, walking to the right of the first. "And who is your friend here? She's quite the looker, for a dragoness."

"Frost, just Frost thank you," Frost answered for herself, mostly at ease after having not sensed a shred of suspicion or malice from the two unicorns. If the rest of the guard was like this, then Frost wouldn't have much to worry about, and it would answer why her sister had been able to invade so easily. "So I take it that you two know the twins from their time living here, in this grand castle?"

Frost looked around the hall that they were walking in. Golden engravings, marble floors, and opalescent pillars... it was truly something out of fairytale, but nothing was usually perfect without having faults. "That we do, Frost," one of the unicorns said, breaking Frost out of her entrancement. "You wouldn't believe the kind of trouble these two can cause together."

"Oh trust me when I say I'd believe it," Frost said, taking hold of Quill's hand, their tails intertwining with each other. Quill blushed at her marefriend's sudden move, but certainly didn't object.

For a moment, both guards' eyebrows rose at the sight, before one of the guards simply smirked as he shook his head. "Well I'll be… Quill, you sure know how to pick 'em," the guard said with a laugh, his companion joining him.

"Heh, you guys don't know the half of it," Quill giggled when Frost gave her cheek a nuzzle, telling Quill that they weren't in any kind of danger just yet. "So where is Celestia? I figured that she'd be the one to greet us at the doors."

"Well, yes, but Princess Celestia was a little busy with something this morning. So she said that we were to lead you to her personal study before going anywhere else. In fact, she seemed, well… relieved that you won, Quill," the guard on the right informed the young dragoness, thinking back to this morning when Celestia had relieved him and the other stallion of their duties out of the blue. "It was certainly an unorthodox thing, usually the Princess gives us a day of advance in notice, but this was completely out of the blue."

The other guard quickly started to nod his head. It was unexpected of Celestia to do something like that, but he wasn't going to complain. Escort duty beat portal duty anyday. "Yeah, at first I thought that she was just thrilled to spend a day with you two again. But…"

"But if that was the case, Celestia would've made sure there wasn't anything going on today. Is that it?" Spike questioned, knowing how Celestia worked from the years spent living around her. Spike's assumptions were only confirmed when the two guards again nodded their heads. "That is odd of her, every time Twi comes around to Canterlot, Celestia makes sure to have her day clear."

"You guys know what's this business is?" Quill asked, having a feeling that it had to be something important. But it wasn't just that, though. If Celestia knew they would be coming through the Everfree, and had a chariot waiting for them, along with two guards to escort them to her, then the mare had to have been planning something. And that worried her.

Quill's worry only grew when the two guards shrugged their shoulders. "No, she just told us to escort you three to her private study. I wouldn't worry though, she misses you two, so I'm sure that she'll be happy to see you guys again," the guard on the left told Quill, only adding to Quill and Spike's suspicions.

Frost immediately sensed the twins' worry and suspicion, causing herself to become curious about the matter. "Speaking of which, you two have really grown a lot," the guard continued, noticing the faint hints of muscle growth underneath Spike's gray shirt, and the size of Quill's wings. "I'm sure that Celestia will be happy to see how much you two have grown."

"Yeah, I'm sure she will be," Quill said, mostly to herself. As they continued down the hall, Quill took a quick glance down another hall to her right, seeing Dusk, Wave, and a third half-breed that seemed older than the other two. Quill shook herself and and brought her mind back to what was happening. Right now, her and Spike didn't need a distraction.

It wasn't much longer before they finally reached the end of the hall, where two more guards were standing on either side of a large, off-white door with the symbol of an orange and yellow sun with a metallic golden finish in the center.

The two escorts quickly saluted the two door guards before stepping out of the way for the twins and Frost to enter. "Alright you three, try not to do anything too crazy in there," one of the escort guards joked with a laugh, while a door guard opened the door for the three. "Be seeing ya around, you guys."

Both Quill and Spike nodded their heads before they entered the darkened room, the door closing quickly behind them. All three took a quick glance back to the shut door for a moment before looking ahead of them to see the very one they came to see; Princess Celestia, standing tall and proud in her white dress, adorned with golden embers that faded at the bottom. The princess was staring out the massive window behind her desk, looking over her city.

Frost still couldn't get over the massive gap between Celestia's power and virtually everyone else she had ever met. It was a power that only Isis could possibly hope to match, as far as she knew. Yet, somehow, Chrysalis had been able to overpower this mare. Was Celestia's massive power for show, or had the mare been holding back when Chrysalis attacked? There was no telling, but she knew that Celestia wasn't one to trifle with.

"Spike, Quill," Celestia finally spoke in a faint whisper, still staring out the one-way tinted window, after a tense moment of deadening silence in the black and empty room. Two chairs, a desk, and two shelves of books flush against the wall were the only thing that took up space in the room. And for some unknown reason, it only made the meeting that much more tense. "It's such a pleasure to see that you two are doing so well. And you brought a friend, Frost, wasn't it?"

"Why yes it is, I'm honored that you remembered me, Princess," Frost said with the highest level of respect she could manage. She wanted to keep the attention off of her as much as she could by acting like any other normal citizen would.

"Think nothing of it, my dear," Celestia angelically said, turning around to face her guests, waving her hand over the chairs to invite the three to sit down. "Please sit," Celestia said, taking her own seat in a much larger and more comfortable chair on her side of the desk. "You've been gone for two months. I would love to hear about what you two have been up to."

Spike glanced over towards Quill to see what she thought about the invitation, only getting Quill to nod her head back at Celestia. Sighing, Spike took the seat on the left while Quill pulled the seat out for Frost to sit down, choosing to stand by her marefriend.

"So how are things in the Everfree Forest? The winter is coming, and the weather out there can be very dangerous for you three," Celestia said, obviously trying to make conversation with the three, acting as though she didn't know the true reason for the twins being there. "But I'm sure you've all planned for that, haven't you?"

Quill looked over at Spike again, as he did the same, catching the knowing look in his eyes. Slowly, at the same time, both twins turned their heads back to the smile on Celestia's face before speaking one after the other. "Celestia, we want the truth, and nothing else," Spike opened up only for Quill to follow.

"We know you've been lying to us our entire lives, and it's time we hear the truth from you, Celestia." The smile on Celestia's face quickly dropped at the twins being very direct with their real intentions. She had already figured they would want something when they came here, and after having seen Isis yesterday, Celestia feared that the twins had unearthed the truth about her past.

"We want the truth, Celestia. How did you find our egg?" both twins questioned at the same time, both glaring at Celestia, who had remained silent.

Celestia turned her chair around to look out the window, watching the dark-gray storm clouds hanging above her city. With all the thoughts that were going through her head, the only thing that Celestia could do was sigh as she closed her eyes and remembered the day she found the twins' egg.

"Very well, however, I had wished this talk would happen when you were older. But I suppose that you two are mature enough to understand what happened by now," Celestia said as she looked up at the gray blanket over Canterlot, the imperfect setting that she had always imagined this day would be. "I can only hope that you two can forgive the grave mistake I made. That you can understand the hard choice I had to make. All those years ago…"

/ High Moon Ch. 52: Pride & Sacrifice part 2; Bracing the Storm/-/

High Moon Ch. 52: Pride & Sacrifice part two; Bracing the Storm

Only two short decades had passed since the Nightmare Rebellion had come to its destructive end. It had terraformed an entire forest where the former crowned city lay, resulting in the forced removal of its denizens. It was only by Celestia's difficult sacrifice, forced to banish her own sister to the moon for an unknown number of years, that the entire kingdom was saved from destruction.

Alone with her grief and guilt, Celestia was forced to take full control over her crippled kingdom. She had quickly tried to realign with the sovereign parts of Equestria that had broken away to form the Lunar Republics, but all attempts at communication were left unanswered by all the sovereign states that made up the new republics.

This had all happened only twenty short years ago, and now Equestria was on the path to rebuild, while the republics were beginning to unite together to the point where it seemed they would be self-reliant in the near future. This was more than welcomed by Celestia, as she had far too much on her plate already. It had gotten to the point where she had been using magic nearly constantly, even in her sleep. All just to keep the peace.

However, this peace was being threatened by clans of dragons uniting together and attacking random villages and towns. Rumours said that these dragons were forming their own regime, and were using their almighty power to push explorers and other equines out and away from the other side of the Swayback Mountains, and even parts of the newly forming forest; named the Everfree for the inability of any equine to settle in the lands without being preyed upon by some wild force of nature.

Celestia couldn't allow these attacks to go unanswered, not after having been made a fool of by her own younger sister. Yet all attempts to talk with the leaders of the rapidly growing empire fell on deaf ears. It seemed that this was going to be yet another war on Celestia's already blood-soaked hands. But for the sake of her kingdom, Celestia would gladly plunge herself into the fight.

Thankfully, after some small skirmishes, a truce was called between the dragons and Celestia before any more bloodshed could happen. Yet small groups of dragons seemed to ignore this truce. In particular, one of their smaller, but more powerful, groups converged on a small village where it was said that Celestia was resting at after a meeting with the dragons' new leaders.

To these dragons, their intentions were true and just in their eyes. Far too many of their kind had been mercilessly and savagely killed by ponies calling themselves dragon-hunters. In spite of Celestia having formally forbidden the hunting of dragons for profit, some ponies kept at it. It was rumored that her foremost general, and current lover, was one of those ponies that ignored her declaration.

At first, dragons were able to keep to themselves, wanting to keep the truce alive, but these ponies continued hunt them and their young. In doing so, they had broken the truce that Celestia had worked so hard to forge with the new empire.

This clan of dragons in particular had been attacked before, and had finally had enough. They decided that if the ponies wanted war, they were going to give them war. The strike was quick, a blinding fury of fire and other elements, roasting ponies in their homes, and burning buildings down to the ground. There was no quarter given to the ponies, none were deemed innocent of the crime of having hunted dragons. Celestia and her elite guard quickly moved into action, with Celestia taking on the dragons herself.

During the battle, lives continued to be lost. Farmers, merchants, artisans and even the guard itself was cooked alive from the dragons' furious rage. Within mere hours, the village was an utter loss, numerous lives burned away, many more severely injured. Even the skies themselves seemed injured from the fire and smoke poisoning the clouds, resulting in ash raining down from the blackened skies.

For every pony that fell, though, Celestia's fury grew. She hurled her rage and power in full at the dragons, each individual falling quickly from her own unmatched might. Yet in spite of her arcane skills, even this goddess had a limit to her endurance, becoming badly injured and exhausted from the protracted fight.

It got to the point where all Celestia could do was teleport the invaders to some part far within the forest, but even that was starting to drain her magic, which had been exhausted fighting off the raging dragons. But she continued to rage on until the number of the dragons had dwindled down to a mere four; two male Salamanders, one dragoness, and possibly the most frightful of them, a King Drake.

As the two winged dragons kept their distance from Celestia, the two Salamanders circled around her, both ready to finish the mare off at a command from their leader. The most the celestial princess could do was hold up her shield and halberd in defense. Her battle had been long and hard, yet these dragons were fighting with a purpose, and they seemed to be set on killing her.

The thought of actually dying scared the mare somewhat, especially without the powers of the Elements of Harmony to save her like they had with her sister. She hadn't expected the dragons to attack after the truce had been made. Celestia had been looking forward to peace.

"Tell me! Why have you attacked us after the truce was forged?" Celestia questioned, her bloodshot eyes glaring at the purple and silver King Drake hovering before her, in spite of his mighty wings having been damaged during the fray. "Do you dragons enjoy this senseless death?! Is that truly your nature?!"

A rumbling growl that shook the very ground came from the King Drake, causing Celestia to flinch from the sheer force behind it. "No, it is you who crave violence and destruction, Sun Goddess," the King Drake roared with purple and silver flames emitting from his nose and mouth, his eyes shining a bright silver. "You send your…dragon-hunters to do your bidding while you lie to the Great One's face."

Celestia's face scrunched up at the drake's accusation, as she had forbidden any acts of hunting dragons for mere trophies, despite having partaken in it herself years before the Nightmare Rebellion. That was one of the topics of many arguments she'd had with Luna. But Celestia was trying to turn over a new leaf, she was trying to atone for her sins.

"What are you-"

"Silence, coward! You speak of peace, but this only a ploy so you can secretly kill us off. Isn't it?! Tell the truth, mare! Admit to your sins!" the King Drake shouted at Celestia with a roar of towering fire from him and the remaining dragons.

The unholy display of power sent a chill down Celestia's spine, forcing her to acknowledge her fear of dying once again. "All of you equines are the same, you plea for peace only to stab others in the back! Is the kind of ruler you are?! You have already eliminated your own sister, just so you could have the throne all to yourself. Is that not the case, you conniving mare?!"

"No! I would never do such a thing," Celestia retorted, though it sounded weak to her own ears. Over the past two decades, she had begun to question herself whether or not if she really had done the right thing by banishing Luna to their mother, but it was the only thing she could do. "Please, I beg of you, cease your attack. The greater parts of Equestria had nothing to do with those dragon-hunters. Your anger is misguided!"

"NO!" the King Drake roared, shooting a flood of purple and silver fire towards Celestia, that she was only just able to defend against with a barrier. However, the barrier only drained more of Celestia's magic, causing her to fall to her knees, breathing harshly.

Celestia struggled to regain her composure after the sudden and powerful attack from the King Drake, but the battle had taken too much of a toll on her. The fact that most of her magic had yet to return to her after the Nightmare Rebellion also hindered her.

"Our anger is not misguided! We know exactly what we are doing, mare," the drake said, waving his hand toward the two darkly-colored Salamanders circling Celestia. Suddenly, both drakes started to charge at the mare with blinding speed, rushing Celestia before she had a chance to put up a strong enough barrier to stop the attack.

One swing was all it took before Celestia was sent flying from the one of the larger drake's sharp claws, before she was caught by the second smaller yet faster drake, and thrown back onto the ground.

Still reeling from the sudden attacks, Celestia was unable to stop the elder Salamander from swiping his arm at Celestia's side, sending her to collide with a thick oak tree. After the side of her body slammed into the tree, Celestia was left heavily dazed as blood began to trickle down from the side of her head.

Just as she was getting up from the ground, the younger black and dull-green Salamander drake came running at Celestia. He grabbed her by the mane to slam her head back against the tree, before throwing her back to roughly the same spot she faintly remembered being at. The King Drake's clawed feet were the first thing she could see after her vision returned.

Heavily gasping, drained of her magic, and beaten, Celestia struggled to get back to her feet, coughing up a mouthful of blood. She raised her head up to the towering drake, looking into the burning anger in his eyes.

"Now do you now know what it feels like to be hunted? Out-numbered, without a single shred of hope of winning. This," the drake stopped, waving his hand over to the burning ashes that was once a thriving village. A village filled with ponies whose lives had been turned to cinder by the fury of the dragons' attack.

"This is what it is like to be hunted. To have your peace ripped from your hands by a force you have no power of stopping. This is how us dragons feel every time you ponies are near. Remember this lesson, Princess. For it is not one that I will allow you to live through again."

Celestia strained to get off the ground, digging for any kind of power she had left to use, but her body had been pushed past its limit as she slumped to the ground with a moan of pain. All she could do was lay there on the ground as the dragons began to leave, retreating deep within the forest.

Once again, Celestia was able to walk away with her life in defeat. This was nothing but a repeat of what had happened two decades ago. Trying to ride out the pain, Celestia turned over to her back, spreading out her severely damaged wings as she stared up to the blackened skies infected with ash.

Staring up at the ash clouds, something awakened inside of Celestia. Something she hadn't felt since she had dealt with the Followers of the Fallen Star. An anger, a rage, directed at her own failures, she became trapped in a vortex of emotions that fed off her own self-loathing, before it finally broke free of its restrains.

Celestia's breathing began to quicken as her stained fur, tarnished by blood, dirt, and ash, began to shimmer with a bright, heated light. Her wounds were healing, seemingly of their own accord. Her eyes and mane started to shine with a bright holy light, becoming filled with the same intensity of her anger.

Suddenly, Celestia let out a gut-wrenching scream, overtaken by a blood-boiling rage and surge of fully-released magic. A bright golden pillar of light, so bright and powerful that it broke through the thick layer of soot, shot up from where Celestia was laying down, blinding any that would've dared to stare into its light. The ground began cracking in a bright golden-yellow light just from the sheer heat of Celestia's rage, charring anything above and below it.

Once the light had faded, Celestia was no longer on the ground writhing in pain, but instead hovering in the air, clad in a full suit of armor, wielding a new shield and halberd. Her body had been warped, twisted, by the burning hatred in her very core.

All that was on her mind was vengeance. A payment for the loss she had suffered through, for the humiliation that those dragons forced her to suffer through. She had only one thing on her mind: to hunt.

Canterlot castle, Celestia's private study

As Celestia ended her story, both the twins and Frost were left in utter disbelief of what the mare had told them. Frost felt nothing from the mare but utter calm - it seemed she was telling the truth. The mere thought that Celestia had done what she was implying sent both Quill and Spike into a mind-blowing rage. Only one question was stopping them from acting on this rage…

"They… they were our parents, weren't they? They were from that clan?" Quill gulped hard, eyes locked on the princess before her. "D-did...did you really do it, Celestia?" Quill demanded, her hands curling into claws, before she forced them back into something that was more manageable. A quiet moment passed by, causing Quill's rage to come to the fore. "Answer me you...you...you dragon-hunter." She whispered the word like a curse.

Frost saw that Quill was gripping at the knees of her pant legs, her claws clenched so hard that she seemed about ready to tear through them. She could see the fury in her eyes, feel it emanating from the young dragoness. Yet somehow, Quill seemed to be holding her rage at bay, for now. Frost put her hand on Quill's shoulder, to help keep her calm. "Quill, it's going to be-"

Suddenly, the scorpio mare was cut off by the sound of wood breaking. Quill jumped, looking at Frost in surprise. Neither of them had moved. They looked at Spike, seeing the drake standing in front of Celestia's desk, one fist buried in the heavy oak, cracks splintering from the hole towards the edges. Spike didn't seem to have noticed that his body had moved.

A long pause came over the room as Spike took a moment to calm himself down before removing his hand from the shattered wood. When he did, he had a piece of wood in his clenched fist. He discarded the wooden shrapnel, placing his hands on either side of the broken desk, causing it to cave in.

"My sister asked you a question, Celestia," Spike spat, his eyes faded with a dark-red light, unknowingly allowing his ancestor to influence his actions. Spike's mind quickly became clouded with dark thoughts he had never had before. "Did you, or did you not kill our parents!?"

Slowly, Celestia turned her chair around, looking into the anger and hatred that was filling the twins' eyes, especially Spike's. She was surprised by his action. If either of the twins would have done something rash, she had expected it to be Quill. Celestia knew this day would come, however, and she knew how the twins would likely react, regardless of their age.

Celestia let out a long sigh, happy, or at least thankful, that the twins still had some control over themselves. There was another long pause as Celestia gathered the strength to answer the question. "Yes, I did Spike. I killed not only your parents, but their entire clan. And I did it without mercy. Much like how they destroyed that village."

The moment Celestia's words left her lips, lightning flashed through the skies, only adding to the intensity of the room. Before Quill's rage could overtake her, Spike again let his own get the better of him as he forced the desk to split into two, letting out a roar of anger.

Celestia remained calm in front of the furious drake, knowing that the twins knew they couldn't ever hope to take her on. As the mare continued to remain quiet, Spike continued his rage as he picked up and tossed one half of the desk into a bookcase, littering the floor with books.

"Like it or not, that's what happened," Celestia started, interrupting Spike's rampage with her cold and regal voice. "Spike, Quill, your parents were going to start another war that would have surely destroyed Equestria. I did what I had to as ruler. Surely you two can-"

"So that gave you some right to kill our parents?!" Spike shouted at Celestia, still trying to come to terms with what the mare was saying. "You murdered our parents and stole our egg away from their dead bodies...didn't you?!"

Celestia sighed as another bolt of lightning arced through the sky, turning to face Spike. The moment Celestia's connected with Spike's, she frowned at the red tint glinting in his anger-filled eyes. "Yes, I did. At the time, I thought that I could give you two a proper upbringing. But the years had taught me that I simply wasn't ready. That's why I had your egg put in stasis, to be a test for any of my students that showed the proper magical aptitude to hatch it. None did until Twilight showed up."

Spike, breathing heavily from the emotional overload, fell back against the bookshelf, straining to regain control over himself. Meanwhile, Quill was beginning to breathe out wisps of purple flames. "I am truly sorry for what I did, but if I had to do it all over again, I still wouldn't change a thing. Listen, the both of yo-"

"Stuff it, dragon-hunter! Why should we listen to anything you have to say!?" Quill shouted, as she too was boiling with anger and disappointment. "All our lives we believed every lie you told us, and I'm fucking sick of it! You killed our parents and you thought that you could make it up by being our mother?! You are fucking sick!"

More lighting echoed in the background as Celestia took in what the twins now thought of her. It was painfully obvious that they no longer wanted anything to do with her. And if she was honest with herself, if she were in their shoes, she'd likely feel the same. She turned to face Quill. "Call it how you will, but I saved this kingdom from another bloody war that it would not survive. May I remind you that I took care of-"

"YOU didn't take care of shit! All YOU did was order someone to take care of us, and even then we still had to do most of the work ourselves!" Quill continued to shout at Celestia. "Our dad was right, you are just out for yourself. You sent away your own sister because you feared her. You killed our family because you feared them. That's all you ever know, fear."

As Quill's voice trailed off, Spike regained the strength to stand up again, now having the ability to control his actions. "Celestia, d-did you really believe that you could replace our mother? Did you honestly believe that we would have been happy living with ponies and not our own kind?" Spike questioned the mare in a scratchy, deep voice that came to him from all the shouting. "Did you really think, for even a second, that you could atone for your sins by pretending to be our mother?"

Celestia closed her eyes for a moment to think to herself, to question herself, if she had ever really thought that she could be absolved of her sins by fostering the twins. "No…" she started, only faintly opening her eyes as another flash of lightning tore through the sky. "Never did I think that my conscious could be cleared by simply adopting you two. The acts I committed that day will forever haunt me. As will what happened with my sister. But I had thought, once you two were old enough to understand, that I could start by telling you what I had done."

"Well guess what, you were wrong," Spike spat. He was sick, disappointed, and disgusted with the mare, never wanting anything to do with her ever again. "I'm disappointed in you, Celestia. Not for what you've done, but for keeping the truth from us all our lives. You not only lied about it, but you also lied to us about our magic. You've been keeping us docile, so when you finally told us, you wouldn't be at risk."

Quill turned her head towards her brother, surprised at how quick her brother had pieced everything together. "You were afraid of us, weren't you Celestia?" she questioned in a hollow voice. Frost, still standing beside Quill, wrapped her arms around Quill's neck in an attempt to calm her. "You were worried once we knew what happened to our parents, what you'd done, that we would go on a rampage. That we would try to take revenge for their deaths. You were scared what what we would do."

"And don't I have reason to be?" Celestia returned, half turning to look at the now shocked expression on Quill's face. "Just look at what Spike has done with only two and a half months of living like a dragon is supposed to. Your parents were exceptionally strong dragons. Apparently their blood runs strong in you, if you two have grown so much in such a short time. What do you think you would've done if you were older, and knew more about your magic?"

"The same fucking thing that's going through my head right now," Quill growled with a menacing wisp of fire from her nose. "But you wanna know what? Fuck. You," Quill said, pointing a finger at Celestia with one small, lone, tear beginning to crawl down her cheek. Quill quickly wiped it away before more could join it. "You don't have to worry about us taking any sort of revenge on you. Because I am so fucking done with everything that has to deal with you, Celestia! You're a liar, a cheater, and a self-righteous bitch!"

Quill spat out a small wad of purple and black flames on the right half of the desk, the flame dying just as it landed, leaving a small scorch mark. "Good luck with ruling your kingdom, your highness. We're gonna be living our lives the way we want to from now on. Spike, you ready to go?" Quill asked, itching to leave Canterlot and get back to High Moon, where she could collapse from emotional exhaustion.

"I can't believe you, Celestia. You may be an immortal, but that doesn't give you the right to throw away lives like that. Regardless of the situation," Spike said before pushing off the bookshelf, breaking a shelf doing so. "Yeah Quill, let's go home."

Both barely keeping their emotions under control, Quill and Spike began to leave the room in mutual hatred of Celestia. However, as Spike reached out for the door handle, Celestia stopped them, saying, "And I wish you luck in living your lives however you wish to. You will always be welcome here… And… I'm sure that your parents would be proud of you."

Spike and Quill both snapped their jaws at the mare before Spike swung the door open, letting Frost and Quill walk through before he followed, slamming the door behind him. The three didn't waste any time as they rushed out of the castle, trying to get as far away from Celestia as they could.

As they ran out into the rain, it seemed to serve to cool Quill and Spike down to the point where they weren't giving off rage-filled emotions. Frost, doing her best to fight her fear of storms, was worried for the twins. She couldn't tell what the twins were feeling now, just that somehow their rage was gone. And that didn't make sense. In a matter of a few short hours, they had gone through something that nobody else could ever possibly understand.

"Guys, are you two alright?" Frost asked in a slow tone of voice as her and Spike followed Quill down the empty streets. Suddenly, Quill came to a stop with Spike doing the same after a few more steps, causing Frost's worry to grow. "That was something no one should be put through and I am-"

"Hey Frost," Quill cut Frost off, turning around to face her marefriend with a small smile. "You want something to eat? Spike and I know this great donut shop, that would really hit the spot right now. I packed some money with me so we could eat, and I figured we may as well. Right Spike?"

"Yeah," Spike nodded back at Quill with the same smile on his face as his twin. "It's been too long since we've seen Donut Joe, and some donuts would definitely hit the spot right about now."

Frost was speechless at what she was hearing, and sensing, from the twins. After what they'd just gone through, Frost had believed that they wouldn't be able to smile for a long while, at least not an honest one. But here they were, after going through one of the worse situations she could have ever expected them to go through, and they were honestly happy.

It baffled Frost, but if Quill was happy, then she was happy too.

"Okay you two, if this 'donut' is as good as you are making it sound, then I don't mind," Frost said what a soft smile on her face, still on the fence about how the twins were truly feeling. She knew, however, that the worst thing she could do was ruin whatever was giving them the ability to smile.

Right as Frost was going to continue, another large bolt of lightning went off behind them, causing Frost to jump before she rushed over towards Quill to grab onto her arm. Quill giggled at the taller changeling's sudden move, taking hold of the mare's hand, and nuzzling against her to give Frost some comfort.

"It's alright Frost, I won't let anything happen to you," Quill whispered into Frost's ear to help calm her mare down. "Just stay calm and nothing will happen, you'll see. A cup of warm milk will help you."

Frost soon stopped her shaking from her lover's affectionate move and calming emotions, easily putting her at ease. "Th-thank you Quill," Frost said as she straightened herself out and returned Quill's affectionate hold and nuzzle. "Yes, let's go get that cup of milk and donuts." Quill nodded her head towards her mare before they began walking down the street again with Spike right by their side.

As the three continued to walk down the street, the rain seemed to continue to purge both Quill and Spike of all their dark thoughts about Celestia, as the two remembered they had their whole lives to look forward to. And they weren't going to start their new lives nursing that hate.

"So you're afraid of lightning, huh?"

"It isn't funny Spike!" Both twins began laughing at the pouting mare, helping to lighten the mood. "Guh, you guys can be so mean sometimes. The both of you." Soon all three were laughing together as they made their way into the plaza of Canterlot, where Frost suddenly stopped with a wide-eyed expression on her face.

Both Spike and Quill stopped walking to see what was up with the mare. However when they looked back, all they saw was Frost staring up at a building. "Frost, what's the matter?" Quill asked, only having seen this expression on Frost's face when she was around Dusk for the first time. "Is something the-"

"There is something here," Frost said, backing away from Quill for a few steps. She continued to look around the empty streets for the source of the sudden peak in malice, insanity, and fear. "Something here is very dangerous." Frost turned back to Quill with a serious look on her face, the look on her face telling Quill all she needed to know. "We have to leave, now!"

Quill quickly snapped into action the moment Frost's voice took a grave tone, looking around the plaza to spot somewhere they could duck down while they figured out what had Frost so spooked. That's when she spotted a dark alleyway near them. "Over here quick, we can duck in here," Quill said, rushing over to the alleyway with the other two at close heel.

They stopped in the alleyway with Spike at the edge of the corner, peering out at the empty streets while Quill saw to Frost. "C'mon Spike, talk to me," Quill said, keeping her hands on Frost, who seemed to be growing more anxious by the second. "What do you see out there?"

Spike didn't answer Quill's question immediately as he looked around the corner corner, only seeing the empty streets of Canterlot. Although, that was normal when it was raining here in the mountain city. But Frost's warning, and actions, had him questioning the deserted streets.

"I don't see anything, but Frost is right, there is something out there," Spike informed Quill, still searching around the area for what he was starting to sense, but coming up with nothing. "I don't- wait, wait, hold up I see something."

Quill turned her head away from Frost, moving to peek around the corner with Spike, and following his gaze. At the far end of the street Quill saw a hooded figure walking slowly in the rain with, an ominous aura about him. Both twins immediately recognized the robes - they were an exact match to the same robes Dusk described when he had told them about the unicorn that had attacked Ponyville.

"Oh shit, it's that occult guy. Fuck, we don't need this right now," Quill said, hiding back around the corner with Spike moving away from the edge before they got spotted. With the day they were trying to salvage now ruined at the sight of the hooded figure, the twins were forced to make a decision.

"We can't run," Spike said, glancing back over the corner to see that the hooded figure standing in a single spot, as though he was waiting on something. "Those guys are after some filly with some strange and powerful magic, right? What do you think will happen if they get their hands on her?"

"It'll be a war that Equestria isn't ready for," Quill said, looking down at the concrete ground as she thought about their situation. After what Celestia had told them, the twins had good reason to leave Canterlot, and let Celestia tend to this dark cloud looming over her city. However, that would go against everything they personally stood, and had trained for. "Alright, let's see what he does, and when an opportunity comes up, we'll make our move."

"That's the plan?" Spike questioned in a low shout of a whisper, hoping, wishing that Quill had something better than the whole 'wait and see' routine as her plan.

"It's all we can do Spike. If you don't remember, one of those guys was able to kick the Elements' collective asses, and badly hurt a guy like Dusk. So it would be even more stupid to rush in there without knowing what he can do," Quill informed the drake. To be honest, the whole reason she wanted to wait was because of a lesson she had learned the hard way from Wolf and Frost. "If we really have to go in, I'll be the one to rush him while you two follow up with some magic."

Spike bit down on his lip at his own rushed thoughts, scolding himself for thinking that Quill would really be foolish enough to just attack without any real sort of plan. 'Man, Quill really has grown...' Spike thought to himself before nodding his head. "Okay sis," he nodded again, "I'm with you. There's no way this guy can beat us all if we take him on at the same time."

Quill nodded her head back at Spike before looking over to her lover to her right. "What about you Frost? You don't have to get involved if you don't want to."

"And leave you two to fight that monster by yourselves? No, Quill," Frost answered with a shake of her head, waving off all fears she had about the storm so she could focus on what was happening. "We've already been through this, I'm never letting you fight alone. But if I may make a suggestion to your plan?"

Quill again nodded her head with a growing smile, relieved that Frost was on their side with this as they could use all the help they could get. And with Frost once having been a changeling princess of a hive of half-breeds, that had to mean that Frost would know some fighting tactics that would aid in this situation. Though, an even greater relief would be knowing whether or not Dusk and his sisters were still in the city.

"Anything would help out a lot Frost, what is it?"

"It's regarding how we are going to rush him. I say that you should strike from the air with a barrage of fireballs. Just to distract him so me and Spike can be right there to follow behind your attack." Quill nodded her head, knowing that she was at a disadvantage with the rain going on.

But with the rain getting worse, Spike and Frost were at a bigger advantage. "I'll be right behind you to imprison the unicorn in ice. If that doesn't work, Spike, I want you to be right behind me and follow up with an attack that will stun him."

"Alright got ya Frost, that unicorn won't know wha-"

"H...hello?" All three turned their attentions away from the sudden turn of events, looking down the dark alleyway. They could barely make out a small, frail, and sickly looking off-white filly, with a messy long purple mane that faded into silver at the ends. She was hiding behind a trash-can, and wearing a weathered white dress.

"P...please he-help me...Papa…I wa-want my Papa," the filly said with a series of gut-wrenching coughs, leaving wheezing for breath as she was forced to her knees. "P-Papa...I-I miss m-my Papa."

Quill, and the others gaped at the filly. Why would a filly be out in this weather? As they struggled to understand who she was, Quill came to a quick assumption. There had to be a reason the occultists were showing up now. And that meant… "Hey guys...you don't think that this is the filly that Dusk told us about? The one those hooded guys are after."

"I don't know Quill, but we have-" Frost was cut off by an explosion shaking the plaza, and from the force of it, most likely all of Canterlot. As everyone in the alley was able to get back up on their feet, Spike quickly peered out of the corner to find that the scene had drastically changed.

Now instead of just the lone hooded figure, the plaza was filled with odd and strange creatures, made with what appeared to be dark-gray and silver armor and held together by some shadowy force. Each of the armor-clad creatures had a long, curved black-steel blade in their hands, some seeming to be attached to their hands. Some of the armored creatures also had shields, spears, lances, and axes equipped on them.

A group of these metallic creatures were even airborne, held up by sharp purple wings that faded to a pale-silver at the tips. These creatures had long, almost dragon-like bodies with a helm shaped strangely like the muzzle of a dragon. Each of these winged creatures held a spear-like lance in their hands with a semi-circle spiked guard in the middle.

Spike even saw some of the larger ones that resembled what Dusk had fought in Ponyville, some with no weapons and other with large blunt guillotine-axes in one of their hands. He also noticed that two of the towering monsters held half of a shield on their arms and were built more rugged than the other ones.

Spike eventually spotted one standing on top of a building in the far distance, seeming to be the leader of the group, with three of the slightly curved blades on him.

Disregarding their colors, the creatures almost looked like a "sentinel" that Spike had seen once in the books from the Canterlot archives. A type of magic that was now forbidden had been used to create these creatures. After the Nightmare Rebellion had ended, they were used as the primary defence force for Equestria, as the nation had suffered heavy losses. The book stood out in Spike's mind, as it was one of the very few that talked about one of the forbidden types of magic - Necromancy. Like many other ancient practices, Celestia had forbidden its use after she had banished her sister to the moon.

Initially Spike thought that the hooded unicorn in the street was the one that had summoned these sentinels, but he was proven wrong when one of the metal beings attacked the unicorn. The unicorn summoned a large golden lance and speared the sentinel through the chestplate. The armor came apart, and the unicorn tossed the pierced chestpiece off his lance with another strong swing.

Unable to make sense of the situation, Spike turned back to his sister and Frost, who was tending to the filly. "Uh, guys, our situation changed," Spike said, cutting into the two lover's conversation while the unknown unicorn continued to confront the sentinels. "We might have to just book it, because I don't think we can handle this ourselves."

Quill moved away from the filly and Frost to see what the commotion was all about. When she peeked around the corner, Quill was stunned at the sight of the masked unicorn decimating each of the sentinels. At the same time, he was causing as much, if not even more, destruction than the sentinels were. It was hard to tell who was who in this fight, but that didn't matter when the fighting and bursts of magic quickly began moving towards them.

"Oh shit, get back!" Quill shouted, pulling Spike back away from the corner right as a stray burst of energy was fired their way. Luckily, the edge of the building was the only thing to suffer damage. "Great, just great. What are we gonna do now?"

Spike opened his mouth to answer, only to be cut off by another massive explosion rocking the ground. "This is not good, if that guy keeps this up, Canterlot won't have to worry about any snowstorms this year." Suddenly, several more explosions erupted throughout the city, all coming from different parts of the city. A siren soon followed after, signifying something the twins already knew was happening.

"Canterlot is under attack...again!"

"Gee, what gave you that idea Captain Obvious?" Quill retorted, snapping her head towards Spike, and mouthing, 'You are so stupid sometimes,' before turning back towards Frost, who was cuddling the now-shaking filly in her arms. "We need to get her out of here before they find her."

Spike turned his head away from the scene as a few guards arrived to engage the sentinels, turning towards his sister. "But where are we gonna take her? It's not like there's a place we can drop her off. Unless we…"

"Look," Quill cut in, snapping her head towards Spike to glare at him. It was easy for the both of them to tell that they were thinking of the same place, despite them not ever wanting to go back there. "I don't like it as much as you do, but we don't have many options in this case. We have to get her to the castle, at least then these guys won't be able to reach her."

"Quill is right, Spike," Frost stepped in right as a guard, oddly a canine of some sort, was thrown down to the ground with the sickening sound of his shoulder dislocating. The group in the alleyway winced from the sound of the canine crying out in pain. "It isn't safe out here any more, and we could ensure the defeat of...whoever these unicorns are."

"Yeah, I know but…" Spike sighed as Quill dashed over to the fallen soldier to help him to his feet. As she brought him over and sat him against the wall, Frost handed Spike the filly with difficulty, as she didn't want to let the mare go. Thankfully, Spike was able to convince the crying filly so Frost could treat the canine's injuries. "Quill, you can't be serious with this right? We're not honestly going back to the castle."

"We don't have a choice Spike," Quill growled, disliking the idea as much as Spike did. However, if they wanted to put an end to this whole thing, then they were going to have to take the filly to the castle.

Spike let out a growl of his own at his inability to find a way to argue against Quill's point. The last thing he wanted to do was even go anywhere near the castle, let alone Celestia. Yet, they couldn't let these unicorns get their hands on the filly. "Alright, but only because we don't have any other options. And we might want to leave sooner than later. It's getting dangerous over here."

Spike's statement was emphasized by one of the sentinels being thrown into the front wall of the building they were hiding behind, landing right in front of the alleyway before being dragged off by some golden-silver tinted magical grip.

Spike shook his head at the tight spot they were in, turning his attention to the filly that was clinging to him, crying against his chest. He put one claw in her hair, brushing it in what he hoped was a calming manner, as he whispered to her, telling her that she was going to be fine, and he was going to take her somewhere safe.

Quill turned her attention to the black-furred canine, trying to catch a good look at his eyes. "Hey you," Quill snapped her fingers in the red-orange haired canine's face to get him to lift his head from the ground. When Quill was able to look into the soldier's eyes, she didn't feel anything off about him. Which meant she could probably trust him enough with the plan she was coming up with.

"Got a name, guard-dog?"

Slowly, while Frost was using the strongest healing spell she knew, the canine soldier turned his head up towards the dragoness who had came to his rescue. "Sh-Shadow...Shadow Star, I-I'm a private in the guard," Shadow Star said with gratitude in his voice, thankful for the dragoness coming to his aid. To think, he had only just fully joined the guard a few days ago, and then this happened. Clearly the best decision he'd ever made. "Thank you for saving me, but I should be able to get back into the battle."

Another explosion shook the ground, forcing everyone to duck for cover as chunks of buildings were thrown outward. Quill backed up to the wall behind her, catching a glimpse of the fight still going on in the plaza. From the looks of things, the guards were having trouble keeping up with the fast-moving sentinels, especially the one that looked like their leader.

And yet, the masked unicorn seemed to not have suffered a single scratch, despite being the one causing most of the destruction. Each time the unicorn struck down another one of the sentinels, he would spit out some dribble about how unicorns were the superior race, before he went back to decimating the sentinels and Canterlot.

At this rate, the masked unicorn was going to destroy Canterlot before he could actually 'save' it. "That guy is completely insane, I can tell just by his movements," Quill said turning her attention back towards Frost and Shadow. "Frost, how is he?" Frost continued tending to Shadow's shoulder while he gritted his teeth to keep from screaming out in pain.

"Your shoulder is dislocated," Frost decided, after a moment of trying to understand what kind of injury he had. Shadow let out a small growl, knowing exactly what was going to come next. "Quill, come help me relocate his shoulder so I can get to work on healing his injury."

Quill nodded her head, moving to Shadow's left side to take hold of his left shoulder and right collarbone to brace herself while Spike gave them a puzzled look. "Wait, Frost, dragon magic can't heal bones. You're not going to…"

"I am, Spike," Frost said with an assuring tone in her voice as she stood up from the ground, sparking her changeling magic. "We can't afford to mess this up. Not just with healing Shadow here, but getting that filly to the castle as well. And you already know what I'm doing, right Quill?"

"I do, but I don't like it Frost," Quill said as she bit her lip, now even more worried about what might happen if things really went south. "Go ahead Frost, the faster we do it, the more time we have to think and act later."

Frost nodded her head before she took in a deep breath, willing her changeling magic to surge forth as she used the shape-shifting spell to change her scorpio self. Small deep-blue flickers of ethereal flames began growing on various parts of her body before they gave way to her scorpio form.

Shadow's eyes widened at the dragoness going up in blue flames to reveal a scorpio mare, and not just any ordinary scorpio, at that. "By the Threads," the half-blood said, staring at the tall and young changeling half-breed in front of him, quickly realizing what she was. "Y-you're a H-Hive P-princess. Your highness, please forgive my-"

"That's enough, Shadow," Frost shook her head at the canine, confirming her suspicion that he was a mixed breed between diamond dog and one of the changeling races. "I am no longer a princess. You should be more worried about your shoulder, because I fear this will hurt. And you also might want to undo your own shape-shift, it will make this easier for you."

Shadow nodded his head towards the former princess, closing his eyes to focus on what little magic he had from his bloodline. Shadow's body soon was covered in a gray mist that quickly faded away to reveal two horns protruding from his red-orange hair, with wavy fiery-orange markings along the visible parts of his cheeks, shoulders and arms.

Both Quill and Spike were shocked to see the canine change form in front of them, but were relieved at their luck. "Okay Quill, you know what to do." Quill nodded her head at Frost before turning back to Shadow, giving him a nod as well.

"Quill, was it? Go ahead, you'd be surprised ho-" Shadow speech turned into a loud shout from Quill unexpectedly popping his shoulder back into its natural place. He honestly had thought that the dragoness would have waited before doing something like that, but then again they weren't in a good position to get to know each other right now. "Okay...that hurt."

"Frost," Quill quickly started, moving away from Shadow as another blast of magic shook the city, the sounds of battle all around them. She moved back to the corner to peek around and see what was going on.

Much to her dismay, Quill saw that the masked unicorn was now engaging even more sentinels, but this time most of them were bare-handed and much larger. 'Those are more like the thing Dusk went up against. We need to get out of here.'

"Hurry and get this guy up and running again. We're gonna need him, like now," Quill said, now searching for a weapon to use so they could force their way through the chaos and to the castle. She quickly found one of the sentinel's curved blades laying on the ground just outside of the alleyway. "When I say go, Spike, you lead Shadow and Frost through the alleyways back to the main street. I'll be right back."

Before either Spike or Frost could stop the dragoness, Quill ran out into the fray on all fours, bolting straight for the black blade. Right as the blade became in reach, Quill made a leap for it, grabbing it from the ground as she ducked and rolled. Quill took a small moment to hold the sword in her right hand; curved, slender, and single-edged.

It was easy to tell that these blades were made for speed; the curvature meant that it was a slashing tool. Judging from the length of the handle, it was meant to be a two-handed weapon. Yet for Quill it felt better with just one hand. It felt...natural to her, despite the fact that Quill had never used a sword before. There was something, almost like a pull she felt from the blade, almost as if she could fuse her magic with it.

"Quill, look out!" Frost shouted as one of the sentinels had noticed Quill's movement, and began to charge at her. Quill didn't hesitate as she dashed away from the fast-moving sentinel with the help of her wings, rushing as fast as she could back to the alleyway to rejoin the others.

However, Quill's escape route back to the alleyway was cut off by the sentinel leaping over Quill's head, raising its blade above its head to deliver a downward blow. Remembering her lessons about adapting to different situations in combat from Wolf, Quill quickly swung her blade up to met the sentinel's strike, knocking it back, and giving her the opening she needed to let loose a torrent of purple fire to the soulless puppet's face.

The fire, while seeming to damage it, didn't fully stop the sentinel as it went for a sideways strike at Quill's neck. Quill was able to duck underneath the strike, taking the opportunity to sweep her legs at the sentinel's legs, causing it to fall to the ground as she whirled around on one hand with the leftover momentum.

Before the sentinel could get up again, Quill slammed her foot down onto the sentinel's sword-arm and rammed her new sword through its chest. She raised her hand up above her head, gathering and focusing her magic into a small, apple-sized ball of bright purple flames. "Ignis iacula." Quill threw the highly concentrated ball of fire at the sentinel's shoulder plate of its sword-arm, blowing it apart from the rest of the body before piercing the torso.

The ethereal glow of the sentinel's eyes soon faded away as the pieces of armor fell apart from each other. Counting that as a kill, Quill pulled her sword out of the sentinel's chest armor, picking up the sheath that was attached to its waist.

"Luna, that was a close one," Quill said with a sigh before she rushed into the alleyway where she was quickly embraced by Frost. Before Quill could even say a word, Frost placed a quick passionate kiss on Quill's lips before the mare finally let her speak. "Frost, would you chill, I'm okay. That tin-can couldn't keep up with me."

"Quill, don't you ever scare me like that ever again," Frost said, despite the fact that Quill was able to handle the fight fairly well on her own. Frost let out a sigh, not believing that she allowed even the smallest bit of doubt enter her heart about Quill's skills. But now wasn't the time to be acting like this. "At least now we have a strategy of taking on these walking suits of armor."

"Yeah, take out their arms and go for the chest," Quill said, glad for the experience from the short fight. She had also noticed that there was a large difference from fighting the walking suits of armor. They didn't have souls, so there seemed to be a lack of will behind them, which only served to upset Quill, for some reason.

"Come on, let's get moving already." Quill placed the black blade into the sheath as she and the others started to get ready to leave the alleyway. Before they could leave, however, Quill turned towards the half-blood that was still trying to get the numb feeling out of his shoulder. "Shadow, rejoin your team. Tell them how to beat these things, and that the masked unicorn isn't on our side."

"Understood, I'll make sure to tell them. Thank you all for everything, and stay safe," Shadow said with a nod towards Quill, which she returned, before he ran back out into the fray, his claws fully unsheathed and ready to use his training. With the half-blood returning to the battle, Quill, Frost, and Spike all focused on their plan to get the filly, who was now quietly huddled in Spike's arms, to the castle where she would be safe.

Quill took point in the charge through the alley, which was still free of any enemy movement. Right as it seemed as though they were going to get out of the alley safely, a sentinel came crashing into, and through, a one of the walls, nearly taking Quill with it.

Quill pulled her sword out to be ready for another fight while Frost created two frozen halberds to help defend Spike and the filly. Slowly creeping up to the corner, Quill slowed her breath before she whipped, around placing her blade at the throat of the one that caused the sentinel to fly into the wall.

"Oh, it's you, Dusk," Quill said after a short pause, withdrawing her sword away from Dusk's neck as he moved his electrified hand away from her neck. Looking over Dusk's shoulder, Quill saw that he wasn't alone, as his two siblings and Obsidian were all with him.

"Cerberus' bloody fangs Quill, you scared me for a moment," Dusk sighed as he looked up to the sky, his hand over his heart to make sure that it hadn't jumped out of his chest. "So that was you I saw this morning. Man, can you believe what's happening?"

"Yeah, it sure has the best of timing," Quill said, walking past the half-breed before coming to a stop in front of Obsidian. "Sergeant Obsidian, you won't believe who we found."

"Is it the one that caused all this mess? Because if it's not we're wasting time," Obsidian said, obviously too busy with the sudden attack on Canterlot to have anytime to waste with much else. "And who is the changeling half-breed, and the sick looking filly? They're new."

"The changeling is my marefriend Frost, but I'll explain that later. Look," Quill paused as she felt a sense of victory at what she was going to tell them. "Obsidian, she's the filly. Like the filly. The one these guys are after."

Both Obsidian and Dusk's eyes widened at what Quill said, both canines taking a quick look at each other for a moment, neither believing the stroke of luck that just seemed to fall into their lap.

"Quill are you sure that's her? Where did you even find her?" Obsidian questioned, walking over to the filly with Dusk and his siblings following close behind. The closer he got, the more he could see how much the filly's life was in danger.

When the small group got to Spike and the filly, the filly let out a small, fearful noise, trying to hide further in Spike's arms. Spike blinked at her for a moment, before pressing his face against her head and telling her that these were friends. He ran his claw through her hair again, that seemed to help calm her down some.

"By Cerberus, she's so frail, and she's got a fever," Obsidian said after placing his hand on the filly's forehead. He could feel she was burning up, and with her small body the way it was, it was a sheer miracle that she hadn't died of starvation. "Come on, let's not waste any more time. Regardless of whether she is the filly that we've been looking for or not, she needs medical treatment. Now."

"Then lead the way Sergeant," Quill said with a nod of her head before the group left the alleyway and headed straight towards the castle as fast as they could.

Now in the open streets, Quill, Spike, and Frost were given a better look at the damage the city was suffering. Sentinels were lining the streets, some engaged in battle with guards, others looking for their next victims. The twins had to force their eyes away from the fray so they could stay focused on the task at hand, both thinking back to the story Celestia had told them.

If she believed that dragons were capable of nothing but violence, then they were going to give her violence. But it would be in defense of the place they had first called home. Before that, though, they needed to get the filly somewhere safe first.

While the twins and changeling were taking in the scope of the battle, Obsidian quickly thought of a way to keep Spike and the filly safe until they reached the castle. "Verdite, you take the rear. Make sure that we don't get ambushed from behind." The forest-green half-breed nodded her head as she jumped back behind Spike, tearing apart the ground as she landed before running to catch up and keep up with Spike.

"Rogue and Quill, you take the skies. Stay in my line of sight but fly ahead and see if you can quickly pick off a few of these things along with way." Quill did a double take at the half-breed Obsidian had called Rogue. She looked like she could be Wave's twin. Rogue nodded her head before she opened her wings to take flight, getting into position as Quill following right behind.

With eyes in the sky, Obsidian could focus on the ground. "Dusk and Frost, you two take either side of Spike and the filly. I don't want anything coming near either of them." Already seeing where the guard-dog was going with his plan, Frost and Dusk quickly moved to take spots next to Spike.

Now with the escort formation in place, Obsidian reached behind him to pull out his two spell-gun pistols, shooting at any sentinels that came too close for his comfort. Meanwhile, Quill and Rogue did their jobs at keeping the buildings and skies free of any signs of the enemy as Dusk, Verdite, and Frost kept the ground safe.

Thanks to Obsidian's quick plan, the group was able to reach the front doors of the castle, where they saw both Twilight and Rainbow holding off a small horde of sentinels with a small contingent of guards.

Nodding to each other, both Quill and Rogue tore straight for an aerial sentinel with Quill's sword and Rogue sawtooth combat knife, already enchanted with her wind-magic, aiming for its wings.

As it fell to the ground, Verdite jumped over the group's heads to kick the sentinel straight in the middle of its back, knocking it into a group of sentinels that had a few guards cornered. Dusk followed up his elder sister's move with a volley of purple and blue fireballs at the disoriented group of sentinels, giving the trapped soldiers a chance to fall back and regroup.

Rogue and Quill continued to deal with the winged sentinels, giving aid to other pegasi that were locked in battle with the enemy. Obsidian ordered Spike to head straight for the medical ward of the castle and leave the fighting to the others.

The drake reluctantly did as he was told to do, Frost right by his side so the others could break off from the formation to assist defending the castle. Frost froze any sentinel that got close to Spike, allowing Dusk or Verdite to smash straight through them.

Obsidian quickly took control of organizing and focusing the ground troops, while using his own guns to blast apart sentinels and provide covering fire for Rogue or Quill when they needed it. The group focusing their fire gave Spike a clear path to charge through.

However, right before he could make it to the steps that would lead him into the castle, the quick shimmer of a blade caught his eye before it was blocked by Obsidian's volcanic dagger. Spike slipped backwards onto his rear as Obsidian held off a sentinel with three blades.

It was in that short moment that he got a good look at the creature, its size the same of the other medium sized sentinels, minus the heavy armor. Where the others had dents, cracks, and even spaces where one could see into the armor, this one did not. From head to toe, it was covered by its metal body, smooth and immaculate, making it seem like it was more alive than the others.

"Rah, Spike, what are you doing?" Obsidian questioned as he continued to hold off the elite sentinel, pushing it back to bring his pistol to bear. "Get moving!" Obsidian shouted as he went took a quick shot, but missing as the elite drew his second sword to block the shot. The elite took a swipe at the diamond dog with this new blade, which forced Obsidian to duck down before taking an awkward shot from that angle.

Obsidian's shot just faintly hit its target, chipping the elite in the shoulder. Yet when the elite jumped away from Obsidian, not a single scratch was seen on the shoulder. As it touched the ground, however, the concrete beneath it collapsed.

Through the smoke, the elite was seen jumping out before recovering with a backflip and an oddly nimble landing. When the smoke finally cleared, Obsidian could see that Verdite was the one that made the concrete shatter, the half-breed blowing some rubble from her shoulder.

"Get going Drake, we can hold off these tin cans," she said with a quick laugh before rearing her fist back and slamming it straight into the ground. "Ruunt onychinus," Verdite shouted as a path stalagmites began erupting up from the ground, racing straight for the sentinel.

Yet the attack was too slow for it to hit as the elite jumped an impossible height in the air, only to be ambushed by Rogue as she suddenly appearing behind it to slash at its back with her knife.

"Aeris frustum." As Rogue sliced across the sentinel's back, she shot out a slash of air, sending the elite flying straight at Quill. However, before the dragoness could deliver her blow, she was caught off guard by the elite suddenly flipping around mid air to block Quill's attack.

While Obsidian took another shot at the elite, Frost was already preparing for the sentinel's unavoidable descent to the ground as she took aim with her halberd at the general spot where she estimated it was going to land.

Even though she was ready for it to land, the moment it hit the ground, it leapt aside from the halberd Frost sent straight for its chestplate. After it landed from the dodge, the sentinel charged straight for Spike, who was running for the stairs again. Frost threw another halberd at it, but the elite easily sliced through, somehow managing to evade all of Obsidian's spell-shots as well.

Dusk then tried to intervene as he grabbed one of the nearby smaller sentinels to throw it in the path of the elite. However, all the elite did was jump clear over Obsidian and Frost's heads, still targeting Spike as the dragon had finally reached the stairs.

Spike looked back to see the elite pulling its blade back to strike him down. But Quill suddenly put herself between her brother and the incoming sentinel, their blades clashing harshly. "What are you doing Spike?" Quill hissed through her teeth as she fought back the elite while the others moved to hold off the normal sentinels. "Get her to safety and prove why you should be a knight!"

Spike bit down on his lower lip, not liking that he had to stay out of the fight, especially since everyone was doing their best to protect him and the filly in his arms. Still, he knew that he had an important role. "Stay alive Quill, I'm gonna get real pissed if you guys get hurt!" Spike said as he turned to run up the stairs and into the castle. Once inside, Spike rushed to the medical ward while Obsidian continued to lead the defence of the castle. Slowly, they were able to start turning the tide of the battle, thanks in no small part to Dusk, his siblings, Frost's enhanced ice and water magic, and Obsidian's leadership.

Back inside, Spike ran straight for the medical ward of the castle. He couldn't believe that he was getting this far, he couldn't believe how everything was turning out. Not only did they finally have the filly safe, but now they could push the unicorns on the defensive if they pulled this off. This day was starting to turn around.

"Don't worry, you're safe now," Spike said, short of breath after the nearly three mile sprint while carrying the little filly. He knew he couldn't rest now, though. He still had to make sure the filly was secure in the hospital ward before returning to help his sister and their friends. "Everything is going to be okay. We're not gonna let any of those bad ponies hurt you ever again."

Rounding one final corner, Spike ran into the medical ward, looking for a doctor or nurse he knew that could help the filly out. However, the ward was filled with soldiers that had already been injured during the attack. As Spike went further down the hall, and the crowd finally started to thin out, the filly moved in his arms after having been deathly still ever since they'd entered the castle.

"Mister Dragon...th-thank you," the filly started with a raspy tone that forced Spike to stop running. Seeming to force herself, the filly moved to sit up in Spike's arms, wrapping her thin arms around Spike's neck, and nuzzling into him.

Spike returned the filly's embrace, since she most likely needed any comfort she could get after the horrid life she'd been having. As the filly continued to hold onto Spike's neck, he felt a chill go down down his spine. He shook it off as a side effect of running close to three miles in the pouring rain.

Knowing that he was still needed with the others, Spike found a nurse to take care of the filly, promising her he'd be back. The light-tan pegasus mare that took the filly took in her condition at a glance, and immediately went to the emergency care unit. Spike turned back and ran back out to help with the fight.

After taking a minute to catch his breath, Spike ran out to the main hall, encountering the sight of Quill yelling at some guards, with Dusk holding her back. "Hey, what's going on?" Spike questioned after coming to a stop beside Frost.

Quill quickly took the distraction of Spike showing up to shake out of Dusk's arms, shoving a unicorn stallion against a wall. She quickly placed her sword against his neck. "This asshole tried to attack Frost! After she risked her life to save this already-lost city. You should be thanking her, you fucking miserable colt!"

Before the situation could get more out of control, Obsidian shoved Quill off of the stallion, pushing her back into Dusk. After getting back onto his feet, the stallion moved to thank Obsidian for saving him from the enraged dragoness, but was met by the dog's fist slamming into his jaw, sending the stallion to the floor in pain.

Everyone's eyes widened from the dog's act, but after having seen the whole thing, and having fought beside Frost, no one stopped him. "Now," Obsidian started in a commanding voice that took full control of the situation. "If anyone here has a problem with fighting beside Frost, you can stay here and watch your home burn to the ground. The rest of you, stay right here on standby until I give out an order. Are we clear?"

With silence being his only answer, Obsidian kneeled down to the still downed stallion, moving right into his face with a small, fake, smile. "Is that understood, colt?" he asked in a calm voice that barely hid his dislike of the stallion.

"Y-yes sir," the stallion said as he got off the ground of his own accord while Obsidian turned his attention towards Spike.

"Report in, Drake," Obsidian said, looking Spike dead in the eyes, and wanted to know about the condition of the filly before he made any sort of decisions.

Spike tilted his head at the dog, not fully knowing what he was talking about, and still shocked at the dog's action. "Uh...o-oh right the filly. She's in the emergency care unit right now, and is-"

"Okay Drake, that's all I needed to know," Obsidian said as he turned away from Spike, seeming to not be interested in the full story. Which was understandable given the situation they were still in. "Okay everyone, listen up. Our enemy is the same one that is responsible for several disappearances throughout Equestria. Our mission is simple. Head to the center plaza, and take them down. I want everyone to pair up in teams of two. Remember, either disarm the sentinels, or go for the kill. If there are no further questions, let's move!"

As the large twenty-one strong group started out the castle doors, everyone began quickly pairing up with each other; Dusk with Rouge, Obsidian with Verdite, Twilight with Rainbow, and a team of three with Spike, Quill, and Frost. The rest of the guard began pairing up as they saw fit.

The large group quickly tore back through the pouring rain, as the storm seemed to only have gotten worse. Along the way, they encountered isolated and disoriented groups of soldiers, doubling their numbers as they approached the plaza.

The sight of the plaza was a dismal one; broken soldiers laying in the mud, injured or most likely dead. What was more twisted about the scene was that the lone masked unicorn that had appeared near the alley seemed to have completely lost every last drop of sanity, wildly swing his lance around like a mad-pony hell-bent on defeating an enemy that wasn't there. The near-constant dribble he was spewing made him sound like an escaped insane asylum patient.

On top of that, his mask had long since broken away to show the bloodied face of Prince Blueblood. Knowing that Blueblood had something to do with the enemy was a very hard, severe wound to the guard's morale. But this didn't change what they had all been ordered to do. Celestia had a kill-or-capture warrant out for each of these occultists, and if Blueblood was one of them, then he would be taken in, dead or alive.

Obsidian quickly began ordering a large part of his force to aid the fallen soldiers and another part to protect the medical team. While they did this, Obsidian led an attack force to subdue Blueblood. However, as they began converging on the mad stallion, three more masked unicorns showed themselves. The new group consisted of a large stallion, a petite mare, and another stallion that seemed to be eyeing Dusk warily.

Dusk quickly recognized one of the masked unicorns as the very same one that had attacked Ponyville. He vowed that he wasn't going to let him get away a second time. Dusk got Rogue's attention, and the pair quickly charged at the stallion, surprising the group of unicorns by suddenly appearing beside them. The two half-breeds were able to get the group to separate away from each other with a massive cyclone of wind-magic.

Obsidian and Verdite followed the two's rush attack by pushing a larger stallion away from the group so they could deal with him themselves. Quill, Frost, and Spike all rushed at Blueblood hoping to overpower him with their combined might, which left Rainbow and Twilight to take on the unicorn mare.

While the others all began their own fights, Quill, Frost, and Spike all threw themselves at Blueblood. As the stallion ranted and raved at them, they each began preparing attacks of their own elemental magics. Blueblood continually loosed bolts of magic at them, trying to pin the three down. He seemed to have entirely forgotten about his lance.

Spike acted as the distraction for the group, due to his speed from his water-surfing spell that he had been able to adapt on the fly for use in the constant-downpour of rain. As he zipped across Blueblood's front, Quill launched a series of fireballs as his back. Sensing the magical release, Blueblood whipped around and was barely able to erect a shield in time to save himself from the fireballs. With a snarl, Quill launched herself at the shield, attempting to smash it with her sword. She had no better luck with the blade, and Blueblood gave a smirk before pulsing the shield outward, sending Quill flying back.

As Frost saw her lover get knocked back, she pushed her worry down, too busy preparing a spell to drain Blueblood of most of his magic. Her horn glowed bright, and she spread her magic throughout the moisture in the air.

She was thankful that Spike was able to keep the enraged stallion's attention off her, and she saw Quill come hurtling back to the fight. Her worry mostly quieted for now, she forced herself to focus again on her spell. Lowering the temperature in the immediate area where her magic had gathered, Frost began directing it all to converge on a single point - Blueblood.

Having been too enraged by the two hideous dragons attacking him, Blueblood didn't initially noticed when he feet became frozen to the ground. As the ice slowly crept up his body, though, he noticed that he couldn't move to keep them in his sight. Slowly, he realized that his magic was being pulled from him at a rapid pace. Trying to turn, he managed to turn his upper body enough to see a half-changeling creature with its horrid horn glowing.

"It's you! You're doing this!" Blueblood snarled. Gathering his magic, he created a massive ball of fire above his head - and felt it snuff itself out. His didn't have enough magic left to sustain the creation. As he continued to try and pull for more magic, he noticed that the ice encasing him had reached his shoulders. With one final, baleful scream, the ice crept over his head, silencing the traitorous stallion.

As Quill and Spike crept up on the statue of ice, Frost calmly walked over. However, as she got near it, she staggered to one knee, with Quill immediately rushing to her side.

"I'll be fine," Frost assured her lover, "that was just a complex spell. I wasn't sure I could do it. It took everything I had to tie that spell to his magic, and make it feed off his own power."

"Well," Quill gave a small laugh, "It certainly worked. That's one down. Now for the other three."

Spike nodded his head, turning to see Twilight and Rainbow Dash dealing with the mare occultist they had seen. As he did so, he heard Rainbow let out a painful scream as she was shot down by the masked mare, leaving an injured Twilight to face the mare by herself.

The mare, in a fit of pure narcissism, revealed herself to be a highly renowned model known as Angel Wing. She laughed at Twilight, the noise grating on Spike's ears, as she proclaimed, "Equestria's newest princess, and she's such a weakling. My my, maybe I should get a pair of wings. I'm certainly stronger than you appear to be."

Twilight gave her a look full of fury and hate, and prepared herself to defend against this mare in order to protect Rainbow.

Spike began running towards his pair of old friends, seeing that they needed his help. He knew that Quill and Frost would be behind him after Frost had recovered herself a bit. Pushing his water magic as hard as he could, he nearly flew as he skated along the ground, rushing to Twilight.

Angel Wing laughed again and again as she fire a seemingly-endless barrage of bolts against a shield that Twilight had erected, knowing that she had this alicorn outclassed. The power her master had given her easily eclipsed this foalish mare's. With another surge of power, she finally broke the alicorn's shield. Twilight fell back with an injured cry.

"And now I make a new name for myself, because everyone will worship me after I kill you, princess. You were never fit to rule, and I'm going to prove it," the insane mare cackled, her horn sparking as she prepared a final bolt of magic to end this princess' life. She raised her hand above her head, the energy coalescing into a bright ball of pure magic.

Seeing Twilight fall, Spike knew he had to do something. Yet he had no weapons to distract the occultist mare with, and he had nothing to help protect Twilight… with a sudden shock, he realized he was wrong. He did have something to protect Twilight with.

As Angel Wing swung her arm forward, the large bolt of magic flew for Twilight.

Thump-thump.

Spike could hear his heart hammering in his ears as he moved between Twilight and the bolt, arms spread wide. He heard someone scream his name, before the bolt struck.

Thump-thump.

Spike was blown backwards, the scales on his chest no match for the power that mare had put into that one spell. It slammed into him, shredding most of his chest. Landing hard on his back, the air was pushed out of his lungs - and Spike found he couldn't feel any pain. Coughing blood, Spike willed himself to feel something, anything, no matter how excruciating. He picked his head up off the ground, and grimaced when he saw what was left of his chest.

Thump...thump.

"Spike! You colossal asshole!" The voice sounded tinny to Spike's ears, and he blinked away the rain to see a face above him. Quill's. In spite of the rain pouring down, Spike thought he could see her crying. 'No, Quill, don't cry. I never wanted to make you cry. Don't cry, please.'

Thump….thump.

Opening his mouth, Spike tried to speak, only letting out a single cough that sprayed blood on his sister's chest. Finally realizing how badly injured he was, Spike forced a smile onto his face for Quill. He struggled to force a hand up to her face, wiping away a tear on her cheek. He saw her mouth moving, but no words reached his ears. She reached a hand up to his, pressing it against her cheek hard. He saw it was covered in blood, as was most of her arm. 'Is that my blood?' He knew he should be worried or scared, but oddly he only felt peaceful.

Thump…...thump.

Laying his head back on the ground, closing his eyes against the rain, Spike let himself relax. He only had two real regrets, if this was how he was going to die. The first, that he'd made his sister worry and cry. Hopefully she would forgive him. The second, though, that one was a regret he hadn't realized until now. He'd never gotten to tell Cyclone how he'd really felt about her. He hoped she'd find a strong, trustworthy mate. She deserved her dream.

'Cy, I'm so sorry. I love you…'

Thump…

/ High Moon Ch. 52: Pride & Sacrifice part 3; Warriors/-/

High Moon Ch. 52: Pride & Sacrifice part three; Warriors

"Mister Dragon?"

Spike quickly blinked his eyes several times, sure that he was dead. Instead, he found that he was still standing in the medical ward of the castle, the filly still wrapped around his neck.

But that couldn't be right. He could remember facing Blueblood and sacrificing himself for Twilight. He could remember the feeling of Angel's magic tearing through his body, the void of blackness that came after. His crying twin above him, and him doing what little he could to comfort her.

But none of that seemed to have happened. At least, not yet.

He was alive, and everything was still exactly the same as Spike remembered. Not a single thing was different. But he knew that everything he'd experienced had actually happened. He could still feel everything, from the chilling rain, the burning strain of having ran another three miles, the excitement and fear from keeping up with Blueblood's wild attacks...the agony of dying.

'H-how am I-I…?'

"Mister Dragon," the filly again said as a faint purple light began fading away from her horn. She pulled away from Spike's neck to meet his questioning gaze. As the filly looked into Spike's green eyes, a worried frown came to her face. She reached out one hand to his cheek, looking like she was about to cry. "Please don't go, don't leave me."

Spike was left in shock at how hard the little filly's word hit him, but when he thought about it, it made sense. He already knew that he could die if he went out there - he'd already lived through it.

However, that just meant he knew how to avoid it.

Spike gave the filly a confident smile that he only half-felt, but he wanted to reassure her as much as he could. "Don't worry," he started, "I'll come back, safe and sound. I have to help my friends and sister, too."

"But you'll die," the filly replied, eyes large and starting to form tears.

Spike shook his head and took her small hand off his cheek, his smiling getting wider. "Nah," he chuckled, "you showed me what not to do. I'll come back and make sure you're taken care of, promise." He emphasized the promise with a kiss on the back of the filly's hand.

The filly gave Spike an oddly serious face for such a small child, and he thought it looked strange on her. As he was about to say something, the filly threw her arms around his neck again, crushing herself against him.

In a shaking tone, the filly let out a choked, "E-everypony else that's been nice to me has…" she trailed off with a loud sniff, arms somehow tightening more around Spike's neck.

Spike was silent a moment before he hugged the filly back, pressing his cheek against hers. "I'll come back, I promise. We all will." Spike held the filly until she stopped trembling, and pulled back with a sniff.

"Besides, you have somepony to tell something to, don't you?" the filly giggled, wiping away a tear.

Spike's eyes went wide. "You… could hear my thoughts?"

The filly nodded. "Just in the magic-thing, and not that often. It only seems to be with strong thoughts."

Spike looked at her for a moment longer before a smile slipped onto his face. "But yeah, I have somedragon to tell something very important."

The little filly giggled again. Then she took a deep breath, and said, "You better come back. I'm gonna be real upset if you don't." The serious look on her face was so cute Spike found himself chuckling.

Spike smiled and stuck his tongue out at her, replying, "You'll be the first I come to see after we make sure everyone's safe, silly filly." The filly giggled again as Spike moved to find a nurse or doctor that he knew would take care of her. He found the same light-tan pegasus mare from the vision, and handed the filly to her, explaining that the filly needed to be put in the emergency care unit. The pegasus nodded before taking the filly off towards that section of the medical ward.

With the filly taken care off, Spike ran to go find his sister and friends.

Once Spike reached the entrance of the castle, he found everything the same: Quill was being held back by Dusk, while a stallion was shouting out nonsense about how Frost was an evil changeling. 'Time to see if I really can change things.'

"Hey! What's going on here?!" Spike demanded in a no-nonsense tone of voice, getting everyone's attention, and giving Quill the chance to break free from Dusk. Just like Spike knew she would, Quill rushed at the stallion, slamming him against a wall and quickly placing her blade against the stallion's neck.

"This asshole tried to attack Frost!" Quill shouted at the unicorn stallion, obviously not paying attention to the fact that Spike had - for once - a commanding tone in his voice. "After she risked her life to save this already-lost city. You should be thanking her, you fucking miserable colt!"

Seeing the opportunity to change this event, Spike pulled Quill off of the stallion. Somewhat similar to what had happened in the vision, the stallion tried to thank Spike. This time, however, it was the drake that slugged the stallion, knocking him out cold. Everyone was surprised by Spike's sudden move, especially Obsidian, who had been thinking of doing the same thing. Obsidian hadn't thought the drake to be very aggressive.

"That's for threatening my sister's marefriend, you self-absorbed jerk!" Spike shouted at the unconscious stallion, ignoring the numb feeling in his hand. Spike looked around at the other soldiers eyeing him warily. "The invasion was over three years ago, and not a single pony died. So get over yourselves! We have bigger problems to deal with right now. But if you can't get over it, just stay here while we risk our lives to save your home. And that goes double for anyone else here that has a problem with trusting Frost."

Quill's anger quickly vanished at the sight of her twin brother defending her marefriend. Holy Luna and Nightmare… Spike really has grown a pair,' Quill thought to herself as she sheathed her sword.

Frost stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Spike in a quick hug. "Thank you Spike. It means the world to me and Quill that you feel that way," she said before letting the drake go, stepping back to Quill's side.

"Of course, Frost. I'm the one that should be thanking you, really," Spike said as he nodded to the scorpio mare and his sister.

Obsidian nodded his head to himself, revising his opinion on the drake. Then he turned his mind back to the matter at hand - saving what was left of Canterlot. "Spike's right, we don't have time for petty stuff like this. You don't like the help that we're receiving, we don't need you getting in the way," Obsidian said, regaining control of the situation before he walked in front of Spike. "Report in, Drake."

Spike surprised Obsidian again when the he gave the dog a hearty salute, almost as if he were a soldier in the Guard. "Sir, the filly is now in the emergency care unit, being treated as we speak," Spike said with a straightforward tone of voice, furthering the Guard-like impression.

"Good work Drake, at ease," Obsidian said, waiting for Spike to drop the almost-salute before turning to the rest of the group. "Okay everyone, listen up. Our enemy is the same group that is responsible for several disappearances throughout Equestria. Our mission is simple. Head to the central plaza, and take them down. I want everyone to pair up in teams of two. Remember, either disarm the enemy and take them into custody, or go for the kill if that's not possible. If there are no further questions, let's move out!"

Just as before, the twenty-one large group left the castle, with the same patterns as before. This was another chance for Spike to change something. "Quill, Frost," Spike started, stopping to grab a metal staff that was on one of the destroyed sentinels. Why he hadn't grabbed a weapon the first time around he'd never know, but he wasn't going to make that same mistake. "I've got a plan."

"Well, let's hear it," Quill said, picking up another sword and sheath from the battlefield outside the castle. Even Frost had decided to equip herself with a heavily strung fullmetal bow as they continued to follow Obsidian and Verdite's lead towards the plaza. That was something else that hadn't happened in the vision. Maybe Spike really could come out of this alive.

"Frost, do you think you could freeze that mad stallion in the plaza with some of your magic?" Spike asked, not wanting to give too much information out. He didn't want to tip off that he knew what was going to happen. It wasn't that he wanted to keep everyone in the dark, but that would lead to a talk that they didn't have the time for. "Quill and I will keep him busy. You just worry about gathering enough magic to do the spell."

Frost nodded her head, as she recalled a new spell she had learned the other week. It was time to put it to use. "Yes Spike, I can do that. In fact, I have the perfect spell to test for this sort of situation. I will need a few of the sentinels'... bodies to quicken the process, however."

"Okay Frost, we'll see what we can do," Quill said as their group was quickly growing and shrinking with each battlefield they tore through. Every time they passed one by, they both gained and lost allies, some going to aid the wounded, and others continuing their duties as soldiers. Along the way, Frost was able to siphon some of the excess magic from the sentinels and add it to her own with the spell she had learned from Blaze.

It wasn't long before the group, which had grown to thirty-two strong, able-bodied soldiers reached the central plaza. They found that it was still overrun by the sentinels, still combating the unknown unicorn. Knowing that there would be wounded, Obsidian began giving orders for a part of their unit to tend to the injured, and for another part to defend the medics. However, as he was going to engage the mad attacker, a sentinel caught the stallion off-guard, shattering his mask in two. As it fell to the ground, everyone, with the sole exception of Spike, was shocked to find that Blueblood was the one behind the mask.

Frost began to take aim at the Blueblood, but was stopped by Spike reaching out to her forearm and lowering it down. "Not yet, wait for my signal first," Spike said in a low whisper, just loudly enough to be heard above the sounds of the crashing rain and lighting. Frost raised an eyebrow at Spike, but after him seeming so confident in spite of everything happening so far, she decided to trust his judgement.

"Well, Prince Blueblood," Obsidian started, walking further towards the mad stallion, armed with his two spell-pistols that he was mostly used to using now. "Why am I genuinely not surprised that you were behind this? Celestia is going to be very interested in hearing about this."

Blueblood's eyes, now wild and nearly feral, glared at the diamond dog, snarling with the hatred and anger that leaked from every inch of his body. "Who do you think you are speaking to, mongal mutt?!" the mad prince screamed, saliva dripping from his mouth. The once-regal pony had a distorted and crazed smile that stretched from ear to ear. The sight was horrendous, and it made everyone questioned Blueblood's mental stability.

"I am the Prince Blueblood, I do not answer to anyone!" As he continued to speak, Blueblood began waving his free hand wildly, causing his tattered robes to move around. "Not to mutts like you! Not to savages like those dragons! And not to that blind and incompetent mare! I am the rightful ruler of this land, I am the one that should hold ALL of the power, I am the rightful KING of Equestria!"

Blueblood began maniacally laughing at his own unhinged goals. His rant only served to inflame a sense of duty in the group. Not willing to let him continue, and having justifiable cause, Obsidian took aim at Blueblood's head. "You DARE point that pitiful weapon at me?! You worthless mongrel, I will-"

Obsidian pulling the trigger ceased Blueblood's ranting, but not his life as three more masked unicorns appeared, one of them having defended Blueblood with a magical shield. They were accompanied by a larger sentinel that resembled the one Dusk fought in Ponyville.

'I knew it, he wasn't alone in this. No one can plan an attack like this that far gone. Then again… one has to be insane to even think of doing this,' Obsidian thought to himself as he he eyed the three new unicorns and their bulky sentinel bodyguard. "Everyone, attack!" Obsidian and unicorns that were armed with spell guns began unleashing a hail of bullets at the group of masked unicorns.

However, all of the bullets only landed on the massive sentinel as it used its body to shield the four unicorns. As one of the unicorn occultists, Spike thought it was Angel Wing, began charging her magic to fire back at the soldiers, Dusk and Rogue rushed at the masked group, disappearing in a tempest of wind.

The two half-breeds disappearing frightened Saint for a moment before Dusk and Rogue reappeared on either side of the occultists. Before any of them could react to the two's speed, Rogue swept all of the unicorns off their feets with low-sweep of wind-magic. Dusk followed Rogue's attack up with a grab at the unicorn he knew was Saint, throwing him clear over a building's rooftop.

"Come on Rogue, we're gonna show this punk what happens when you threaten little fillies," Dusk muttered, his blood boiling as he took off after Saint, Rogue close behind him. As they for their battle, Verdite charged towards the massive sentinel titan, each of her fast and heavy footsteps breaking the cobblestone street. The titan didn't have time to react as Verdite stomped her final step in front of it, sending fragments of stone at the faces of the masked unicorns. She drew her fist all the way behind her back and slammed it down into the helm of the titan, forcing it to cave in as the leftover momentum forced in into the ground, kicking up more earth and dust.

Her raw power was far more than enough to bury an entire side of the titan's body in the ground, shocking the three unicorns even as the half-breed prepared for another attack. Verdite's set her sights on the largest of the three, her hand pulling back to get ready and uppercut Silversteel. He saw this coming but he knew there was no time to counter. Even though he was forced to take the hit, he still tried to block some of it.

Verdite's monstrous power was able to overwhelm Silversteel easily. The back of his hands slammed into his chin, breaking part of his mask as he was hurled into the top edge of a building. Angel and Blueblood were going to attack the mighty half-breed, but both were stopped by Twilight and another unicorn soldier firing bolts of magic at the two of them, distracting them long enough for Verdite to jump away from them.

As Verdite leapt after the stallion, Silversteel had already stopped himself from falling off the building, preparing himself for a counterattack on the roof. He was unprepared, however, when Verdite came crashing down on top of him with the heel of her reinforced work boot.

Silversteel was sent straight through the roof of the building from Verdite's furious attack, leaving him staggered on the ground floor. Grunting, Silversteel slowly got up, mostly unscathed due to both his magic and form-fitting, metal armor. Verdite wasn't done with him, though, as she charged at him again, ducking underneath his fist to bring hers to Silversteel's midsection. The force of the impact knocked some of the wind out of the stallion's lungs, and the stallion himself into the front doors of the donut shop building.

Verdite looked through the large hole she had created, spotting Silversteel using a countertop to get up from the tile floor. 'Well, there might be more to these unicorns than I first thought… interesting,' Verdite thought to herself, a dark smirk on her face as she cracked her knuckles.

The fact that the stallion was still breathing, let alone standing, led Verdite to believe that he was either doing something with his magic to protect his vital organs, or that he was wearing a suit of armor underneath his robes. "Well, mountain dog? Are you coming or not?" Verdite called out, turning back towards Obsidian, who was currently engaged with two of the normal sized sentinels.

Obsidian thought that Verdite was acting like his fallen friend before sidestepping underneath one of the sentinels' axes He used the frame of his black gun to sweep the blow up into the air as he stood up with the motion. Obsidian whirled around on his heel to aim his silver gun, shooting the helm of the first sentinel off before he took aim at the second charging sentinel.

After emptying a barrage of bullets into the second sentinel's chest, Obsidian quickly began moved towards the donut shop, holstering his onyx colored gun to reach for a smoke bomb in a small light-tan pouch on his belt. Throwing it on the ground as he ran past Blueblood and Angel, Obsidian drew his obsidian dagger. He followed Verdite into the shop, leaving the twins, Frost, Twilight, and Rainbow to handle the two remaining and coughing unicorns.

After putting on a small portable gas-mask she had been issued, Rainbow swooped down towards Angel before the smoke fully cleared. She wielded her two blades, a pair of nearly-matching short swords. One had a long, double-edged blade with a chain attached to the hilt, a lightning bolt symbol on the end of it. The other was a slightly curved blade with one edge, with a cloud on the end of the chain of the hilt.

Still blinded by the stinging smoke, Angel used her magic to manifest her wings to escape the gas while Blueblood ran out coughing and wheezing. However before Angel could regain her sight completely, Rainbow was already in front of Angel, her straight sword ready to deliver what she hoped to be the first and last blow.

Her strike connected, but only barely. Angel had managed to fumble away from the blade, so that just the tip of it grazed against her cheek. The mare screamed more from the outrage than pain of having her face scarred by Rainbow's sword.

Angel brought a shaky hand to her bleeding cheek to feel at the gash, looking down at her bloody fingertips. Suddenly, her rose colored eyes shrunk down to pinpricks before she let out a loud screech of horror.

"Wh...what have you done?!" Angel shouted at Rainbow, whipping around to see the mare behind her, still at the ready for any attacks Angel might try. "You jealous tramp! Must the little flies like you stoop so low as to ruin the face of beauty?"

Raising an eyebrow, Rainbow scoffed, "Oh I'm sorry, I hate to tell you how wrong you are. Nobody finds crazy attractive, you whackjob." Rainbow continued to laugh at Angel as the unicorn's expressions grew from horrified to utterly outraged.

Angel bared her teeth, soaring straight for Rainbow, only to miss when the mare skillfully flipped over her head, whispering, "You fat cow."

That was Angel's breaking point. The enraged unicorn let out another wailing screech before turning her body around to wildly fire bolts of her magic at Rainbow, missing every shot as the pegasus mare easily dodged them. One of Angel's bolts was interrupted when Twilight teleported right in front of Angel, her wooden staff pressed against the crazed occultist's stomach.

"You brought this on yourself," Twilight said in a dark tone as her magic quickly gathered at the curved tip of the shaft. Before Angel could think of how to counter the alicorn's attack, Twilight released her magic into the mare's body, sending her flying backwards and screaming at the top of her lungs.

As the two mares continued to engage Angel, Spike and Quill kept the deranged Blueblood busy while Frost gathered as much magic as she could while waiting for Spike's signal. "Spike, you go right, I'll go left," Quill said before charging at Blueblood, Spike following using his water-surfing technique, which achieved speeds close to double its normal thanks to the continuous downpour of rain. Both twins were ready to attack, one armed with two curved swords, the other with a metal staff that had been enhanced with a widely curved scythe-blade of high-pressure water.

Blueblood was able to jump over Spike's low-sweep, but this left him open and allowed Quill to slash his left side. The dragoness' attack was able to knock Blueblood down, as blood poured from the open wound. Slowly, he got to his feet, only for Spike to whirl his scythe around and knock Blueblood's lance out of his hands.

"How dare you attack me, King Blueblood, you savage dragon?!" Blueblood prepared to attack Spike with a bolt of magic. Before he could fire it off though, Quill suddenly came up behind Blueblood, slamming the hilts of her swords into the center of Blueblood's spine. All of the wind was forced out of the stallion as his mouth went wide in a soundless shout of pure pain, mistakenly shooting his bolt of magic into the sky.

"Frost, now! Quill, move!" Spike ordered, seeing this as the best opportunity to take the stallion down quickly so he could help Twilight and Rainbow with Angel. As Quill flew into the sky while Spike surfed away from Blueblood, Frost created a super chilled arrowbolt, drawing the heavy-metal bowstring as she continued to charge the arrow with wind-magic. Frost's wind-magic began manifesting into a slender, but concentrated, vortex around the head and shaft of the arrow.

She focused entirely on Blueblood, who was just now recovering from Quill's attack. He saw Frost let the bowstring go, and nothing else as the arrow tore through the air and into his chest. Blueblood opened his mouth to let out a cry from the chill feeling racing into his body.

"Ventus erat constringitur," Frost hollowly intoned as her ice-magic trapped in the arrow released, quickly reacting with the natural magic of the world and the rain water. Suddenly, Blueblood's cry of pain and agony reached a new pitch as his body was slowly encased in ice so cold that it burned the fur off his body.

Blueblood screamed and thrashed about as he tried any method he could think of to remove the spurting shards of ice from his body; his magic, his own hands, but nothing worked. When he tried blasting it off with his magic, the ice would break, sending some of it onto the wet cobblestone ground, but that only allowed it to grow quicker, like a sharp and jagged weed. When he used his hands, the white fur on them froze so quick that it felt like they were on fire.

He tripped and stumbled as his body temperature had already dropped like a lead stone from the stratosphere. Blueblood had already lost all rational thought as the ice continued to eat at his body, but he was able to focus on the ones that had done this to him.

As he stared at the twins and Frost, Blueblood's head began shaking from a heated anger, the only heat he'd ever feel again. All the dying prince could do was utter, "This changes NOTHING! Do you think you've WON?! Equestria will never be a home for monsters like you! Unicorns will take their rightful spot as the RULERS of this pitiful land, and you can't s-" before ice began crystallizing inside his mouth, forcing it to stay open as the rest of his body became imprisoned in the ice. Due to the great difference in temperatures, steam started to come off of the large icy structure from the rain pouring down on it.

Landing beside her lover, Quill sheathed her swords while Spike skidded to a stop on Frost's right side. "Good job Frost, the world owes you a favor now," Quill said, gazing at the statue of ice.

Not willing to take any chances with the mad unicorn, Quill walked out in front of Frost, raising her right hand at the prison of ice. Quill then started to gather her own fire-magic, causing a small purple and black fire ball to appear in the space of her hand.

While Quill began to gather her magic, Spike did the same, preparing to move to Twilight's aid at a moment's notice. Though, something felt off. The sentinels weren't acting the same as they had in the vision, and that was worrying Spike again.

"See ya, you prick," Quill said as threads of white hot flames began encircling the fireball that had quickly doubled in size. "Parva nigra." The fireball shot out from Quill's hand, soaring through the air before colliding with the icy structure. A massive steam explosion erupted, slowly fading away to reveal that Blueblood had shattered into pieces.

Once the steam evaporated, Quill turned her attention to Angel, who was left horrified by what she had just witnessed. On the one hand, she was glad to be rid of that annoying colt, but she knew that she was now greatly outnumbered.

"One down, one to go," Quill said, pulling her swords from their sheaths while Frost nocked another frozen arrow and Spike began spinning his scythe around. Angel turned to flee from the battle when she was cut off by Rainbow Dash delivering a roundhouse kick to her left side, knocking her down on the cold hard ground in the center of the battlefield.

Angel gritted her teeth in pain as she forced herself to get back up from the ground. The mare winced as she doubled over in pain before placing her hands onto her left side of her ribs to use her magic to heal herself back up. She would never admit it, but at this moment, Angel couldn't help but feel trapped, with nowhere left to turn.

And her enemies knew it.

"Just do yourself a favor," Quill said as she pointed one of her swords at Angel, igniting it with her fire-magic to make it more menacing. "Give up, and I might not burn your mane off your head."

"And surrender to the likes of you? Never!" In spite of her words, Angel shuddered lightly, fear creeping into her heart at the sudden turn of events. She searched for some way to escape. However, she had already made the costly mistake of revealing who she was, and the even more costly mistake of believing that Blueblood's insane plan would work. "I will never give in. Do you honestly believe that I got where I am today by giving up to foals like you? You're no threat to me."

'Now's my chance.' As the mare was going to continue her pointless rant, Spike hurled his scythe at Angel in the hope of taking the mare out before she could be a threat to Twilight. However, as the rotating scythe flew toward its intended target, the same sentinel that had attacked him in front of the castle suddenly appeared in front of Angel, deflecting the scythe with a single sweep of one of its blades.

Everyone watched in collective shock as the drake's weapon flew through the air before the watery blade embedded itself into the ground. No longer being held by the drake, Spike's magic faded away, leaving the scythe nothing more than a metal staff. Spike caught the unamused look on Quill's face. Her eyes were all he needed to tell that was his first, and possibly only, mistake.

"Uh, whoops?" Spike lamely said, scolding himself for forgetting that the sentinels would still be functioning until Dusk and his sister had defeated Saint. "Would you believe that it slipped? Heh…"

A deep scowl formed on Angel's face, directed solely at the drake that had tried to kill her while she was talking. "Why you disrespectful reptile… Kill him, kill him now you suit of tin cans!" Angel ordered the elite sentinel, her magic creating a pair of wings that came out from her lower back and orbs of silver light as she took flight.

Before anyone could move, the sentinel charged towards Spike, drawing another of its swords as it rapidly approached. Quill was barely able to intercept the elite's path, blocking his downward strike with her two swords. Gritting her teeth, Quill twisted her body as she fought back the elite's twin blades, stepping in front of Spike to get better footing.

Though the sentinel's strength was something Quill could handle, or at least manage, it was the sentinel's speed that was getting her. "What are you doing? Hurry up and find something Spike!" Quill hissed through her teeth before she pushed back the elite back from her. "This guy is mine. Frost, you help Twi and Rainbow. Don't worry about me, I can handle him."

"Very well Quill, please don't do anything too reckless," Frost said before dashing off with the same water-surfing technique as Spike's to assist the two mares, not seeing the smile on Quill's face.

'Heh, like I'm gonna lose to this thing.'

Elsewhere, Dusk and Rogue were pressing Saint hard as the stallion had already drained most of his magic by raising the sentinel army. He hadn't expected having to deal with foes that had this sort of power. Especially considering one of them was the same hybrid that had defeated him earlier, and already shaken his sanity.

And on top of that nearly unstoppable force of lighting, his other opponent was a sadistic ghost.

Rogue had already managed to open up several deep cuts on Saint's arms. His entire right arm had been rendered useless when Dusk had managed to sneak up on him and grab his arm. The half-breed had proceeded to slam his elbow down on the shoulder joint.

Saint had already tried to escape the pair a few times. However, every single time Rogue seemed to be three steps ahead of him, cutting him off without fail.

One attempt had rewarded Saint with Rogue clotheslining him using her leg, leaving him open for a follow up attack by Dusk, which had left his horn chipped. If Saint had known beforehand that the two siblings had been training with each since their cub years together, Saint might have fled before the battle had even started.

The stallion had managed to get in his own hits, however. Dusk had sustained injuries to his right midsection from a sword Saint had conjured. Rogue also had a few scrapes from Saint merely getting lucky. And collectively, the two were just about out of magic, not unlike their unicorn opponent.

Yet Saint, on the verge of passing out, drained of all magic, and finally losing the little control he had left over the remaining number of sentinels, was still worse off than the two combined. By this point, he had given up any hopes he had for defeating the two hybrids.

"Wha-what are you waiting for?! Why are you keeping me alive? You're enjoying this, aren't you?!" Saint shouted at the two half-breeds, blood at the corners of his mouth. When both of the half-breeds remained quiet, Saint took it as a sign of them mocking him, causing him to let out a bloody scream before he charged at the two.

Both easily sidestepped the deranged stallion's wild swings, ducking and moving out of the way, doing their best not to get caught off-guard. "St-stop it...Stop making a FOOL OF ME!" Saint bellowed as he continued his fruitless attacks, knowing that he had long since been drained of his magic.

What he didn't know was that Rogue's combat knife was specialized to fight magical creatures like him. Thanks to secret blacksmithing methods of the changelings in the Republic Guard, the blade itself was manufactured with a special ore that allowed the wielder to make their target actually bleed out magic, while trapping some of the raw energy in the blade.

Saint had no way of knowing why he was losing magic faster than he should have been. He had assumed that keeping the sentinel army under his control had been draining his magic faster than originally planned. He had long since waved off the small half-breed taking small swipes at him as her way of leaving him open to the larger hybrid.

"Do you realize what you're ruining?!" Saint bluttered out, taking another failed swing at Dusk, nearly falling over. He managed to keep standing, and even continue to swing at anything that looked like the half-breed that had been tormenting him, his mind finally having cracked. "Do you know how hard it was for me to get where I am now? DO YOU?! The things I've had to do! The lives that I've RUINED! The families I've RIPPED apart with my own hands!"

Saint paused to take a heavy breath, placing one hand on his knee to keep himself from falling over. "I… I could've help bring order to all of this," he cried, waving his hand out before he stood back up to look towards the two hybrids. "I-I could've… Oh th-that little filly. I have done so much, and I'm not going to be finished by some fucking MUTTS!"

As Saint lifted his sword above his head, Dusk had had enough of the stallion's ranting and moved to end it for good. "Oh will you just shut the fuck up!" While the stallion was open, Dusk rammed his fist into Saint's lower midsection, resulting in the stallion letting out a gasp of breathless air.

Saint dropped his sword as he slowly fell onto the wet ground on his back. Without his magic to protect his body, Saint was just like any other unicorn, and it was evident by Saint's painful wheezing.

While Saint was fading in and out of consciousness, Dusk reached down to the collar of Saint's robes, dragging him over to a wall where Dusk propped him up on his feet. There were a few moment of blackness for Saint, during which he could faintly feel that his hands were being bound together by something that felt like robe or even a metal cable from a building. "Wh-what are you going to do with...me?" Saint demanded in a weak voice as Dusk placed one of his hands on Saint's shoulder and the other on the middle of his chest.

As Saint's vision remained blurry, Rogue pulled out her knife, flipping it to the sawtooth side that was made for cutting through bone. All types of bone. "You are going to call off this army of yours, now," Rogue said, placing the edge of the sawtooth side against Saint's horn, the knife's guard meeting the dark-gray stallion's horn. "I may not look like it, but I am a Lunar soldier. I know how to remove a unicorn's horn. It's like cutting open a fish, one clean stroke."

Saint's eyes widened at what the half-breed told him, and from the feeling of the cold dagger placed against his horn. He had already lost, and now these half-breeds were going to remove his horn. "N-no please...n-no, yo-you can't. NOT a-after what I-I've been through!"

"Then call off these walking trash cans," Dusk growled at Saint, wanting to do nothing but fry the stallion's nerve system to kill him and be done with it. But Rogue was likely right, keeping the stallion alive was probably the smarter idea, since he was the only one able to stop the sentinels from destroying Canterlot. "C'mon man, at least do some good."

"Fuck you! I-I'm far too gone," Saint said with a hollow laugh and a crooked grin on his face, no longer caring about losing to the two. "Besides...haha, I don't have the magic keep control of them anymore. So you're fucked. This whole miserable city is fucked. Everyone is fucked!"

Dusk growled at the stallion, toying with the idea of electrocuting him, but he was somehow able to hold himself back. Rogue growled at the stallion as well, moving the guard of her knife flush against Saint's horn, charging the silver steel blade with a small bit of wind-magic. "Then you're fucked too," she said before she moved the knife across Saint's horn, cutting through it effortlessly.

The cut was so clean and quick that Saint initially didn't even feel the steel cut through. But suddenly, he felt a wave of pain rush down from the top of his head, going down his spine. Saint let out a mournful cry of pain as his body thrashed around, pulling at the bindings on his wrists while he tried to escape Dusk's grip.

Soon enough, though, Saint eventually passed out from the excess of excruciating pain coursing through his body. Dusk let Saint slump to the ground after he passed out, sighing afterwards as Rogue put away her knife.

"What now? It's not like we got the magic to keep going," Dusk quickly said, finally allowing the strain of the hard-fought battles to catch up with him. He leaned against the wall, one hand holding himself up as he willed his knees to not give out. Rogue was going to respond when she suddenly collapsed against his chest from overexertion. Dusk looked down at his little sister before placing his hand on top of her head. "Hate to say it, but our fight is over."

Meanwhile, as her siblings were battling Saint, Verdite and Obsidian continued to engage the stallion that Obsidian had identified as a wealthy entrepreneur named Silversteel. After being identified, Silversteel abandon all thought of escape as it would only cause him further problems later. So instead, he attacked the two canines with all the power he could bring to bear.

However, due to Verdite's destructive earth-magic and Obsidian realizing the stallion had a magically-enhanced armor on, Silversteel found himself at a disadvantage. The stallion's only saving grace was that he was able to use his magic to regenerate his body and armor.

However, Silversteel was quickly running out of magic from all the damage his body and armor was taking. It wouldn't be much longer before his magic would give out and he would either die or be captured. All because he had listened to that annoying colt.

"Blueblood!" Silversteel roared up to the black skies as the rain continued to pour down on Canterlot, swinging his blade up at the skies above in anger. "Is this what you had planned for us?! Were you trying to get us all killed?! Even now you continue to be a thorn in my side you fucking piece of shit! You miserable colt!"

Neither Obsidian nor Verdite spared the stallion any remorse as they both charged him. Silversteel, dazed from blood loss, couldn't keep up with the two fast moving canines and took a blind swing in their general area, only to horribly miss. Obsidian ran to Silversteel's open right side, and fires one of his pistols at close range, the gun nearly flush against Silversteel's arm. The magic bullet tore through the armor and shredded the entirety of his upper arm, far past what his magic would be able to heal. Verdite slid under the stallion's open legs, only to stand up behind him and to ram her foot into the back of one of Silversteel's knees, forcing him to the ground.

Obsidian followed the half-blood's move by placing his black gun against the back of Silversteel's head, finger on the trigger. "Silversteel, this is checkmate. Surrender," Obsidian said as he pressed the muzzle of his gun against Silversteel's skull to get his point across. "Make a single move, and you'll be meeting your creator in the Tartarus."

"Do it…" Both canines flinched for a moment at what the stallion had just said, causing Obsidian's finger to press down further on the trigger. "I said do it...I-I'd rather die by th-the hands of a-a rea-real fighter, then li-live in a wo-world that would allow monsters like me to...w-walk free. Do it. It-it's your job as a-a soldier."

"And if I say no? What can you possibly do?" Obsidian questioned as he removed his finger from the trigger, but kept the gun against Silversteel's head. "You've already lost this fight, I see no point in killing you in cold blood."

Silversteel began weakly laughing at Obsidian before coughing up blood. He watched it hit the ground, the rain quickly washing it away. "Y-you do-don't get it y-yet, do you?" Silversteel questioned, moving his hand to the space where the bullet hit his arm, trying to stem the flow of blood. "I-I'm going to die ei-either way th-this goes. S-so it's yo-your duty as a soldier to s-see me off with an honorable death. S-surely you can understand that…"

For a moment, all Obsidian could do was stand in the rain with the dying stallion's words in his head, prompting old memories to come back. "Sometimes mutt, death is the only answer. Sometimes, your opponent wants to an end to their existence. And sometimes, they are too weak to do it to themselves. This is what a mercy kill is. And sometimes...you have to deny this salvation."

"Fine," Obsidian said, mostly to the voice of his old friend's voice echoing his head than the request of the stallion in front of him. "If this really is your final request…" Obsidian began charging the gun with a shot of fire-magic while Silversteel closed his eyes and leaned back into the gun, ready for his miserable life come to an end.

Back in the central plaza, the final occultist and the elite sentinel were still putting up a hard fight. Quill was having a hard time confronting the elite sentinel, as she was beginning to tire, which allowed the sentinel to keep up with her speed. However, she kept strong, refusing to let something seemingly without a soul to beat her.

On the other side of the plaza, Rainbow, Twilight, Frost, and Spike were having troubles with Angel. She seemed to be more powerful than an alicorn. Getting close to her was troublesome in itself, and to make matters worse they still had to deal with the remaining sentinels and titans. Spike did his best to keep what happened in the vision from repeating itself, but it still seemed that was one event that was going to happen regardless of what he did.

Spike didn't remember the sentinels still working after this long, leading him to believe that something he did changed one of the others' decisions. Which in turn was leading back to the same situation from the vision.

As he continued to fight alongside Frost, Spike did everything in his power to make sure that they were able to defeat the sentinels quickly. However, the titans were something different; their sheer size and power made it almost impossible for Frost to seal them in ice. This forced Spike and Frost to fight them off one by one while Rainbow and Twilight continued to face off against Angel in an aerial battle.

During their battle, more of the vision came true when Twilight's barrier shattered, knocking her into Rainbow before they fell to the ground. The force of the fall knocked Rainbow out, while Twilight had appeared to have injured her wings.

Angel capitalized on this as she began unleashing a flurry of magical bolts at Twilight. The alicorn princess was barely able to summon up another barrier to block the barrage, knowing that she was nearly out of magical power. As Angel got ready to end the mare, this time seeming to charge up a magical beam, Spike's body started to move on its own yet again, only this time, he knew what was going to happen when he get in front of the attack.

And he didn't care.

Twilight, admittedly at fault for several things, was the mare that hatched and technically raised him and Quill. Spike couldn't leave the mare for dead knowing that he could have done something to help. This time he was choosing to sacrifice himself, because Twilight was his friend, and Spike had vowed to protect everyone close to him.

"Twilight!" Spike shouted as he skidded to a stop right in front of Twilight before the the beam of magic could reach her. He held up his metal staff to hopefully block or even deflect the beam. He tried to focus as much of his water-magic into the staff as he could, trying to reinforce it. Spike's hopes were partially realized when the metal staff was able to hold against the blast, but the force of it started to push Spike back.

"I-I won't le-let you hu-hurt the ones close to me," Spike hissed through his teeth as he strained to push back the beam. Unknown to Spike, Twilight's staff had begun emitting a blue and purple light that soon began flowing to the fire-stones on Spike's black gloves, causing them to shine the same color as Twilight's staff. "I-I refuse to...I-I refuses to allow the likes of you…"

Just as the lights on Spike's glove began to reach a peak, the metal staff began to split into two, but Spike refused to give in. Angel, shocked that the drake was holding her back with a simple metal pole, doubled the force behind her magic, causing Spike's staff to snap in half.

A massive explosion erupted around Spike, kicking up rain, stone, and dirt in the air. For a brief moment, it looked like Spike and possibly Twilight had been consumed by it. Soon, however, there appeared to be some force swirling smoke around where the two had disappeared. As the smoke thinned out, it was revealed that Spike that was the one causing the whirlpool. His metal staff was now broken in half, and each half had a scythe blade on one end.

Spike made for an impressive sight as he stood guarding Twilight and Rainbow, his two ghastly weapons held at the ready. The blades were large and curved almost all around, like a raven's talons. They had a spiked tip at the top of the blade, which glimmered darkly. The blades were an opposing dark purple and a bright blue that looked like waves of the ocean, constantly shifting. Even Spike's black gloves had changed, becoming wavy with lines of blue in them, circling around the blue and purple gems in Spike's gloves.

"I refuse to allow the likes of you to harm my friends!" Spike roared as he took up a fighting stance. His right hand was held low with his scythe blade pointing towards the ground while his left hand raised to eye level, aiming the inside of the blade at Angel's neck. "I am Spike Sui Dragul! And your evil ends now!"

Angel let out a hiss at Spike, hardly believing her ears. She found it hard to believe that this dragon still thought he could defy her. "Don't think because you got lucky with that new power that you will be able to beat me!" Angel shouted at Spike as her magic created wings stretching outwards, her hands and eyes glowing a bright silver. "Have you forgotten that I have an army of sentinels at my bidding?" As the mare said this, the remaining squads of sentinels and titans moved in front of Angel, catching Spike off guard when he thought about having to fight all of them. "You are nothing to me, lizard. I have already-"

Suddenly, all of the sentinels shook violently before freezing up. "What are you doing, you walking tin cans?! End this wretched lizard already!" Still, the sentinels refused to move from their spots. Spike thought, hoped that it meant that Dusk had finally dealt with Saint. However, he discarded that idea when he heard Quill and the elite sentinel sheathing their swords. If the elite was still moving...

"What in the world is going on?" Spike asked, still trying to understand which change he caused that had allowed the sentinels to still be functioning for this long.

Both Quill and the elite began walking over towards the other sentinels and Spike, still keeping an eye on each other. "I think I know what's going on, Spike," Quill said as she glared into the elite's ethereal blue eyes. "Dusk was able to beat the occultist controlling these guys, and now the elite is in charge. Isn't that right?"

All the elite did was continue walking besides Quill before they came to a stop in front of their respective allies, never breaking the stare he had on Quill. "Dusk set you guys free, and you still want to fight me, huh? Fine by me, I'll take you on." Quill's fists began clutching at her sides, not in anger, but excitement.

Until today, Quill had never felt so alive, and during her short battle with the elite sentinel, she had learned so much just by fighting it. The same way with she had Wolf, Dusk, Frost, and even Spike. This is what Quill and Spike were striving for; the chance to protect everyone, the chance to prove themselves. And after witnessing her brother become an Element from risking his life for Twilight, Quill felt a new flame rising in her chest.

"We're not going to run away just 'cuz you outnumber us. We're not going to quit because you have more power than us. We're not going to give up just because we're tired. We're not going to hide from the world. We're not going to let destiny pick our course for us." Quill grabbed the handle of her sword with her left hand, slowly pulling it from its sheath as the elite sentinel did the same.

At the same time, both sentinel and dragoness pulled their other sword from its sheath, quickly swiping the tips of the blades to down to the ground, causing some of the water on the ground to move. "We're going to keep fighting. We're going to keep getting back up no matter what. We're going to live to see tomorrow. We're going to move on to the next fight in our lives; big or small. We're going to continue to live our lives the way we want to. With pride in our hearts!"

Her friends felt their own surge of pride at what Quill was saying. Off to the side, Rainbow was helped onto her feet by a canine she knew as Shadow Star. She let out a grunt as she saw a noticeable amount of blood coming out of her left side, and from the burning pain in her two wings. She knew that she was out of the fight, but she also knew there was something she could do to keep helping. "Hey Quill, catch," Rainbow said before ripping off her Element from her neck, and throwing it to Quill, who caught it after glancing at the mare.

The moment it hit Quill's hands, the rose-red gem inside Rainbow's Element began shining in a bright purple and silver light, momentarily blinding everyone from the intensity of the it.

Once the bright light had faded, everyone was shocked to see that Quill's swords, pendant, and armband had all changed from the power from the Element of Loyalty. The once pure-black sheaths had changed to a bright red, with a hard line of purple cutting through down to the tip.

The grips on the swords had changed as well; two round tips were added to the rounded-square guard of the sword, now decorated with a pair of purple and black feathers like the ones on Quill's arm-band. The blade itself changed from its jet black to a bright reflective silver with a purple edge trim.

Quill moved her sword up to her face to look at the blade, seeing her eyes looking back at her, tinted slightly around the edges with silver. She then moved it to sneak a look at Spike's eyes behind her, only to find that they were glinting with a slightly dull-red. Something told her that it wasn't blood coloring his eyes.

"Thanks Rainbow," Quill said, moving her sword tip back down to the ground, knowing that Rainbow was entrusting Quill with her Element's power to continue the fight. "Don't know how you knew that was gonna work, but I really don't care. Frost," Quill called, turning towards Frost on her left side, seeing the mare behind Spike. "Can you give this back to Rainbow for me? And treat her and Twilight's injuries? Me and Spike can handle this."

"Okay Quill, if that is what you wish," Frost said as she sparked her horn to take the necklace out of Quill's hand, feeling proud to be Quill's marefriend right now. After Rainbow's Element was in her grasp, Frost turned to Twilight, kneeling down to the alicorn while Shadow brought Rainbow over. "Princess Sparkle, I must say, you've raised those two quite nicely."

Twilight looked away from the changeling half-breed, who had busied herself with her dragon magic in order to heal the alicorn's injuries. Twilight watched the twins as they got ready to shoulder the weight of the rest of the battle. "No...they raised each other," Twilight said with a soft smile on her lips, proud at how far the twins had come in the short time since they'd left Ponyville.

"Nonsense…" Angel spat as she watched a squad of sentinels back away from the battlefield, some jumping on top of nearby buildings while the titans remained on the ground, all prepared to merely watch the final battle. "This is utter NONSENSE! How...how are you doing this?! These tin cans can't think for themselves! So how?! HOW?!"

"Why don't you shut up and learn?" Quill shouted at Angel, before bringing up her other sword and charging at the elite sentinel. The two's blades clashed as the sentinel had already drawn his swords to defend from the dragon's attack, crossing his two swords to catch Quill's. However, this left him open for another attack from Quill, who capitalized on it by kicking the sentinel in the chest.

Recovering quickly, the sentinel and Quill began clashing blades with each other, pushing each other back. Even as storm still raging on, sparks and flames flew from Quill's swords as she continued to clash blades with the elite, with her somehow gaining speed.

Not wanting to see if the dragoness was going to make good on her promise, Angel tried to make her escape by air, only to met with a bladed lance from one of the winged sentinels, as if they weren't going to allow her to leave. "MOVE! I will NOT die here!"

"Then give yourself up," Spike said, taking a step towards the mare as she whipped around. Spike, tightening the grip on his scythes, glared at the mare as she began panicking. "You've already lost, so there's no reason to keep this up. Just give yourself up, and come peacefully."

"Are you mad?! I will not give myself up to a pack of monsters like you!" Angel roared as she sparked her horn, prepared to fight for her life. Spike moved himself back into the fighting stance he'd taken before. Seeing that his sister was already infusing her magic into her Element, Spike did the same. Thin, high-pressure threads of water flowed onto his scythes' blades, creating a saw-like effect on them. "No matter what trickery you use, lizard, I will not fall to the likes of YOU!"

"And I won't let you harm my friends. Aquam filo," Spike said before dashing towards the mare with his water-surfing technique, quickly opening up by swinging his right scythe over his head and sending out a blade of water at Angel.

Angel quickly took to the air with her wings to avoid Spike's attack, laughing at the wingless dragon. Angel quickly shot out several bolts of magic at Spike while she continued to hysterically laugh at him. Spike easily moved around the blasts of magic, dashing and diving out of the way as he again gathered water onto his right scythe.

"Aquam filo." Spike sent another overhead blade of water at Angel, which she dodged while laughing. However, in the mare's laugher, she failed to see the second slash of water Spike had sent out with his left scythe. The slash slammed into Angel's midsection, knocking her out of the air and towards the edge of the semicircle.

Before the mare could recover, a titan sentinel reached up to catch the mare by her leg, slamming her onto the ground within the semicircle. Angel cried out in pain from the unexpected attack, trying to get back on her feet before the drake could take advantage of the situation.

Spike noticed the move that the titan made, realizing that they weren't going to allow either of the combatants out of the battle. Quickly forming a plan to put a quick end to the fight, Spike rushed the mare as she got up from the ground.

Angel saw the drake coming and fired a bolt of magic at him. Spike swerved to the left side of the shot, quickly coming up on the mare's left side before she had a chance to attack again. Spike brought his left-hand scythe down to sweep Angel off her feet before kicking her at another one of the sentinels.

The mare managed to stop herself from getting close to the circle of sentinels by digging her hand into the cobblestone ground. "I am no pushover, lizard," Angel said as she slowly stood up from the ground, her hands covered in an ethereal silver glow, while her horn shone brightly. "And I will not be defeated so easily!"

Spike frowned at the mare as he brought his left scythe in line with Angel's neck while his right one moved to point at the ground. "Yeah, I figured that much," he retorted just above the sound of the pounding rain that he fed into his weapons. "But, Angel Wing, it would be a heck of a lot easier and better if you did, though."

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint, but I didn't do the things I've done to be stopped here," Angel said, creating a whip and sword from the magic she had gathered before manifesting her wings again. "Prepare yourself, drake." Angel quickly dove towards Spike with her ethereal purple sword raised above her head.

Spike quickly backflipped away from the mare's downwards strike before surfing away from her. As he made distance between himself and Angel, Spike used those few moments to determine what the best chance of attack was.

He knew that the sword was for close combat and while the whip was meant to disarm him from a distance. With his scythes being close range, and his magic long and short ranged, Spike quickly formulated a plan.

Starting with a blade of pressurized water at Angel - which she dodged - Spike whirled around on his right foot, gathering more water into his left scythe before launching the watery missile at Angel. "Mari unguem," Spike said as the water missile quickly shot towards Angel, just grazing her hand that held the whip.

In spite of the glancing hit, the sheer blunt force of the blade forced Angel to lose her grip on the whip as it went flying against a building, where it vanished into thin air. Angel quickly turned her head back towards Spike, only to find a literal buzzsaw of water flying straight for her.

She reacted quickly as she met the spinning blades with her sword and began to fight it off. Yet the power of the rapidly rotating blade forced the sword out of Angel's hands as the buzzsaw deflected back to its owner.

Spike caught the spiraling scythes with his left hand in the center of the elongated staff, before he used his right hand to pull the two apart. Angel tried to recover from having her weapons forcefully knocked away from her.

"Hey, guess what? That time, I meant to do it," Spike said with a small chuckle, watching Angel's face contort in anger. If there was anything he'd learned through all this, it was that both Angel and Blueblood had the same inferiority complex. "I'm not doing so bad for just a lizard, huh? But please, continue to demonstrate your almighty power, Princess. You're doing a fantastic job of it."

"Rah, that is IT! I will not be made a fool of!" Angel cried over the sound of the thunder in the background. Her horn started arcing in a furious white-hot light, creating another magic-construct sword in her hands before she blindly charged at Spike.

Spike easily avoided the charge, using the wet ground to dash away. Angel tightly circled around to attack the drake from behind, only to miss when Spike used the water to launch himself in the air. As he flipped around, Spike quickly struck at Angel's sword with his left scythe, which forced Angel to counterattack.

The attack resulted in Spike planting his tail on the ground to balance himself, before delivering a quick kick to Angel's side, which sent her flying into the ground. "Please, stop this already," Spike said as the mare tumbled and rolled on the hard cobblestone ground, eventually coming to a stop.

"This doesn't have to happen, you know." Spike slowly got off of his tail while Angel was still struggling to regain her feet, coughing as her senses returned to her. Spike had started to take pity on Angel, seeing her in pain.

'It would be a lot easier if she wasn't a mare,' Spike thought to himself. 'I'd be fighting as hard as Quill is, otherwise.' Spike risked a quick glance at his sister, turning his head to see the two other combatants clashing blades while landing furious strikes on each other.

A wheezing cough from Angel directed Spike's attention back to her, watching the mare shakily stand up from the ground. "Just turn yourself in, cooperate with the guard and help them put an end to all of this madness. What are you trying to achieve from all of this, anyway?" he asked with a small shake of his head, still trying to understand this mare's motives for joining in with the occultists. "You are the Angel Wings, one of Equestria's premier supermodels. Everything you could ever want was handed to you on a silver platter, while others had to struggle throughout their entire lives just to scrape by."

"D...do you think that I am any different?" Angel questioned before continuing in a yell, "I want to know what it means to hold something of my very own in my hands. I am sick of every single pony I meet trying to get something out of me. Do you know what it feels like when everyone wants something from you? DO YOU?!"

Spike was quiet for a moment as he lowered his eyes, feeling nothing but sorrow for the mare. Everything and more had been given to her, and yet the one thing she wanted was to be known for herself, and not just for how beautiful she was.

Spike closed his eyes as he let out a small sigh, answering, "I do, actually. I was too young to understand how I really felt about it, and maybe I still am. But… I was needed then, and I'm needed now more than ever." Spike opened his eyes, burning a bright emerald-green, that seemed to pierce Angel's heart.

Those bright green orbs were hands-down the most beautiful things Angel had ever laid her eyes on before. They looked like the most priceless jewels she'd ever seen. And she had visited the most famous showrooms, fashion shows, and art galleries. It sickened her to no end.

"No," she breathed out, turning her head away from Spike, no longer able to look him in the eyes. "No...A beast like you can not possibly understand what I've been through. I refuse to believe it." Angel gripped the sides of her mane as she clenched her eyes shut, muttering repeatedly, "No...no, no."

"Stop it," Spike boomed in a roaring voice, getting the mare to jump as she stopped her unhinged mumbling. Yet she still refused to look at the drake, for fear of seeing something else she had been missing for all her life; a protector. "There's need to do this any more. You can put an end to all of this now. You can finally set yourself free. Fly without your wings."

A bloody shriek from Angel as her body arched up towards the leaden skies, firing massive bolts of magic the storm clouds above. The result was an angry roar of thunder and lighting as if in response to the mare's desperate cries of agony.

All Spike did was sigh as he closed his eyes, lowering his head towards the ground. It was a true pity to see the mare let loose all of the anger she had built up over the years. While he had his eyes closed, Spike didn't see Angel create yet another double-edged sword, slashing straight towards him.

He didn't need to.

As the now-insane mare raised her sword high above her head, Spike took in one small, deep breath, time seeming to have been slowed down for him. In this instant, all of Spike's senses were heightened further beyond what they normally were.

Every rain drop, every gust of wind, the singing of Quill and the elite's swords clashing, Twilight and the others calling out his name, Angel's scream and the blade whistling through the rain. All of this, and far more Spike could hear clearly. It seemed like he finally understood what Dusk had said about him finding a warrior's life.

In spite of the raging battle around him, he felt peaceful.

Spike's eyes snapped open, catching Angel's downward stroke with one of his scythe's blades. A massive bolt of lightning lit the skies as Angel's mind slowly caught up with what had just happened, but by then it was too late.

"You brought this on yourself," Spike said. His right hand clenched into a fist around the metal staff of his scythe, gathering high-pressure threads of water. "Undo fulmen." Spike wrenched Angel's sword out of her hands as his water-enhanced fist exploded against her midsection, sending her flying from the blunt force of the blast.

Angel was stupefied as she was propelled into the semi-circle of sentinels, her eyes locked on the frowning drake. 'He...he didn't want to hurt me,' she thought to herself before her flight was cut short by another titan sentinel.

This time she was caught by the neck before being tossed back over Spike's head, landing on the ground, rolling due to the extra momentum before finally stopping. 'This. Ends. Now,' Spike thought to himself before he sped over to Angel before she had the chance to get up.

As Angel moved to get back up, Spike placed a foot on the mare's back, forcing her down onto the ground where her neck met the inside of one of his scythes. A large lump caught in the mare's throat as she could almost hear the blade whispering her name. "Now... are you going to give up?" Spike asked, pulling the scythe's blade against Angel's neck, not relaxing just yet as the mare could still try something. "Because if you're not…" Spike tugged at the scythe, causing Angel to painfully arc her head further back. "What happens won't be my fault... please, don't make me do it."

Angel wanted to glare up at Spike with her pink eyes, not believing that she had been defeated by a dragon. Tears of defeat and pain began flowing down her face. She had given up on holding back any composure, defeat having finally broken her.

"Wh-why? Wh…why are you s-showing me mercy?" she slowly asked as she began choking on her words, no longer having the will to fight. "I-I do-don't deserve it...th-the things I've done...no, no, no, NO! This is not what was to ha...happen. I wa-wasn't supposed to lose!"

"What are you talking about?" Spike asked, confused why Angel didn't know why he would show mercy to an enemy that had clearly surrendered. He almost dropped his guard, but quickly snapped out of it. "You're not gonna trick me by making me feel sorry for you! That's p-"

"What trick are you talking about?!" Angel shouted in a choked voice at Spike, straining to turn her head back to the drake to look him in the eyes. Spike quickly realized the look of true sadness in the mare's eyes, knowing now that she wasn't trying to trick him. "I h-have lost! Even I can see that, lizard! K-kill me, please..."

Spike was left speechless at the mare's words, not believing that she wanted to die before she was captured. He was going to speak again when Spike heard the clanking sounds of heavy, metal armor behind him. Spike turned to see a titan flanked by two spear wielding sentinels.

He realized that the sentinels were there to collect the losing party. Slowly, Spike withdrew his scythe from Angel's neck, stepping back. The titan sentinel bent down after he was out of the way, moving to pick Angel off the ground, not caring about the mare's injuries.

Once the titan picked her up, it crossed its arms over Angel's busty chest, leaving her legs to dangle mere inches from the ground. Suddenly, the two spear wielding sentinels rattled to life as well, instantly snapping the tips of their curved spears to Angel's neck, making sure the mare got the point of her defeat.

As Angel was picked up, she groaned and hissed in pain but did nothing to stop the sentinels. Not that she could at this point, anyway. All the mare could do was hang her head in shame as she sniffed.

"Why?" Spike questioned, eventually getting the mare to look up to him. "If you knew that dying was the only way out...then why would you do any of this?! Answer me!" Spike shouted at the mare, wanting an answer for all the pain she had caused up until now. "You had everything you could want, so why do this?"

"Be-because...on-once you have it all," Angel weakly laughed, knowing she was in no position to make any sort of demands, or complain about the way she was being treated. "You want more, and more, and more. It-it's like a drug, on-once you have some of it, yo-you want all of it, until you know you'll die trying to get it."

"Then haven't you ever consider doing something else?" Frost questioned as she had already finished healing both Twilight, Rainbow, and Shadow's injuries as much as she could, walking towards the captured mare with the other three following. "There is more to life than just power and respect. Peace, honor, fellowship, pride, redemption. All of that and so much more. What is wrong with striving for that?"

Angel began laughing at the changeling mare, surprised that the mare was actually trying to understand her. "That would be something to go after, wouldn't it?" Angel scoffed with another weak laugh, before she began coughing. "I-I never ha-had someone to tell me that. A-all my li-life, I had to claw away at others. Power was all I've ever known."

"And now it is your own downfall," Frost spat, not to the mare, but to the life she'd had. "It's never too late to change you know. Spike spared your life for this very reason, surely you will make good on this gift from him."

"No," Angel slowly breathed out with a slight shake of her head, looking at the ground. "There's no doubt that I'll will be charged with high treason, and a whole list of other crimes. M-my life is over, nothing I can ever do will save me from this fate." Angel began hollowly laughing at herself, her tears joining the rainwater. "I'll be lucky if I'm not banished to the Badlands."

Frost closed her eyes as she turned her back on the mare and started to watch Quill's battle, barely turn her head back before continuing, "If you really believe that is your fate to be doomed to, you have no one to blame but yourself. We are all in control of our destinies. Power only comes to those that have the will to take it in our hands."

"That's what we were trying to do."

"Yeah? Well guess what, you did it in the worst way possible. That's why you're here now," Spike said before he hurried over to Frost to follow her towards the slowly forming circle of sentinels around Quill's fight.

Quill and the elite were both in a heated deadlock, with their blades again clashed with each other. Each of Quill's attacks had been matched by the two swords the elite was using. It had yet to even draw out its third blade.

Quill went for an overhead strike, but the elite easily blocked it by crossing his swords to catch Quill's blade. Gritting her teeth, Quill tried to push down to break the elite's guard, but the suit of armor wouldn't budge.

As Quill added her second sword to her first, the elite suddenly twisted his blades to the right side, jerking Quill in that direction. Before the dragoness could recover, the elite pivoted on his left foot to deliver a punishing roundhouse kick.

Quill was sent flying from the sudden kick to her face, recovering by using one swordpoint dug into the ground to eventually stop her momentum. The moment she landed, Quill was forced to block the elite's charge, her two swords meeting its.

After locking blades again, Quill slashed both of her blades down to the ground, breaking the elite's attack so she could slam both of her feet on top of its chest. Quill kicked back from the elite's chest, flipping around before landing on the ground, charging back towards the elite the moment her feet hit the ground.

Quill pushed herself to go on the offensive as she began rapidly attacking the elite, trying to find some chink in its defence. Ducking underneath a horizontal slash from the elite, Quill swept her right sword at the sentinel's legs in order to trip it off its feet.

However, the thing barely budged, causing Quill to curse at herself for forgetting that her opponent most likely couldn't feel pain. She took flight just before the elite drove it's sword into the ground, right where she had been crouching a moment before.

"Damnit, how am I supposed to kill something that's not alive?" Quill snarled as she watched the elite's movement. Realizing that he was about to jump towards her, Quill began to dive down to the ground, banking left to flank the elite.

Thanks to her flight being curved slightly, Quill was able to dodge the sentinel's charge, countering with several volleys of fire from her mouth. Some of Quill's shots missed, while others were blocked by the elite's blades. However, one of the more explosive ones was able to break elite's guard, sending one of his swords spinning out of his hand and towards the ring of other sentinels.

"Ha! About time this got to even ground," Quill said. The elite didn't appear to mind losing of one of his swords as he got into a two-handed stance with the one in his hands. Quill furrowed her eyebrows at the elite as he raised his sword above his head, watching the elite prepare to charge her again. "Wait, how come you're not…"

Quill's question was left unanswered as the elite threw his sword straight at her. The elite's blade flew so fast through the air that Quill swore she heard it cutting the air itself. She had barely half a second to react, dodging away before it could impale her chest. Quill knew she hadn't dodged it fast enough when she felt a searing pain lance across the left side of her face.

Trying to ignore the pain burning her face, Quill failed to keep track of the elite. It was already dashing towards her, drawing its third sword from behind its back. Keeping her left eye shut, feeling the blood pouring down her face, Quill had mere seconds to react as she went to block the black silver-trimmed sword with her blades.

Yet the elite's momentum was far greater than her ability to block while airborne. The elite shoved his blade against Quill's, breaking her guard and sending Quill plummeting to the ground. Quill recovered by pushing off the ground with one hand to stay airborne.

'Great, just great. I...he can do things like that, just fucking awesome,' Quill growled, snapping her jaw in mild anger. However, in spite of that setback, Quill had learned that explosive damage was far more effective on him than anything else.

Turning around while midair, Quill inhaled deeply, embers glowing at the edges of her mouth. "Flamma erupit." Quill whipped her head down towards the elite, opening her mouth just slightly, forcing the volatile flare in her mouth to compress before shooting out.

The sentinel tried to divert the fiery burst with his remaining sword by attempting to cut it in half. However, instead of exploding upon impact like it should have, the ball of fire pressed against with the elite's blade, pushing him back.

Quill quickly took a chance and flew right behind the elite, already charging up her magic for a second attack. The elite was far too busy fighting off the fireball that refused to change its intended course to do anything about the dragoness landing behind him and placing her sword at the top left side of his back.

All it could do was turn its head back to see the determined look in Quill's sharp purple eyes. As she locked her eyes with the sentinel's orbs it presumably used for sight, Quill noticed that they were starting to change just slightly, going from the pale-blue to a faded light-purple.

After noticing this, Quill continued to ignite her sword with the purple and green flickers of her fire-magic before saying, "Flamma erupit." again, this time causing a small explosion from her sword as she slashed down the elite's back.

The initial explosion pushed the elite into the fireball in front of him, causing a second one to happen within mere seconds of the first. Dust and rain water was kicked up from the two ground-shaking explosions before Quill and the sentinel were seen rushing out of the cloud side by side.

The two exchanged a flurry of blows with each other before they came to an abrupt stop, their blades were locked with one another. As Quill continued to push down against the sentinel's block, she glared into its 'eyes' again to see that they were turning into a darker shade of purple. A quick smile came onto Quill's lips as she pulled back her left fist, dropping one sword and charging a dose of her fire-magic, before her fist crossed flew over the swords to connect with its metal helm.

The explosive punch held enough force to knock the sentinel back, allowing Quill to gain the upper hand as she resumed her onslaught of attacks, grabbing her dropped blade as she charged. The elite soon recovered from the fiery punch, however, the sudden rush of attacks forced him to go fully on the defensive.

During the onslaught, Quill noticed a very small moment where the elite's defenses would break every so often. She continued the wild flurry of attacks until she saw that moment again. For a barely noticeable moment, after the fifth strike, the elite's right knee would give out just a little, causing him to lean closer to Quill by a bare few inches. Taking the opportunity, Quill pulled back her left sword, charging it with the same explosive power as her punch, before swinging it at the elite's right sword.

With his final blade gone, Quill quickly followed up by kicking the elite's leg hard, forcing it down to a knee. Quill wasted no time celebrating as she brought both of her swords above her head before slamming them down on the side of its neck.

A whirlwind of water was blown away from the attack that would have easily cut most living creatures in three. Yet the sentinel elite remained on its knees, for it knew what had happened.

For a moment, Quill stood there, panting heavily, not claiming victory just yet. She needed to see it in the elite's eyes. She had to know whether or not it was going to accept defeat. Oddly, Quill finally felt something pulsing inside the sentinel that seemed missing from the others: a soul.

"You lost, now you have to do whatever I say. Got it?!" Quill shouted the elite, crossing her swords over the empty space of his neck, and tilting them up a bit. When the elite made no move, Quill took that as an answer of acknowledgement from him.

"Good," Quill said, slowly sliding her blades from the sentinel's neck as she stepped away from him. As Quill placed them back her sheaths, they turned into purple and silver lights, the lights flitting straight into Quill's pendant around her neck.

The fire-stone and purple gem pendant Blaze had given her had been changed slightly, with silver now in the center. "Well, that makes things easier," Quill said as the elite slowly bowed his head. Suddenly, a loud rattling sound came from most of the sentinels as they too got on one knee, minus the ones holding Angel captive, and a few of the medium sized ones that had left to retrieve the elite's swords.

As the three sentinels returned with the elite's swords, Quill and everyone looked around in awe at the sentinels. However, Quill was brought out of her amazement when one of the three sentinels came to her side on its knee, presenting the black silver-trimmed sword to her. Quill slowly picked up the sword, finding it to be quite heavy for its size.

Looking over at Frost and Spike, Quill let out a small giggle when Spike's scythes began shining a bright blue and purple light before entering the gems on his gloves. That's when she turned her attention back to the elite in front of her.

"Heh," Quill chuckled at the idea that entered Quill's head. However, the moment was far too good to pass up. "I, Quill Ferox Dragul, hereby proclaim you to be no longer a walking tin can."

As Quill finished speaking, Dusk, carrying his younger sister on his back, with Saint tucked underneath his armpit still unconscious, returned to the central plaza. Obsidian and Verdite dragged Silversteel through a nearby store, spotting the rows of kneeling sentinels. Both groups were perplexed about why that was happening. "From here on out, you will be known for your badassery with a name that fits; Rydder the Knight." Quill touched Rydder's sword on each of his shoulders, officially naming the elite sentinel. "Stand, all of you."

Rydder raised his head as Quill turned the handle of his sword to him, causing the tip of the blade to be pointed to Quill's heart; the ultimate sign of trust. Rydder took the sword away from Quill as he stood up from the ground. He then raised his blade above his head, causing the rest of the sentinels to raise their weapons in salute as well.

Looking up at the buildings around them, everyone saw that even more sentinels were beginning to show up along with other squadrons of soldiers. Each of the new sentinels started to raise their weapon in the air, as if to show that they were allying with Quill and the others, marking victory as the rain finally ceased.

"So," Spike started, looking around in amazement with the others, none thinking they would see something like this. "I'm guessing that we won?"

/ High Moon Ch. 53: The Taste of Victory/-/

High Moon ch. 53:  
The Taste of Victory

"Hey, hey be careful where you sit that down. That's sensitive equipment you're lifting there!" A pegasi nurse said to one of the many sentinels that had been ordered to help the medical teams with anything they needed.

"One of you, lift this up and follow me," A doctor said as he quickly passed a large shipment of medical supplies that had been brought in to help the injured.

"Someone help me lift this stallion, he's severely wounded," another nurse called out. Her answer came in the form of a sentinel aiding her. It had been quite the shock to find that one of the Dragul twins had control over the army that had invaded Canterlot, but since they were working so hard to help out now, no one really complained.

In spite of the oddness of having the former enemy helping, that wasn't what was on everyone's minds. In a short amount of time, three hours at the most, three of the occultist unicorns had been captured or killed. Canterlot had suffered extensive damage, but the payoff of having two of the unicorns captured gave Equestria a large advantage against their new threat.

And they had the group Obsidian had led into battle to thank for this victory. Said group was all being treated in a room with the filly that was apparently the center of everything. During their treatment, Obsidian gave an oral report to Celestia about the filly, how Spike and Quill became Elements, how Quill gained control over the sentinel army, and the about three unicorns that they had captured.

"Well, today has certainly been...eventful," Celestia mused, thinking back to the twins' actions just minutes before the attack. "Thank you Sergeant Obsidian, it sounds like you're due for that leave time that you've saved up. And congratulations on your hard-fought battle, it seems that you've once again proven that you are more deserving of a higher post than you currently have."

Obsidian laughed as he shook his head. Despite what Celestia may think, he didn't consider himself the hero of this fight, much like how he felt about the first Canterlot invasion. "I am honored, your majesty. But I was far from alone," Obsidian nodded his head, sitting on the edge of Rainbow's hospital bed, bandages wrapped around his arms and his head. Twilight was sitting next to him with bandages around her wrists, midsection, and right leg. Rainbow was in about the same shape, but she was much better than she had been out in the field, thanks to Frost.

"Yes, I must thank you all for saving Canterlot," Celestia said as she looked around the room. Dusk and his siblings all were standing against the far right wall, with similar injuries. Quill and her group were all sitting or standing near a bed for Shadow Star. Quill had a large bandage covering most of the left side of her face - the cut that she had received during the battle had been cleaned, but the dragoness had declined Frost's healing. The two had nearly gotten in a fight over it until Quill had kissed her marefriend and assured her that she was fine. Frost had let it go, but made sure that Quill knew the two were going to talk about it later on.

The filly, having been treated for her injuries and fever, was sitting in Spike's lap, and playing around with his round spade-tip tail. Finally, the sentinel elite, which had been named Rydder by Quill, was sitting on the ground near the door, with two of his swords at his sides while his third one was strapped across his chest. "If it wasn't for all of you, the enemy would have surely defeated us."

Everyone nodded their head thanks toward the mare. Yet Quill and Spike couldn't help but feel like Celestia was thanking them in particular for not having left Canterlot the moment they learned about their parents. "And with this victory, Mr. Flare, I have a proposition for you."

Dusk tilted his head at Celestia, using his claws to lightly scratch at an itch on his head. "Uh, yes? What proposition would that be, your highness? And like I said before, you can call me by my first name."

Celestia giggled softly at Dusk's kind forwardness before continuing with her idea. "Well, seeing how the sentinels are now in the hands of Quill, and that both she and Spike became Elements today, I think they would be a good fit for the Elements of Defiance. Assuming that the twins want to join it."

Quill and Spike both froze momentarily, before looking at each other. They hadn't really considered that gaining an element would potentially put them under Celestia's finger again. Would they be willing to give up their elements if that was the only way to not be controlled by Celestia again?

"Uh, well," Quill started, not sure how to proceed. Her and Spike wouldn't likely forgive Celestia anytime soon, so the last thing they wanted was to be in a position where they would be under her direct rule again. "How would that work? Is it just like the Elements of Harmony, where we'd have to do what you say, or?..." she trailed off.

Twilight cocked her head at Quill. Twilight wasn't sure why, but it sounded like Quill didn't want anything to do with Celestia. She'd heard that reluctant, wary tone in the dragoness' voice before, and it always meant there was something she wanted to avoid.

Before she could question the dragoness, though, Celestia laughed before replying. "The Elements of Defiance are an autonomous organization, Quill. I can request your help, but I will never force you into a fight that you do not wish to join. I swear on that," Celestia smiled at the young dragoness. She wanted the twins to join Dusk on the team, and she knew that they wouldn't if she had overall authority over them. Joining such an organization would help them grow much stronger - both mentally and physically. As much as she knew the twins disliked her right now, she still wanted only the best for them.

Spike and Quill shared another look for a long moment, before Spike barely nodded his head - enough to tell Quill what his answer was. "Oh, well then heck yeah," Quill laughed. She pointed her thumb at her chest with a sly smirk on her face, proclaiming, "Quill Dragul, the Element of Pride speaking."

"Same here," Spike added, thumping his own chest with a small grunt from the pain from his lips. The filly seemed to find that funny as she leaped out from his lap and onto Spike's tail-tip. He gently wrapped the filly up in his tail and put her back in his lap, wrapping his arms around her and blowing a raspberry on her neck to make her giggle. "Spike Dragul, Element of Sacrifice at your service."

"Why am I not surprised?" Obsidian joked with a small laugh that soon was shared by the twins for a moment.

Celestia was the first to end her laughter. "Yes well, I was thinking. To further show that the Elements of Defiance are a separate group from the Elements of Harmony, how about a change in name? Why not go under the name 'Knights of Defiance'?" Spike's ear-frills quickly perked up at this, now paying a bit more attention to what Celestia was saying. "At this point, it seems fitting, no?"

"Hm, well, I guess. It does sound a lot more awesome," Dusk said, scratching the underside of his chin in thought. After a moment, he turned his attention over to the twins to see what they had to say about it. "Whatcha guys think? How ya'll feel about being knights that defy stuff? Could be a helluva good time."

"I'm down," Quill answered, with Spike giving an enthusiastic nod of his head. It wasn't the same as being officially knighted, but if the title change was to happen, then that would be the closest Spike had ever been to his childhood ambition. He wasn't about to let it slip from his fingers now.

"Heh, then how can I say no?" Dusk laughed, crossing his arms over his chest. He too, like many other young boys from the Republics, had thought of one day using their power and strength to defend their home. "Okay, Princess Celestia. From now on, we're the Knights of Defiance."

"Alright, I'm already liking the sound of that!" Quill said, pumping her fist lightly with a smirk on her face.

Celestia closed her eyes, nodding her head. She knew that there would be nothing she could ever hope to do to regain the twins' trust after what she'd told them. Yet, she couldn't help but hope this would at least she would help Spike achieve one of his ambitions. "Good, very good. As much as I wish I could stay, I must see to my citizens. If you will excuse me." Celestia turned to leave, walking out of the room to go see to her duties.

Once the mare was gone, the tension everyone was feeling dropped. Obsidian let out a relaxed sigh. "So, now the question is, what to do with her?" Obsidian asked, directing everyone's attention to the filly playing around with Spike's tail. It was a shock that the filly was making such a fast recovery after her fever had suddenly left, and after she had gotten some food into her.

A moment of silence took over the room as everyone thought about Obsidian's question. Dusk knew that he couldn't take in the filly because he couldn't be sure how Jinx and Sketchy would take it. He was sure that Jinx wouldn't have too much of a problem with it, but Sketchy on the other hand might be too apprehensive about fostering the filly. It would also be exposing them as targets if the occult was able to find where the filly was being held at.

For obvious reasons, neither of his sisters could take the filly either, given the lives they lived as soldiers in the Republic Guards. Although, moving the filly out of Equestria could be the best bet in giving her a chance at a normal life that she deserved.

That said, the twins knew bringing her back to High Moon wouldn't be good for her or the pack. With winter coming, Blaze getting ready to give birth to her own child, and the greater likelihood of her getting hurt, the twins believed that it would be best to have her stay with someone that could keep her safe. And help her control her magic.

Obsidian wasn't sure if he could take in the filly or not, despite reasons that might make him a perfect candidate. As much as he wanted to keep her safe, he didn't want his own three-month pregnant mare to have to worry about the filly on top of taking care of herself. That said, Mia did seem to the be the motherly type.

Shadow wasn't able to consider himself as a candidate to take the filly. He and his marefriend had just got arrived in Equestria a few months ago, and things in the apartment was still not fully settled in. He wanted the filly to have a safe and prosperous life, and that was something he wasn't sure he and his mare could give her.

That left only one…

"I nominate Twilight," Quill spoke. Everyone turned their attention to Quill, where she sat at the edge of Shadow's bed with one of her legs hanging off the side. "Oh c'mon," she started, raising one hand to tick off her reasons. "Twi's smart, knows a lot about magic, she's responsible, resourceful, surrounded by friends that are willing to help her out, never gives up, and enjoys seeing others smile. She would make the perfect foster mother. What does everyone else think?"

Twilight blushed from Quill listing the reasons she would be a good candidate for the filly's legal guardian. "Wait I don't think that-"

"Yeah, Twi would be the best one to take in the filly," Spike added his voice on the subject. He'd much rather have Twilight take care of the filly instead of Celestia, or a lineup of royal servants. "I mean c'mon Twilight, you raised not one, but two dragons and we turned out pretty great, and that's with not having a lot about dragons to go on. I know you can take care of her. And help her with her magic."

Twilight began rubbing the back of her neck with a downcast look in her eyes, remembering what happened a few months ago when the twins ran away for the last time. In fact, that was the whole reason that she believed that she wasn't the right one to take care of the filly. "Twilight, what happened wasn't your fault," Quill said, getting off the bed to walk over towards Twilight. "I know you're still a little sore about it, but you have to move past it, Twi. You've got to, and this filly is going to help with that."

A small laugh left Twilight's lips, not fully knowing why she still was in a rut about the twins leaving. However, after everything that'd happened, after seeing how much the twins had grown after moving on, Twilight couldn't help but think that maybe Quill was right.

"Quill, I wouldn't know where to begin," Twilight protested, looking at the pure purple in Quill's uncovered eye. She could've sworn that she had seen a glimmer of silver in it when she was fighting Rydder an hour ago, and now she was wondering where the silver shine had gone. "I mean, shouldn't we be looking for her parents instead?"

Obsidian let out a small sigh before he began whispering quietly so the filly wouldn't be able to hear what he had to say. "Princess, I didn't want to tell you this," he started, gripping his hands together as he looked away from Twilight's eyes. "But we may never find her parents. Given her age, who knows how many missing child reports we would have to go through to find a match."

"You have to be joking," Twilight quietly replied, as quietly she could given the amount of shock in her voice. She had a fear that was the case, but to hear it actually be real and not one just a meaningless worry, left her speechless. "H...how long do you think it would take?"

Obsidian shook his head, only adding to Twilight's anxiety and making her look around Quill to the giggling filly still in Spike's lap. "There's no telling how long," Obsidian sighed, shaking his head as he thought about the lists of missing child reports that he'd seen in the last four years of being a guard. Add that to the fact that it wasn't something he dealt with normally, so he knew there'd be more. "There're a lot of reports that come in, and if these occultists got her, I'm not sure if there is one."

"Wait, why on in Equestria would that make a difference?" Rainbow finally spoke up in a low and raspy voice, just as shocked and horrified as Twilight. "Somepony obviously wants their little filly back, right? And it's not like these occultists could have bought the parents off, right Sergeant?"

"Rainbow…" Obsidian sighed as he turned to his subordinate. "There's only two ways ponies like them could kidnap a filly without there already being a match yet. Either one, they killed the parents before taking her. Or two, the parents couldn't keep the poor child and sold her off."

"Th-that's horrible, no-nopony would do that would they?" Twilight questioned, a worried expression on her face. Her only response was a small shrug out of Obsidian, either not wanting to answer the question, or having trouble believing it himself.

"See Twi? There's no other option, and you're the only one that could understand what's so special about her," Quill quickly added to get Twilight to see why everyone was saying she was the perfect candidate to take care of the filly. She kept her voice low to not tip off the filly. "Not only do you already have experience raising someone, but you would be able to help her with her magic. C'mon Twi."

"Additionally, Ponyville," Obsidian paused to start counting his reason on his fingers. "With the other Elements, Dusk, the twins being close by, and the fact that the unicorns wouldn't think to look there a second time; it's the safest place for the filly to be protected and raised. Princess, please think about it."

Twilight looked away from the filly for a moment, wondering if she was ready for something like this. Thinking back, the twins had practically raised themselves because Twilight was always distracted by something or another. She had already failed once, so why were the twins trying to get her to take the filly? Unless…

"You guys really do trust me, don't you?" Twilight asked, looking between both Obsidian and Quill for a moment before she stood up from the bed. "Okay, I'll do it. If there's nothing else we can do," Twilight paused to look at Obsidian, who quickly shook his head. "Then as a princess of Equestria, I'll do it."

"Don't do it because of that, do it because you want to Twi. I know you a lot better than that. You really do want to help this filly, because you're you. Right?" Quill asked with a smile on her face, knowing Twilight better than anyone in the room aside from Spike. "Don't think that I don't remember how you treated me and Spike. You've been a mom since like, forever. Can't you do it again?"

"Yes, I can," Twilight said firmly as she walked towards Spike and the filly, gaining the attention of both. Smiling, Twilight knelt down so she would be eye level with with filly, asking, "What do you say little one? Would you like to live with me and learn about magic?"

The filly looked up at Spike for a moment, getting a nod and smile from the drake before she smiled at Twilight. "I get to live with a princess?! Can I really?!" the filly joyfully asked with a bright shine in her mixed purple and silver eyes.

Seeing the filly cheer like that reminded Twilight of the time she had passed Celestia's test. How happy she had been afterwards, and all the amazing memories she had raising, and growing up with, the twins. "Yes, everyone here seems to think that I can protect you from those bad ponies, and I'm willing to try that for you," Twilight said with a bright smile on her face and small giggle from the excitement that was on the filly's face.

"Oh yippie! I get to live with a princess and I get to learn about magic!" the filly cheered before she leaped towards Twilight and wrapped her arms around the mare's neck. Twilight was taken back by the move, but a reassuring nod from Spike prompted Twilight to return the affection.

"I guess someone is happy," Twilight giggled as she wrapped her arms around the filly's back and legs, picking her up out of Spike's lap. "Well I promise that you...we will have a lot of fun together, but first we should get a name for you. Hm…"

"My vote goes for Pandora," Dusk said with his hand raised to get attention towards him. Suddenly, Shadow and Wave started laughing while Obsidian did his best to stifle his before Verdite roughly elbowed Dusk in his gut, causing the half-breed to fall to his knees, groaning, "Worth it." before he fell over to the floor

While Wave and Shadow continued to laugh, Verdite shook her head at how immature Dusk could be sometimes. "Princess, don't mind my idiot little brother," she sighed while Dusk got back up on his feet. Verdite quickly brought her fist mere inches from Dusk's face to get him to flinch, causing him to fall on his rear end as he continued to laugh at the joke. "Pandora is a diamond dog name meaning 'the unknown.' Typically implying joyful, and happy."

"Well that does fit, so what's so funny about it?" Twilight asked with a puzzled look that the filly mimicked. The mimicking filly only got Dusk to laugh even harder when turned out the name fit even better than before.

"Princess, you have to understand, there's a story behind Pandora that's told as a bedtime story to little cubs by their mothers," Obsidian said, shaking his head at the memory of his own mother telling him and his brother the story about the wayward hound. "As much as it does oddly fit, I don't think it would be quite appropriate for a filly. Perhaps...Amethyst? It's typically a diamond dog name, but I have heard a few ponies have that name."

"Oh my vote goes for Amethyst," Quill smiled, more at the thought of the actual gem than the filly. "Those things are sweet, just like her. Also it fits with her purple mane and eyes, so you know." Quill ended with a shrug.

"Yes, I'm with Quill. Amethyst is a perfect name for her," Frost said with an honest smile on her face while Spike nodded his head to agree with the changeling and his sister. "Having been in a cave full of them when I was a filly, I think it's a wonderful name for her."

Twilight took in what everyone was saying, she did like the name Amethyst, and Quill was right about the filly being sweet. "Hm...what do you say little one? Do you like the name Amethyst?" Twilight asked the filly, seeing as it was going to be her new legal name.

"Uh-huh, I like Amethyst," the filly, brightly smiling from being called sweet by Quill, said as she liked the name that she was being given. She couldn't remember anything before the unicorns took her away from her real parents.

"Amethyst it is then," Twilight smiled as the filly, now named Amethyst, again wrapped her arms around Twilight's neck while Quill and Spike smiled at the sight for a different reason than the others. They truly believed that the filly was exactly what Twilight needed to move on. "I'm looking forward to getting to know you and seeing what kind of magic you can do." Twilight finished with a bright smile for the filly.

Spike perked up a for a moment, having entirely forgotten to tell them about what the filly did for him. "I, uh, I know what she can do. I don't think she can do it all the time, though." Spike nervously scratched the back of his head.

Twilight tilted her head, looking at Spike curiously. It wasn't like him to forget something that important. "Well, what is it, Spike?" Twilight looked back at the little filly in her arms, seeing that Amethyst was avoiding meeting her eye. "Amethyst sweetie, what's wrong?"

Amethyst continued to not look at Twilight, instead just staring at Spike, her big eyes soft and watching. She was almost afraid of her power, since it had been why those bad ponies had hurt her. She wasn't too worried that this new group would hurt her for her magic, but most of that was because she trusted Spike.

Spike shot the filly a smile, trying to reassure her. "She gave me a vision of the battle - sort of like what could, or would, happen."

Twilight raised her eyebrows. She had heard of some magic that could give visions of the future, but she'd never come across any with that sort of power. "Oh. So you knew we were going to win?"

Spikes eyes widened for a moment and he glanced at Quill before looking down at the bed he was sitting on. "Well… no. Actually, what happened was…" Spike mumbled the last few words, afraid of the reaction they'd bring.

Quill walked over to stand near Twilight and her brother. "What happened? We didn't hear you."

After he was silent for another moment, Amethyst wormed her way out of Twilight's grip and crawled back up onto his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck, seeing that he needed some help saying what needed to be said. "He died," she said softly, yet loud enough for everyone to have heard her. Spike wrapped his arms around the filly and buried his face against her neck. He felt so childish, being comforted by such a small filly.

Everyone else's eyes went wide at the filly's words. Quill took a step towards Spike, hand outstretched, but she didn't touch him. "But you… you didn't die! So the visions don't come true. So you changed whatever killed you, right?"

Spike didn't speak for a moment. He squeezed Amethyst against him before he brought his eyes up to meet hers. He looked away immediately after, unable to hold her gaze for more than a second. He knew she wasn't going to be happy. He let out an explosive sigh, before saying, "Not really. In the… vision, I guess, Angel Wing attacked Twilight and Rainbow the same way she did when I got my Element. In the vision, though, I didn't get the Element. Instead, I just -"

A loud bang interrupted Spike. He jumped, his arms tightening around Amethyst momentarily. He looked up to see Quill with part of her fist buried in the wall by the bed he was sitting on. Her one visible eye was on fire, watching him.

When she spoke, a chill went down Spike's back-spines from how cold her tone was. "You died in the vision. And then, when you knew what would happen, when you knew it wasn't a vision, you did the same damn thing that got you killed," she accused. She watched him for a moment longer, Spike unable to meet her angry glare.

"I did what I had to, Quill," Spike said softly. He chuckled to himself - he wouldn't change what he'd done for his friends, but even knowing he'd been right to risk himself, he couldn't meet his sister's angry glare. He knew she only worried for him and wanted the best for him, but when she thought she was right, there was no arguing with her.

She glared down at him for another moment, before taking her fist out of the wall and shaking bits of plaster and marble off her hand. She quietly turning to walk over to Frost. Frost was watching her lover worriedly, not wanting the dragoness to start a fight with her brother. For his part, Spike tracked his sister with wary eyes, waiting for the explosion.

Quill just quietly embraced Frost, burying her bandaged face against Frost's shoulder and not saying anything. Frost shot Spike a quizzical look before wrapping her own arms around Quill's shoulders. Spike returned the confused look, as this was usually when Quill punched him or started yelling.

"Quill, love, are you ok?" Frost asked, running one set of knuckles down the smaller dragoness' back reassuringly.

Quill shook her head against Frost's shoulder before letting out a deep sigh. In a soft voice somewhat muffled by Frost's shoulder, and for her ears only, Quill replied, "I'm going to kill him, Frost. Will you still love me after that?"

Frost's reply was a peal of laughter, squeezing Quill against her. "Of course I will, love." Frost placed a single kiss on Quill's head, before looking up at Spike. Spike saw that Frost had a mischievous glint in her eyes, and a smile to match. "However, I think we should let Cyclone decide what to do with him."

Spikes eyes went wide as Quill barked out a loud laugh, finally turning to look at her twin. She had the same smile that Frost did. "I think Cy will be very interested in hearing about how you tried to kill yourself, Spikey."

Spike gulped hard. This wasn't turning out how he'd thought. He'd almost prefer Quill yelling at him or trying to hit him than telling her version of the story to Cyclone. Amethyst shifted around in his lap, reminding him that she was still there, and he absent-mindedly ran his claws through her hair. When he realized what he was doing, he thought that this time it was to calm himself down.

Twilight and Rainbow shared a confused look while Dusk just laughed, before an idea popped into Rainbow's head and she turned an evil grin on Spike. "Cyclone, huh? Sounds like a cute name for a gurrrrrrrrl, Spikey. Somepony special?"

Spike blushed slightly before grinning and returning the same grin that Rainbow had. "The specialest, Rainbow. Jealous?"

Rainbow's eyes widened before she let out a laugh. "Nah, I got enough on my plate with the Guard as it is. Don't need a suicidal drake to keep track of too."

Spike frowned for a moment. "You know, this 'suicidal drake' is the reason you're alive."

Rainbow grinned at him. "Yeah, and you know I'm thankful for it, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to rib you with your sister. Or be your marefriend."

Spike laughed at that last comment. "Yeah, I thought not. Oh well, one beautiful dragoness is enough for this guy."

"Speaking of which, Spike, we should be getting back. I don't think Wolf or Blaze thought we were going to be gone this long," Quill told him, moving out of Frost's arms and starting to get ready to leave.

Spike sighed, before moving to get Amethyst out of his lap so he could stand up. The little filly tightened her arms around Spike, not wanting to get up. Spike chuckled before returning the hug, leaning down to blow another raspberry against the filly's neck. She let out a series of giggles before looking into his eyes. "You're gonna come visit, right?"

Nodding, Spike promised the filly that he'd come and see her, and bring Cyclone when he did. Satisfied, the filly held out her arms to Twilight, the princess looking slightly confused before she realized what the filly wanted. Reaching down for the filly, Twilight picked Amethyst up and turned to the rest of the room. "I guess we'll go talk this out with Celestia to make it official before we head off to Ponyville." 'And I need to ask Celestia why the twins don't seem to trust her.'

"I'll accompany you, Princess," Obsidian said, standing up from Rainbow's bed with a slight groan. "Privates Dash, Star, I'll be back to give you two a full debriefing of any news that I hear. Now if you'll excuse us." Obsidian promptly began to lead Twilight and Amethyst out of the room, leaving the others to their own devices.

With everything now sorted out, Quill thought it was well past time for them to get back to High Moon and explain everything to Wolf. "Well, guess we better bounce too. Need to get back to the pack before it gets too dark. No doubt that we'll have to tell Wolf that we need a place for the sentinels and stuff. And I know he's going to grill us about today."

"Oh wait, before you go," Dusk said, getting up from the ground, and walking over towards the twins and Frost. "Think I can talk to Spike about something first? It'll be real quick, promise. It's not too much trouble, is it?"

"Nah," Quill shook her head with a shrug of her shoulders, remembering Dusk saying there was something that he wanted to talk about with Spike. "Hey Spike - Frost, Rydder, and I will be outside at the castle doors waiting on you. Okay?"

Spike nodded his head as he hopped off the bed to leave with Dusk, still curious about what the half-breed could want. "Sure Quill, I'll be there in a sec." Quill nodded her head before she left the room with Frost.

"C'mon Rydder, we've got to make sure the other sentinels know the plan," Quill said to the still suit of armor that had been motionless since he took his spot against the wall. However, upon hearing his new master's voice, Rydder began to move from his spot by the door, placing his swords back into their holsters at his sides and lower back. "We'll be waiting, Spike," Quill called out to her twin as she walked out of the room with Frost by her side, Rydder behind the couple.

Once the group had left, Verdite kicked off of the wall and began walking out with Wave. "Hey Dusk, we're heading outside too. Meet us there when you're done," she told her younger brother, getting a nod from him before the two sisters left.

"Follow me Spike, this shouldn't take too long," Dusk said, walking towards a widow that lead out towards an empty courtyard. After opening the window, Dusk hopped outside, landing on the ground with a huff.

Spike walked over to the window after Dusk, stopping when he placed his hands on the frame. "Oh uh, see ya Rainbow and Shadow," Spike said, looking between the two injured soldiers with a smile. "Thanks for all the help out there."

"Hey, all part of the new job. I still would've done it even without the armor, already have plenty times before now," Rainbow joked with a small laugh before resting her head back against her pillow. "You and Quill just stay safe, ya hear? From the sound of things, you guys got a lot more counting on you now."

"Yeah, we will Rainbow," Spike said with a nod of his head and a friendly smile on his face before Dusk called out to him.

"Yo Spike, c'mon."

Spike chuckled a little bit before he got ready to leap out to the courtyard. "You guys get better soon." After getting a nod from the both of them, Spike hopped out of the window, landing with a small huff before turning around to close the window behind him.

Once he closed the window, Spike followed Dusk through the muddy and wet courtyard. However, the mud was a lot easier to deal with than the pouring rain had been. "So Spike, how're things with Cyclone? Sounds like they're going well." Dusk flashed the younger drake a grin.

Spike chuckled, scratching at one cheek. "Yeah man, Cyclone has been doing great. She's… things've been goin' great," Spike said with a cheesy smile as he and Dusk made their way to a table set up in the middle of the courtyard. After Dusk dried the table off with his wind-magic, both males hopped on top of it. "Blaze, the uh...Alpha-Mother of our pack, has been teaching Cyclone about her fire magic while Frost and I been helping her with her water-magic."

Dusk nodded his head, as he already knew all of this from the visits and talks he had with Quill when she would randomly show up during her training for the flight competition. "Okay, I guess I won't tease you too much about her - yet," Dusk said with a laugh. "Tell her I said 'Hi,' by the way." Spike nodded his head, glad that Dusk wasn't going to rib him about being with Cyclone. Dusk continued, "Anyway Spike, there's another reason why I wanted to talk to you."

"Dude, it's about the Crusaders," Dusk said, which elicited a sigh from Spike, as he didn't want to revisit the topic. Now more than ever, given his relationship with Cyclone. "Before you say anything, no, it don't have anything to do with the camping trip. At least...I don't think it does."

"Then what could it be? I haven't seen any of them in over three weeks," Spike said, now a little worried about what could be going on with the three teenaged mares. "Dusk, dude, I got a lot on my plate as is. I don't really have the time to be playing mediator with those three again. Especially now."

"I know, I know, it's just something they wanted me to tell you," Dusk said, waving his hand around, not surprised that Spike was just as sick of the whole thing as he was. Luckily though, the three teenagers seemed to have moved on from the whole thing. At the very least, Sweetie Belle had, if her recent apprenticeship under Sapphire Shores was any indication. "It was the day that Sweetie was due to leave Ponyville. All three of them came to me and told me to tell you that they're sorry for what happened, and that they'd understand if you'd rather not deal with them any more."

"Oh...then how come they couldn't tell me that?" Spike asked with a raised eyebrow, only getting a shrug from Dusk. Sighing, Spike turned his head up towards the still clearing skies, trying to understand why the Crusaders would do something like that. Regardless, he was happy that they had apparently moved on. "Whatever, I guess, something is better than nothing, right?"

"Dunno Spike, how did you think this was going to end?" Dusk answered Spike with a question of his own. It just got another sigh out of the drake. "And there's something that I wanted to show you as well, but I'm not sure how well this'll go over with Cyclone."

"What with Cyclone?"

Instead of answering the drake, Dusk reached into his jacket pocket to pull out a CD, handing it to Spike. With a raised eyebrow, Spike took the case from Dusk to look at the cover. What he saw only spelled trouble.

In big bold bleeding-green letters, the title of the album read, "My Shining Dark Knight in Green Scales!" with Sweetie Belle standing in the very center, microphone stand in hand as if she was singing the song on the cover.

Spike immediately noticed the outfit she was wearing: a puffy, high-hemline black and green corset dress, split down the middle to show off her fishnet stocking thighs. The top of the dress was strapless, where it forced her modest breasts to push together, showing off a generous amount of cleavage while making them look bigger. Jet-black eyeliner makeup, even blacker lipstick and nail polish. Accessorized with elbow-length lace gloves and two green emerald earrings. Sweetie was a few inches taller only because of the black high-heel boots she was sporting. Her pink and purple mane had been styled in two short pigtails at the sides of her head.

"Uh...wow, Rarity going to have a heart attack when she see this," Spike said, nearly speechless at what Dusk had given him. Spike turned the CD cover over to see the list of songs on them, all of which somehow related back to the color green, his name, or something relating to a dragon. 'Cyclone wouldn't… well, she did react pretty strongly to when Rarity was trying to get me to go back to Ponyville…' "Dusk, uh… how would a dragoness normally react if she thought someone was after her...mate?" Spike gulped as he said the last word.

Dusk laughed loudly as he patted Spike on the back. He shrugged his shoulders as he hopped off of the table after Spike handed the CD back to him. "Well, that depends on the dragoness, Spike," he started, placing the CD back into his pocket for safe-keeping, since Jinx wanted to check out Sweetie Belle's music. "But in general, the reaction is usually pretty aggressive. Even for some of the more...laid-back ones."

Spike thought to himself for a moment, wondering how Cyclone would react if she found out about the album. 'I don't think she'd really attack Sweetie… but…' His mind went back to how the pale dragoness had reacted to Rarity trying to 'take' him. Thinking on it, Spike realized he thought Cyclone was absolutely adorable when she was furious. With as tame as Rarity had been during that encounter, though… 'Ponyfeathers, she may actually hurt Sweetie.' He dropped his head with a long drawn out sigh.

All Dusk could do was pat Spike on his shoulder at little bit to snap him out of his funk. "C'mon Drake, it probably won't end all that bad," Dusk said as he moved his hands into his torn blue jeans, mustering up the best smile he could.

Spike nodded his head, more than ready to head back to High Moon to tell the others about their unexpected victory today. Hopefully, Wolf wouldn't be mad at them… maybe.

Everfree Forest, High Moon valley; High Moon Temple

After leaving Canterlot, Quill and the others began making their way back to High Moon. At first the three were worried that Rydder would have troubles descending the mountain, but the sentinel proved to the three that he was more nimble and agile than his body let on. So with that worry out of the way, they continued through the Everfree and on to the temple to tell the others what had happened.

As they reached High Moon, both Quill and Spike were happy to see that their Elements could still work just like the fire-stones to open the doors to the temple and city ruins. At least Blaze wouldn't have to strain herself with making a whole new pair of them. "Spike, let me do all the talking for Rydder," Quill said as they descended the steps to Blaze's work area, figuring that was where everyone would be waiting for them. "I just hope there's space to keep all of the sentinels."

"Well, Isis has told me about some underground tunnels," Frost added, a little worried about what the alpha dog would have to say about what they'd been through today. "So if there really are some, I'm sure it will work out, Quill."

Quill nodded her head as she let out a small sigh, reaching the bottom of the stairs. "Me too, Frost," she said before opening the door with her pendant. When the door was opened, Quill saw the rest of the pack sitting or standing around Blaze's work area - along with some new visitors that she didn't know. All eyes turned to them as the group walked into the work area.

"Hey guys," Quill greeted the group with the best convincing smile on her face. "We're home, and boy, do we have the story to tell you all."

Wolf quickly let out a sigh of relief, seeing that the twins and Frost were back, but then caught sight of Rydder walking behind the group. "I'm guessing that it has something to do with the walking suit of armor behind you, wouldn't it Quill?" Wolf questioned as he moved away from Blaze's table, walking closer to them to see the bandages on their bodies. "What happened, and why are you guys injured?"

On hearing they were injured, Blaze and Cyclone both stood up from where they were at. Blaze moved to stand by Wolf and look them over, worry and anger warring in her eyes. She saw the bandage covering Quill's left eye, and a gasp escaped the matronly mare. "Who?" Blaze asked, trying to keep her draconic magic from overtaking her. She took a step closer to Quill and her hands came up to either side of the dragoness' face, cradling it. "Who hurt you?"

Quill tried to fight Blaze off gently, telling the mare that she was fine, that it was just a cut - and ignored the sideways look that Frost gave her. Blaze held Quill's face a moment longer, before Wolf pulled her back gently. She shot an angry look at Wolf for a moment, before visibly calming herself down. She looked back at the young pair of lovers, before asking again, in a quiet tone that demanded answers, "Who hurt you?"

Quill and Frost thought her eyes seemed especially sharp as she took in their injuries again. Quill could have sworn she had seen black markings moving down from the tip of the unicorn's horn for a moment, but they'd disappeared nearly as fast as they'd spiralled down it. The young pair of lovers exchanged looks, unsure of how to tell them what happened.

Spike, meanwhile, had ignored everyone but Cyclone as he walked into the work area. He moved past Quill and Frost, meeting Cyclone as she went to look at his injuries.

"Spike, are you okay? Do you-" Spike cut her off when he pressed his lips against hers, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her tight against him. He ignored the aches from his wounds, just focusing on Cyclone. It only took a moment to feel her wrapping her arms around his neck and moaning softly into the kiss.

"Eugh, something I never wanted to see," Quill gagged, turning to focus on Wolf and Blaze. At least now she had something to ignore to help her focus. "Like I said," Quill started, looking into the dog's eyes before sighing again. "We got one helluva story for you guys." Wolf and Blaze looked the younger members over once more, their eyes flicking to Spike's own wounds. They looked at each other for a long moment before nodding and going back to their places at Blaze's worktable.

Spike had finally pulled out of the kiss with Cyclone, and just had his forehead tilted down, leaning on hers, a goofy smile planted on his face. Cyclone had finally regained her breath, and she rubbed her nose against Spike's, giggling softly. "I missed you too, big guy."

"C'mon, loverdrake, we need to let everyone know what happened," Quill swatted her brother's shoulder as she walked by him, moving towards one of the tables. "And Cyclone especially needs to know." Quill wasn't going to let her brother butter up his dragonfriend so she wouldn't get mad at him.

Spike opened his eyes and stared into the pinks of Cyclone's, seeing the worry that suddenly laced them. He gave her a reassuring smile, before whispering to her, "Hey, I'm fine. I promise." He stroked one claw against her cheek as Cyclone looked at him for another long moment, his emerald eyes earnest. She nodded and led him back to the table.

The four younger members all got situated at the dinner table, while Rydder sat on the floor, much the same way he had in the hospital room in Canterlot. Quill and Frost sat side-by-side, one pair of hands clasped tightly under the table, with their tails nervously curled around each other. Spike and Cyclone sat very close to one another, Cyclone's arms wrapped around one of his, with her head resting on his shoulder. Spike had his head resting on Cyclone's, with his eyes watching Quill. He was mostly content to let her tell the story.

Eventually, slowly, Quill began telling the pack about the attack that taken place in Canterlot as they had been leaving the capital. She began by telling them how Frost had felt something off, and how they'd found the little filly that they'd later name Amethyst. How they'd met up with Obsidian, and their trek back to the castle. Quill paused for a moment, thinking before she turned to look at Frost and Spike. "Anything you want to add, Frost? Spike?"

Both of them shook their heads. Spike thought that he could wait to talk until Quill mentioned Amethyst's power.

Quill looked at her twin for a moment longer, still slightly upset with him for doing the same thing that had gotten him killed in the vision. 'Sure, he definitely saved Twi and Rainbow, but… eugh, I hope Cyclone tears him a new one,' she thought to herself before continuing with the story. She talked about how Obsidian had led them and the Guard out of the castle to confront the sentinels and the one occultist they had seen, and how once they'd arrived, more of them showed up. She continued on about their battle, and when she got to the part right before Spike jumped in front of their friends, she paused before laughing. "Spike, I've been so mad at you that I forgot about our Elements."

Blaze's head tilted a moment before she asked, "Mad? Elements? The Elements of Harmony? I didn't think they could be transferred unless the wielders died."

At this point Spike spoke up, "No, these Elements are derived from those, though. Celestia's taken to calling them the Elements of Defiance. Quill, want to show 'em?" Getting a nod from his sister, Spike untangled himself from Cyclone and stood up. The twins held out their hands and summoned their new Elements - tendrils of magic came from Spike's wrists and Quill's pendant, flowing out to their hands. Spike's weapons coalesced, their shimmering blades gleaming with an almost sinister intensity along the curves. Quill's materialized as well, the swords blazing with an almost-seen fire that suited the dragoness.

Everyone in the pack and the new visitors, apart from Frost, was shocked to see that the twins could summon the weapons. Blaze knew that wasn't something that dragons could normally do, so if it wasn't something relating to the Elements of Harmony, then she had no idea what it was.

The twins showed off their weapons for a few moments longer before letting them go, the weapons drifting into mist before pulling back into their respective stones. Sighing, Spike sat back down and wrapped his arm around Cyclone, the pale dragoness leaning against him. Quill took her seat again too, shooting a stern look at her brother with her one visible eye. 'How long is he going to put it off?'

"So anyways, Cyclone, before I continue, there's an important bit that we've kind of left out," Quill continued her story, directing her attention to her brother's girlfriend. Cyclone lifted her head off Spike's shoulder, not noticing that she'd gripped Spike's hand harder. "So it turns out that after Spike got Amethyst to the hospital, she was able to give him a… vision of the future." Quill still thought it was strange that the little filly had that sort of power.

"A vision of the future…" Isis spoke up for the first time since the twins had gotten back. "Those that can show the future do, on occasion, appear. However, I've never heard of it being under their control."

Spike nodded, adding, "Yeah, she said she couldn't really control it. And on top of that," he shot Quill a look of his own before continuing, "What she showed me didn't come true. I changed it."

"That still doesn't change-" Quill's growing retort was cut off suddenly by Wolf.

"Ok, you two have been dancing around something Spike did to upset you, Quill. Spill it. No more avoiding it," Wolf growled, tired of the twins talking around an obviously sore point.

"Ok, yeah, sure," Spike sighed, nervously running his free hand over his head-spikes. "So, after I got Amethyst back to the hospital, that's when she showed me the vision. I didn't know it was one at first. It showed that the battle was going well, for the most part. Except…" Spike trailed off, reluctant to continue.

"Cyclone, Spike died in the vision. And then, when it came down to the wire in the actual battle, he did the same damn thing that led to him dying," Quill jumped in quickly, screaming at herself not to cry. She would not do that out where everyone could see.

Cyclone pushed off his shoulder to get a better look at him. She met his eyes, her own pink orbs searching. "Spike? Is that true? Why-"

A palm slapping into the table stopped Cyclone's question. "Because he's a Cadjo-forsaken idiot, that's why!" Everyone looked in surprise at Veil. She was standing up on Cyclone's other side, eyes locked on Spike, with one hand flat on the table where she'd slapped it, while the other was balled into a fist. Veil seemed to have realized that she'd spoken and moved, a light blush showing on her face. "Er, I mean, uh," Eyes flicking around to look at the other pack members and the unfamiliar guests, it looked like she'd lost steam already. She had instantly become the center of attention. Then her eyes locked onto Spike's, and they narrowed. "Did you even think for a second about who you'd leave behind? About how w… Cyclone would feel? You'd just go and leave her to grieve over you?"

Spike's jaw dropped as he stared at the furious hound looming over him. He always forgot how tall she was. "Veil, I don't - I… it was-"

The sounds of Veil's larger set of claws scoring the table interrupted him. She hadn't even realized she'd unsheathed them. Taking a deep breath, she was about to continue when Wolf cut her off. "Veilstone, either calm down or leave. Spike had his reasons. I'm sure they were worth risking his life."

Veil turned her glare on Wolf, who only stared back at her implacably. "Fine," Veil muttered before storming towards the door, ignoring Cyclone calling her name. She waved her fire-stone in front of it, slipping through the door the moment there was enough space for her slim frame to make it.

Everyone stared after the hound, still surprised. Spike shook himself out of it and turned to Cyclone, asking her if she wanted to go after her friend. The last thing Spike wanted to do was cause a rift between the two friends. Cyclone was silent for a moment, before telling him that she'd give her friend some time to calm down. If Cyclone went after her now, she knew that she'd just end up starting another argument.

Quill turned to look at her brother. "So it's not who I thought was going to be mad at you, but I guess it works. Still," Quill paused, her eye moving back to the door before returning to her brother and his girlfriend, "I didn't expect Veil to be the one to blow up on you. Better watch out Cyclone, I think Veil's going for your dragon." Quill ended with a smirk and a wink.

Cyclone was quiet for a moment, her own eyes flicking to the door before they returned to Spike. "Spike, why did you do it? You never told us."

Spike looked down at Cyclone before answering, his arm tightening around her momentarily, "Two of my oldest friends were in danger, and one of them was the one that hatched Quill and me. I couldn't just let them die, knowing I could do something." Spike held his breath after he finished. He knew Cyclone would understand, but there was always the chance that she'd still be upset. His sister had been there, and seen why he'd risked his life, and she was still angry.

Cyclone looked at Spike for a long moment, pink eyes thoughtful. Then she gave a small smile, and kissed Spike on the corner of his lips before laying her head on his shoulder again. "I don't know why Quill thought I'd be angry at you. You should have told me sooner why it was. I don't think Veil will be as mad when I talk to her." She took in a deep breath against Spike, breathing in his scent before letting out a soft sigh. She was proud of him, she'd have to think of something to show him that.

Quill looked at Cyclone somewhat incredulously for a moment, before stammering out, "But he- but… Oh, forget it." She slumped back in her seat for a moment. She shouldn't have been surprised, Quill doubted it was possible for Cyclone to ever get mad about anything. She turned to her own marefriend sitting by her, quipping, "She spoils him too much, Frost. We should have beat him back at the - you ok?" Quill sat up, seeing that Frost was still staring at the door. Quill nudged her, asking, "Frost?"

Frost jumped in her seat, shaking herself as she brought her attention back to Quill. "What? Oh, yes. I guess we'll just have to get him when Cyclone's not around," Frost said with a short laugh. Her eyes went back to the door for a moment, thoughtful. She hadn't been able to sort through all the emotions the hound had been giving off. It was strange though, there was anger, that much had been obvious. But sadness? And something that had almost felt like regret.

Spike's jaw dropped as he looked at his sister and her marefriend. They were just being unfair now. Putting on as pitiful a face as he could manage, Spike turned to whine at the one that might save him, "Blaaaaze, Quill and Frost are being mean to me."

Blaze giggled at the drake, before telling him, "Oh, don't worry Spike. I'm sure they won't do anything… too permanent." She added the last bit with a sly grin.

Spike was left speechless as he looked between his sister, Frost, and Blaze. The three all shared the same sly smirk as they looked at the drake. Sighing melodramatically, Spike tightened his arm around Cyclone before saying, "Well, I guess Cy's the only one that loves me. I see how it is." Spike stuck his tongue out at his sister, Cyclone giggling at his side.

Quill waved a dismissive hand at Spike. "Well, someone has to, that's for sure." Looking over at Wolf, Quill continued. "So Wolf, apparently I became the leader for the sentinels that had attacked Canterlot. I was thinking we could house them here in High Moon, whaddya think?"

Wolf looked over at the sentinel, trying to think what use the pack would have for creatures such at them. Isis, seeing the curious look on her master's face, began telling Wolf of all the varying uses that the sentinels could have for High Moon. Primarily in terms of reconstruction and defending. She also said that there was a perfect place to house all of the sentinels.

Now with no reason not to, Wolf said he'd allow the sentinels to stay in High Moon as long as Quill did her part in getting their space set up. The dragoness didn't think twice before she agreed to the idea, as she was more than happy to take responsibility over the small army.

With that out of the way, Wolf got up from his seat to introduce the three to the three newcomers Lily had brought. Apparently she had convinced him to allow them to stay in High Moon as well. "Alright, sounds like you three had a long day, but let me introduce these three before we get ya'll something to eat," Wolf said, walking over to the midnight-blue bat-pony mare, light-brown diamond dog, and a second gray diamond dog.

"Quill, Spike, Frost, these three are Night Blade," Wolf paused, waving his hand over the bat-pony, who was dressed in a sky-blue and white trimmed jacket that only reached midway down her sides. It gave way to a black top, and she had a pair of blue shorts tied with two brown belts that held several bleached pouches. She even a sawtooth short-sword that looked like a large butcher's knife.

Suddenly, a small off-tan furred creature, looking to like some sort of vixen, appeared from out of Night Blade's lavender mane. Upon closer inspection, the creature also had not one, but two black tipped tails moving behind it. It also had a bright hot-pink jewel in the center of its forehead.

"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you three," Night Blade said as she bowed her head towards the twins and Frost, still amazed by the story that the three had just got done telling. After standing back up, Night Blade moved her long lavender mane out of her face before introducing the small vixen on her shoulder. "This little creature right here is my partner. Shakini is her real name, but I call her Kiri, she's a…'special' kind of vixen."

"Special how?" Spike asked, having never seen anything like it before.

Night Blade looked over towards Wolf as if asking a question, getting the dog to nod his head. The bat-pony then held up her left arm, prompting Kiri to run along Night Blade's jacket sleeve, over her black glove before jumping away from the mare. Mid-air, the jewel on Kiri's forehead began to shine a quick flash of red before covering her entire body.

By the time the vixen hand landed on the ground again, Kiri had grown to three times the size she had been. Her claws and protruding top fangs looked like they could tear through the thickest of hides. She also had small threads of residual energy coming off of her, with a feral look in her vibrant red eyes. Kiri was easily far bigger than any adult timberwolf either of the twins and Frost had ever seen before.

Night Blade laughed at the shocked expressions on the twins and Frost's faces. "Kiri is a demon twin-tailed fox. We've been 'bonded' ever since I was a filly. In fact, she's the whole reason Fang, Spirit, and I are friends in the first place. Isn't that right, girl?"

Kiri responded with a howl that sounded like it belonged to a sabertooth tiger. And she looked it. She had a strong upper body, powerful looking fore and hind legs, long dagger-like saber fangs, and claws that looked fit to carve through solid granite. And that wasn't even counting what demonic powers the vixen may have had, and what kind of 'bond' she and Night Blade had with each other.

"So awesome," Spike said with a slack jaw before Cyclone gently reached over to close his trap, smiling.

"Uh, Night Blade, was it? This bond you and Kiri have… it wouldn't be a blood one, would it?" Frost asked, watching the vixen strut about, showing off her powerful looking body to her and the others.

"Actually, yes, yes it would be," Night Blade answered, sounding surprise that Frost knew anything about demonic creatures. Though, as she gave the mare another look over, she supposed she shouldn't have been that surprised. "Yeah, it's a blood-pack I made with her when I was a filly. Don't remember too much of it though, what with the blood loss and all…"

"I see," Frost replied, mostly to herself. Frost continued to keep her thoughts to herself as Night Blade placed two of her fingers into her mouth to let out a small whistle, signaling Kiri to change back into her smaller size.

After letting out what could only be described as a cute howl, the vixen then moved over to Rydder, hopping onto his leg to examine him closer like the twins' phoenixes had been. Rydder moved his head over to the vixen, looking down at her but not doing anything to discourage Kiri from moving around him. "Kiri, what have I told you about climbing on people?" Night Blade half-scolded her while Kiri continued to move up to the sentinel's head. "I'm sorry about that."

"Oh don't worry about it," Quill said, waving off the bat-pony's worries, and still surprised at the little vixen's capabilities. "He can handle himself. Isn't that right, Rydder?" Slowly, while Kiri and the phoenixes were still testing the suit of armor, Rydder turned his head towards Quill, and simply stared. "Yeah, he can handle it."

"Heh," Night Blade giggled, still finding the suit of armor sitting on the ground quite the curious spectacle, especially with the story that Quill told about him. "Well then, I hope we can become real close friends."

Quill and the other two nodded their heads towards the mare, all quite interested in the fact that she was a bat-pony, since they had never met one before.

"Fang," Wolf continued, waving his hand over towards the light-brown diamond dog. He was wearing a black sleeveless jacket that had a symbol of a white feather in most of the center of it, a blue and purple star-shaped pendant around his neck, and a pair of long dark-brown pants that were held up with a black belt that had one large bleached pouch at his side.

"Hey it's cool to meet you guys," Fang said in a raspy voice, giving the three a toothy smile as he rubbed his hand through his black hair. He quickly locked his sharp bright green eyes on each of the three, smirking a little."Sounds like you had a hard fight today, I wouldn't mind sparring with you sometime."

"Wow Fang, already flexing your muscles," Night Blade teased, elbowing her dogfriend in his chest before wrapping her arms around him when he staggered. "Don't you think that they're a little out of your league, hm?"

Fang began laughing a little as he scratched his cheek with a claw. "H-heh, Night c'mon…" Night Blade continued to display her affection for Fang while Wolf moved onto the last of the three newcomers.

"And finally, Spirit," Wolf said, waving his hand over the second canine, dressed in a similar outfit as Fang. The main difference between the two's clothing was that the jacket was a light-gray with a black feather in the center, and that his pants were black in color. The only other notable thing on him were the black gloves he had on, both of which had a pale-white gem in the center on the back of his hands, much like Spike's.

"Hello, like Alpha just said, my name's Spirit," he said with a friendly and respectful smile on his face before waving over to his two friends. "Fang and I were raised in the same den before we met Night and Kiri. Just like Night said, we met because of Kiri and these things right here."

Spirit held up his hands to showcase the gems, which gave off a faded shine. "These babies can store up energy from movement, and pass that onto me for a short while." Both the twins and Frost perked up upon hearing this, the twins already knowing what kind of gems and magic they were, while Frost was just generally impressed.

"Hey Quill, doesn't that sound like…"

"Kinetic magic," Quill finished for her twin. The three newcomers tilted their heads, as they'd never really found out what kind of gems were on Spirit's wrists, or why they allowed him to use magic every time they stored up energy. "Kinetic crystals. And Twi said they were only found in the Crystal Empire."

"Uh, who and what now?"

"Spirit, our new friend," Quill started, suddenly moving next to Spirit and taking hold of his wrist. "You are in possession of something that's called kinetic crystals, rumored to only grow in the Crystal Empire and beyond, way north from here in the frigid tundra."

All Spirit could do was look down at the dragoness as she continued to eye the crystals on his wrists. He looked over towards Lily standing near the den's mothers, but all he got was a small smile from the flutterpony.

"And from what I remember, it's the unicorns from the Henosis kingdom that practice kinetic magic. Twilight was always interested in that kind of magic, too," Spike said as he scratched the back of his head for a moment. "Um, Isis, you wouldn't happen to know anything about kinetic magic, would you? Just to help Spirit out."

"Uh, th-that's not really necessary. I can handle it," Spirit said, not wanting to bother either one of the Den-Mothers. Though in all honesty, thus far, Spirit hadn't been able to use the abilities the crystals gave him as well as he would've liked. "There's no need for the Alpha-Mothers to worry about it. All I need is some more training."

"Training will get you only so far, Spirit," Isis said from Blaze's work station. She took a moment to think back to any information about the Henosis kingdom and their practices she could remember. "Not much was known of the Henosis kingdom geologically speaking, due to the frozen barrier that is the kingdom's cold weather. However, the archives should hold some information, if you can find it."

"Heh, that shouldn't be too much trouble for me," Spike said in a confident manner as he rubbed his claws against his now-weathered shirt. "I should be able to help with that much. And I bet Twilight still has a few books about kinetic magic back at the library."

"You guys are willing to go out your way to help me?" Spirit asked. The twins looked between each other before merely shrugging and nodding their heads wordlessly. Spirit looked back to his two friends, only getting a firm nod from Fang and an encouraging motion from Night. "Thanks, it means a lot to us that you guys are already taking us in with the pack."

"Well then, just make sure you don't disappoint us. Heh, just kidding," Quill said, tapping Spirit on the chest with the back of her hand as she moved to stand in front of him. "The name's Quill Dragul," she started, pointing a thumb to her chest before motioning it over to Spike. "This is my twin brother Spike Dragul, and that lovely mare over there is my marefriend Frost."

The three newcomers all waved over at the mare before speaking to the dragoness in front of them. "Well, it's nice to meet you guys," Night Blade said, still holding onto Fang. "I take it the big quiet guy over there is Rydder, one of the sentinels you guys were talking about so much?"

"Yup, he's a pretty cool guy. You know, when he isn't trying to kill ya," Quill joked before Spike began walking over towards the smoke chamber. "You getting ready to eat, bro?" Quill asked with a raised eyebrow, having figured that Spike would've tried to talk to the newcomers some more.

"Well yeah, I mean, we haven't eaten anything all day. Sorry, but my stomach has been ripping me a new one ever since we got treated in the medical ward. You would think they'd feed us for saving Canterlot or something," Spike joked as he opened the chamber's door, only for Cyclone to pull on his tail to get him away. "Cy, what are you doing?"

The dragoness continued to pull her drake away from the chamber, pushing him into a chair at the dinner table. "Making you sit, I'll handle fixing something for you," she said, snaking her hand down against Spike's cargo shorts to squeeze his inner thigh. "And I'm definitely going to make something you'll just love, big guy."

Spike's cheeks took a rosy hue at the seductive tone in Cyclone's voice, and her hand on the inside of his thigh. "C-Cyclone that's not necessary, I'm not that tired."

Quill rolled her eyes at her brother and girlfriend's playing. "Yup, that's my brother alright," she muttered while most of the pack laughed at the two. Quill walked over to the opposite side of the smoke chamber, reached into the small storage space where they stored excess fruit and vegetables, and grabbed a few apples, pears, and an orange. "I think I'm good with just some fruit really. I'm more tired than hungry, to be honest."

"Same here," Frost said as she rose from her seat to follow Quill to their bedroom. "It's been nice meeting the three of you. I'm sorry to cut this short, but it's been the long day, as you must have guessed. Goodnight, everyone," she ended as she bowed her head towards the three newcomers before following Quill over towards the door.

"Quill, wait," Blaze called out to the dragoness before she could leave with Frost. "The three of you went to Canterlot looking for answers, did you get them? That's what started this all." Blaze looked intently at Quill and Frost, before shifting her gaze to Spike. "Spike? Are you okay?"

Spike had gone deathly still, keeping his eyes glued to the table in front of him. He wasn't sure he could trust himself to reply immediately. Quill had noticed her brother freezing up. She thought back to what he'd done in Celestia's office. She hadn't thought as much of it at the time, as she was too busy not doing something stupid herself - but Spike wasn't known for his anger. So how had she been able to reign in her temper, but he hadn't?

Shaking her head slightly, she moved over to Spike and put a hand on his shoulder. She could feel the tension running through him. Cyclone moved to his other side, worried about him. "Spike?" The white dragoness pulled his hand into hers, and Spike squeezed it in response before loosening his grip.

"Hey, dude," Quill got his attention, and barely concealed a gasp when he looked at her. His emerald eyes were laced with a dark red, rivalling some of the best rubies she'd eaten. She shook off her surprise, and turned to Blaze. "We got our answers, it's just… We need time to come to terms with them. We should have known it wouldn't be great, but..." Quill trailed off, not trusting her voice anymore.

Blaze moved over to Quill and pulled the dragoness into a tight hug. "My poor, dear Quill. I'm so sorry."

Quill's smile was tremulous as she returned the hug. 'Blaze, you will not make me cry out here, damnit.' "I'll be fine, Blaze. We'll be fine. We just need some time."

Blaze nodded before she let the young dragoness go. As Quill let her go, Blaze turned to the other twin, wrapping her arms around him from behind. She pressed her cheek against the top of his head next to his spikes, while Spike sat frozen at the table. "Spike? We're all here for you."

Spike squeezed his eyes shut, his hand tightening around Cyclone's again. His voice was low, enough so that the three females around him could barely make the words out. "I… I know, Blaze. And it means the world to hear you say that." He took a deep breath, steadying himself. When he went on, his voice was a little stronger, but still so soft that none but the three around him could hear. "We just need some time. We'll be fine."

Blaze just nodded and kissed the top of his head. Catching Cyclone's eyes, Blaze mouthed 'Be there for him,' and Cyclone nodded. Blaze returned to Wolf's side, and brought him and Isis into a low conversation. Quill looked at Blaze for a moment before her gaze went back to her brother. She hadn't realized how much harder than her he seemed to be taking this.

Making sure that Cyclone would take care of her brother, Quill moved back to Frost and walked up to the door leading out of Blaze's work area. After moving the arcane door aside with her pendant, Quill turned her head over to the elite sentinel still on the sitting on the ground with the twins' phoenixes resting on his shoulders and Kiri on top of his head. "Rydder, stay here until my brother and the others leave for the city. After that, just stay on guard at the mansion. Okay, bud?"

Rydder nodded his head at Quill, acknowledging the dragoness' order. "Alright, night everyone," Quill said before she and Frost walked through the doorway and up the stairs.

It wasn't much longer after that before the other members began to take their leave, Blaze and Isis first after Wolf saw to it that everything was all situated with the newcomers. After Spike had finished his dinner, Lily took the remaining members off to the mansion where they were to sleep.

Following the command of his master, Rydder got up from the floor after Kiri returned to Night Blade and the phoenixes to Spike. During the walk back, Night Blade, the more curious of the three newcomers, began to question Spike. Most of what she asked pertained to his Element and the battle that he, Quill, and Frost fought in. It was then that Spike went into further detail about the unicorns, saying how it seemed most of them had already lost their minds.

Twilight had theorized that it was the increase of magic that they were holding inside of them that had started to drive them mad. Spike himself thought it pretty much made sense, seeing how each unicorn had lost it when they were about to be defeated.

As he finished his side of the story again, everyone reached the mansion doors, where Rydder suddenly stopped. Everyone turned back to see what the sentinel was doing, when he suddenly jumped high into the air, landing on the highest roof of the mansion.

Lily was able to see that it was him fulfilling Quill's order to keep watch around the mansion, guessing that sentinels didn't have a need for sleep, for the most part. So after Cyclone and even Night Blade said goodnight to Rydder, everyone retired to their rooms. Spike was going to show all three newcomers to their rooms when Lily surprised him by saying that Spirit would be sleeping in the same bed as her.

Spike was surprised to hear that Lily was in a relationship with Spirit. She'd never mentioned him before, for some reason or another. Shrugging, he then tried to get Night and Fang a pair of rooms when he was again stopped by Night, saying that she wanted a room with Fang. Spike began chuckling, before directing the pair to a single room on the other end of the mansion from his own and Cyclone's - to "give them some privacy," as he put it, a broad grin on his face.

Spike told Cyclone that he would be going to bed after he showed Night Blade and Fang to a room upstairs. Lily and Spirit said goodnight to everyone before they left for Lily's room. Cyclone stood thoughtful for a moment, before turning to Spike and saying that she'd see him after she'd talked with Veil, to try and see why she was so upset. Spike nodded before hugging her.

Spike led the couple into the room Isis had slept in before she started to sleep with Wolf and Blaze. After opening the door, Spike told the couple to have a good night before he left down to his room to wait for Cyclone. As he walked back to his door, stopping to tell the phoenixes good night, Spike could have sworn he heard Lily's voice coming from her door, quietly shouting Spirit's name.

Blushing, Spike quickly made his way to his room. Slipping inside, he worked on getting rid of the blush from hearing Lily. Sighing, he took off his shirt and tossed it into a corner before slipping into bed and pulling the covers up. He stared at the ceiling for a while, wondering why Veil had been so upset with him. He knew she worried for Cyclone more than she ever did for herself, but he didn't know why she was so upset with him. It often went that way with the hound, he'd noticed. Some days she was seemingly just mad at him in particular, all but ready to take his head off if he so much as stepped wrong around her. Other days she was fun to be around, joking around as if she hadn't been ready to de-scale him. If he'd been together with Veil, then it'd make more sense, but… Spike laughed at that, imagining himself with Veil. 'Hah, that'd be the day. Maybe I could get her a gift or something, something to try and show her I'm not so bad. Still don't know why she's so temperamental.' Laying there trying to figure it out, Spike found his eyes closing on their own.

Cyclone was standing in front of Veil's room, with her hand poised to knock on the door. She wasn't sure why she'd hesitated, but she didn't know what was wrong with Veil. Sure, the hound was normally pretty standoffish with most folk, but in regards to the pack, she'd come to be pretty friendly with them. Cyclone had thought that Veil had liked Spike well enough - at least, Veil had never really said anything bad about her choice regarding the drake. Still though, it was nights like tonight, where Veil had nearly taken Spike's head off, that made Cyclone worry for her friend.

Cyclone shook herself, thinking now was as good a time as any to get to the bottom of that as well. Knocking on her best friend's door, she called out, "Veil? Are you there? Can I come in?"

She waited for a response, but as time dragged on, she didn't think she'd get one. Knocking again, she cracked her friend's door, peeking inside. "Veil, are you in here?" She looked around, before gasping as she saw her friend. Slipping inside Veil's room, Cyclone shut the door behind her and moved down to her friend. Veil had been sitting by her door, knees pulled up to her chest with her head pressed against them, and her arms wrapped around her knees. She had her tail wrapped tightly against her feet, and she hadn't even looked up when Cyclone had entered.

"Veily," Cyclone whispered, sitting down next to her much-taller friend and wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "Are you ok?" Cyclone's tail came around in front of her and reached over to Veil's shins, curling around them in worry. The smaller dragoness leaned her head against Veil, waiting for her friend to answer.

Veil trembled at Cyclone's touch, unconsciously leaning her entire body against her friend. She stayed that way, trembling, for a few moments longer before she raised her head and put her chin on her knees, still not looking at Cyclone. Her eyes were slightly red and puffy around the edges. Looking straight ahead, she said, "I don't hate him, you know. He just… when I heard what happened, how he almost got himself killed, I got so mad. " She squeezed her knees tighter against her chest for a moment.

Cyclone nodded her head where it was leaning against Veil's shoulder, understanding in part why Veil was angry. "He did it to save two of his oldest friends, Veil." She paused to giggle before going on, "I don't know if there's any braver reason he could have risked his life. I'm just glad he came back." Cyclone squeezed her arm around Veil at that last.

Chuckling hollowly, Veil replied, "Yeah, he did. Drake's crazy for you, Cy. You got a good one." She leaned a cheek against her knees, facing away from Cyclone. Before she could stop it, she felt herself tremble, and let out a sigh when she knew that Cyclone would have felt that.

Watching her friend carefully, Cyclone wrapped her other arm around Veil and squeezed her tall friend. "What's really bothering you, Veil? You shouldn't be beating yourself up like this over just getting mad at Spike."

Veil sighed again. 'It's now or never, I guess. She may not be mad. After all, she always wanted…' Veil fingered her ever-present necklace that Cyclone had given her that was, in some ways, still a part of the younger dragoness. Turning her head to look straight ahead again, Veil glanced at Cyclone out of the corner of her eye before saying, "Cy, how… honest were you when you always joked about us being pack-sisters?" Veil felt a blush darken her face as she finally got that sentence out.

Cyclone pulled back in shock. That wasn't what she'd expected to hear from Veil. As she stared at her friend in shock, a sly grin found its way to her face. "Veily," she purred, "Are you falling for my Spikey?" Her arms slipped back around Veil, and she was giggling in her head. She'd always hoped that Veil would change her mind about being in a pack with Cyclone. Veil had been her best - and only - friend up until the High Moon pack had taken them in.

Veil stared straight ahead, not answering Cyclone for a minute. Then she leaned her cheek on her knees facing Cyclone, a blush still darkening her face. With a small grin, she said, "Drake's… not bad, for a dragon." The grin slipped shortly after that, and her eyebrows narrowed. "He's not what an alpha should be, though. He -"

Cyclone cut her friend off with an excited giggle that turned into laughter. "You don't know him as well as you think you do if you believe that." She squeezed her friend to her, happier than she thought she could be. She'd been worried for Veil, as she knew the hound didn't really want to be alone.

Shrugging, Veil shook her head, certain she had the right of it. But she didn't want to argue with Cyclone over it, not now. "So… you're not mad? You wouldn't mind me joining you and Spike?" Her tone and eyes both screamed vulnerability, and Cyclone was taken aback for a moment - she'd never seen the hound open herself up that much.

With a smile on her face, Cyclone replied, "Mind? Veily, I would love for you to be with Spike and me." She giggled again. She knew Spike would at least give Veil a chance, even if she had to convince him at first. He would probably look at being with both of them as being unfaithful to her. "Can I have a day or two to talk with him, though?"

Veil nodded, knowing that Cyclone would want to talk with Spike. Cadjo knew that Drake probably thought she hated him. "And Cy? I won't be upset if he says no. I know I -"

Cyclone interrupted her friend with a finger on her lips, shaking her head. "He won't. He may take some convincing, but he'll say yes."

Veil laughed at her friend softly. "Yeah, I'm sure you have your own perverted ways of convincing him."

Cyclone looked at her friend for a moment, a thoughtful glint in her eyes. Her finger trailed its way down from Veil's lips, stroking her cheek and neck. Her hand reached Veil's necklace, and she covered her friend's hand in her own and pulled her closer.

Veil was surprised, letting herself be pulled in. "Cy, what're you -"

Cyclone silenced her friend with a soft kiss, exploring her friend's lips with a tentative touch. Veil's face immediately darkened with a heavy blush, surprised at how forward her friend was being. She didn't question it, though, pushing back against her smaller friend to deepen the kiss. She overestimated and ended up pushing Cyclone down on her back, the giggling dragoness putting a hand against Veil's chest to push her back.

"Down, girl," Cyclone said with a laugh, a light blush darkening her own cheeks. Her eyes went down to Veil's necklace, and she paused for a moment before pushing Veil off of her so she could stand up. Helping Veil up, she giggled again, before saying, "I'll talk to him about this tomorrow… are you going to be ok?"

Veil nodded once, wrapping her arms around herself. "I just… dunno. Worried that it won't work out."

Cyclone shook her head, saying, "He'll come around. Trust me." She hugged her taller friend before telling her to have a good night, and slipping out of the room. She tried to figure out what she'd say to Spike as she made her way back to their room. Not coming up with anything by the time she reached their door, she sighed to herself. She'd figure out something tomorrow. For now, she had a drake she'd missed all day.

As she got into their room, she noticed that Spike had already fallen asleep. Figuring this was a good time for her to surprise him, she quickly stripped off her pants and went over to a drawer where she'd stored some of the clothes that Quill had given her. Finding the shirt she wanted, she glanced at Spike before quickly changing into it.

With it in place, Cyclone looked down at herself. The shirt had been ripped in the front, so Cyclone had torn most of the front off - except for the part that still covered her chest. Even that, however, seemed to be ready to slip up and reveal her. Making sure the back of the shirt was smoothed down, she slowly moved over to the bed she shared with Spike. Giggling to herself, she slid the covers down Spike, and slipped underneath them, on top of her drake. She ran her claws up his chest, enjoying herself for a moment before she woke him up.

"Spikey," she whispered against his ear-frill, voice soft and low. "Spikey, wake up, I've got something for you." She gave his ear-frill a lick and Spike started awake, jolted out of sleep by that one action.

Rubbing what little sleep he had out of his eyes with one hand, Spike's other hand found its way to Cyclone's thigh. Sleepily smiling, Spike started, "Hey Cy, how'd Veil -" Spike stopped, suddenly very awake as he noticed the hand on Cyclone's thigh met soft scales instead of cloth. Blinking, Spike looked down to where she was sitting on him. Jaw dropping, Spike took in what he saw.

Cyclone's pale scales complimented her black panties, some still-functioning part of Spike's brain noted. Trailing up slowly, his eyes found themselves held fast when they reached her pale blue underbelly scales. As if in a trance, his free hand moved to trace over them.

Giggling softly, Cyclone writhed on top of Spike. "Spike! That tickles," she admonished, taking his hand away from her smooth stomach. She locked her fingers with his, holding his hand gently. "So, glad I woke you up?" she asked, a teasing smile on her face.

Jaw moving uselessly, Spike finally managed to tear his gaze away from her hypnotizing stomach scales. When his eyes hit her barely-contained chest, he nearly found himself stuck again. He managed to finally meet her eyes, and found his voice. "I love you," he whispered softly.

Cyclone jerked as if the words had hit her physically. "I… Spike, are you -"

He cut her off hurriedly. "When I died in the vision, I had a few regrets. Not telling you how I felt was one of them, and I've been waiting since to tell you. It's why I had to make sure that I came back to you." Voice trailing off, Spike watched Cyclone's pink eyes intently. When they started tearing up, Spike said, "Cy, no, I didn't mean to -"

Spike was silenced by Cyclone's lips meeting his, her tongue thrusting aggressively into his mouth. Closing his eyes, Spike pressed up against the smaller dragoness, his hand on her hip squeezing. Moaning, Spike relished in Cyclone's sapphire taste. Spike's hand found its way free of Cyclone's and he trailed a claw along her jawline, slowly moving its way down the side of her body. When it reached her waist, he squeezed with both hands, breaking off the kiss to look into Cyclone's eyes.

Sniffing softly, Cyclone curled her hands up underneath her as she laid down flush on top of Spike, nuzzling against his neck. "Promise me something, Spike?" Her voice was soft, and Spike thought she sounded scared, for some reason.

He didn't hesitate to reply, "Anything, Cy, if I can manage it. What is it?"

She sat up in his lap, grinding softly against his bulge where their waists met. At Spike's soft groan and involuntary thrust up against her, she gave him a wicked grin. Trailing a claw down his chest, she asked, "Promise you'll always come back to me? If you have to fight, you'll come back, win or lose?"

Nodding slowly, Spike answered, "Of course, Cy. I'll always be here for you. Silly girl." Smiling, Spike brushed a claw along her cheek, Cyclone sticking her tongue out at him. Chuckling, Spike moved to pull Cyclone down to him for another kiss. When she resisted, though, he gave her a confused look.

Grinning widely, and with a heavy blush suddenly staining her cheeks, Cyclone took both of his wrists in her hands, and put them both back on her waist. Slowly, teasingly, she drew Spike's claws up her belly and sides, writhing on top of him in a seductive manner. His claws reached the bottom of her breasts, and she hesitated only a moment before pulling them up to cup her large chest, brushing her shirt up and out of the way. She let out a moan from his claws brushing over the sensitive scales.

Spike, a heavy blush on his own face, had apparently forgotten how to breathe. Letting out an explosive breath, his gaze was glued to her now-revealed chest. Squeezing softly, he was rewarded with another moan from Cyclone. Tentatively, Spike drew his claws over her pale blue nipples, and Cyclone pressed herself against his hands, grinding their hips together. Moaning from his exploration, she pressed herself against the bulge in his pants, her blush still dark on her face.

"Mmm, glad you like your - ah! - gift, big guy," Cyclone moaned softly, pressing down into his hands further so she could give him a soft kiss.

Finally able to tear his eyes from her chest, Spike met Cyclone's eyes with a blush mirroring her own. Grinning up at her, Spike gave her another squeeze and a soft flick of his claws, earning a moan and giggle in turn. "I love you, Cy. And your 'gift' is pretty amazing," he said, giving her a wink.

Giggling again, she captured Spike's lips with her own, grinding and writhing on top of him. One of his hands left her breast and trailed down over her stomach, before slipping around behind her to cup the smooth scales of her ass. Moaning loudly into Spike's mouth, Cyclone increased her grinding against him.

Moaning back up against her, Spike enjoyed the dose of Cyclone's sweet and natural sapphire taste. This was the taste of the one he loved. The taste of coming home after a hard fight. The taste of victory. /-/  
/ Ch. 54: Saints That Want to Fall/-/

High Moon ch. 54: Saints That Want to Fall

Small threads of sunlight crept into the valley as the early morning rolled over the Everfree. Still lying in bed, Lily slept happily with her beloved Spirit after a much-needed intimate night. As she kept her arms around the strong chest of Fang, Lily's wings began shimmering and involuntarily fluttering from the small beads of light entering her room, causing her to stir awake and be greeted with the sight of her lover.

Lily let out a small giggle at Spirit peacefully sleeping underneath her, happy that she had finally been able to convince Wolf to allow them to stay in High Moon. She would've simply stayed with Spirit and the other two newcomers at their mountaintop cave if it wasn't for her believing that the valley - High Moon specifically - was a far safer place to call home. So Lily had remained in High Moon until she believed that she would be able to convince Wolf to allow them to stay.

And after four years of trying, she had done it.

Moving up to Spirit's lips, Lily stole a kiss from the slumbering dog, inadvertently waking him. A soft moan came from Lily as Spirit moved his hands up Lily's naked body, running his claws against Lily's sides. Lily had missed Spirit's gentle touch after a few months of going without seeing him or the others. But now she could see him as much as she wanted.

"Good morning Lily," Spirit said before opening his crystal-blue eyes to meet Lily's snow-white ones shining above him. Spirit laughed as Lily rose up from the bed, causing her mane to cascade over her shoulders. "Did you sleep well last night? I know how you hate the nighttime."

Lily giggled at the dog underneath her, moving her hands across his chest. "Good morning to you too Spirit," she whispered, giving her dog another quick kiss on the lips, feeling more cheerful this morning than she had in a long time. "And yes, I did sleep wonderfully last night. Despite the lack of actual sleeping we did."

"H-heh, can you blame me?" Spirit joked as he reached down to Lily's slender thighs, grazing his claws through her fur. "After having not seen you in forever, then you suddenly show up a week ago, I couldn't help myself."

A rosy color came onto Lily's tan cheeks at the pleasant memories of last night, wings unconsciously fluttering behind her in happiness. "Hehe, I wouldn't mind a few more moments of that right about-"

"Hey Lily," Spike's voice came from the closed door, causing both lovers to jump a bit in the bed. Lily quickly turned her head to, much to her relief, see that the door was indeed still closed. "I just wanted to let you know that the others are already up to start getting a place set up for the sentinels."

"It is that time of the morning," Lily sighed in a soft voice. She raised her voice so the drake would hear her, "Okay Spike, Spirit and I will be out shortly. We just need to get dressed and we'll meet you out in the city ruins, thank you," she said as she sat up in Spirit's lap.

"Alright Lily, see ya out there. Come on Cyclone, we'd better go wake up Veil," Lily heard Spike say before his and Cyclone's footsteps were heard leading away from the bedroom door.

Lily waited for a moment until she was sure that the younger couple had left to go wake the only hound in the pack. Once she was sure that they had left, Lily looked down at a confused Spirit for a moment, need in her eyes.

"Maybe a little quick moment wouldn't hurt…"

Back outside, Spike and Cyclone walked out to the parlor, and greeted Night Blade and Fang. The two were already up, with Kiri running along the wooden support beams to greet the phoenixes. As the three animal companions conversed in their own language, Spike went to talk with the two newcomers while Cyclone left to go wake up Veil.

"Morning you two, sleep well?" Spike asked, coming to a stop at the bottom of the stair railing, placing his hand on it.

Fang flashed a smile towards the drake before nodding, while Night Blade just tried to hide underneath her hood and behind her dog. "Heh, yeah thanks man," Fang said as he walked down the stairs with Night holding onto Fang's shoulders. Yet Fang either seemed to not notice, or not care. Spike assumed this must be a fairly normal thing between them. "So how'd you and your dragoness sleep?"

"Oh fine, but uh, is Night Blade alright? She still looks pretty out of it," Spike said, trying to look over Fang to see the bat-pony, but only getting a hiss thrown at him for his trouble. "Scratch that, she looks really sleepy."

Fang smiled as he rolled his eyes at the drake in front of him, thinking back to the time he thought the same about Night. "Yeah, Nighty's fine. She's just not a 'morning pony,' as she calls it," Fang laughed for a moment before Night began digging her claws into his shoulders. "Ow, ow, ow Night. It was just a joke, c'mon."

Night Blade began mumbling under her breath before she eased her claws off of Fang's shoulders, only to wrap her arms around his neck. "You want me to carry you, don't you?" Fang asked rhetorically, while Night was already wrapping her legs around his waist. Night Blade quickly nuzzled into Fang's neck, brushing it with her fangs, which sent a slight shiver down his spine.

"Hey uh, Fang?" Spike started, pulling Fang's attention away from the mare from a moment. His eyes lingered on Night Blade's fangs for a moment before meeting the dog's eyes. "I know this is a weird, and sorta personal question, and you definitely don't have to answer it. But um...does Night ever, you know, bite?"

A bright blush came to Fang's light-brown cheeks from the drake's question, already giving Spike all the answer that he could he need or want. However, a dark-sounding giggle from Night Blade stole his attention away from the blushing dog. "More than you know, Spike," she huskily giggled again as she moved one of her hands to the side of Fang's face while the other one lightly caressed the side of Fang's neck. "Sometimes I drool at the thought of just one, little, quick bite."

"Okay, I'm never asking questions again," Spike said with a blush shining on his own cheeks as Cyclone returned with Veil in tow. He smiled as he went to greet the hound, she, in turn, awkwardly looked away from him before meekly waving. 'Seems that Cy was able to talk her down last night after all,' Spike thought to himself before greeting Veil. "Morning Veil, you sleep well last night?"

A moment passed before Cyclone gently nudged Veil's arm with her elbow. "Huh? Oh yeah, morning Drake." She rubbed the arm Cyclone bumped with her elbow, finally meeting Spike's green eyes. "Hey, uh, Dra- Spike. Listen, I'm sorry the way I freaked out on you yesterday. It was uh… it was out of line. So, uh, we cool?"

Spike smiled as he shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah Veil, we cool. 'Sides, Quill was literally threatening to force-feed me my tail. And besides, I know you were only thinking about Cy." Veil hesitated before nodding her head, once again having trouble keeping eye contact with Spike. "Now come on, we all got some work to do today."

Veil snorted lightly as she raked her hand through her scruffy black and white hair, giving Spike a clear look of her face as she arched an eyebrow. "What? We haven't even eaten anything yet and you're already talking about work," she said, the displeasure clear in her voice.

"Sorry Veil, but we've got no idea when the sentinels will be coming, so Wolf, Isis, and Blaze all think it'd be best if we get a spot at least picked out," Spike said, not only telling Veil, but letting the two newcomers know as well. "And since Wolf said that they'll probably be a big help during the winter, he wanted as many hands on this as possible."

"And he also wanted me to keep an eye on Clan-Mother, but knowing her, we'll be down there soon anyway. With breakfast, too," Cyclone added after wrapping her arms around Spike's right arm, pressing close enough that she knew Spike could feel her breasts through her thin white dress. "So, I'll see all of you guys sometime today."

"Guh, fine. And I was actually looking forward to foraging today, too," Veil mumbled as she continued to move her hands through her hair, scratching the back of her gray and black tipped ears.

"Oh, that's alright," Fang said, not really having noticed the white dragoness' move. However, Night Blade did, but decided not to say anything about it - for the moment. "If the rest of those sentinels are as cool as Rydder, then I wouldn't mind having a few of them around. And if they're half as good as you guys said they are, they might be good to train with."

Night Blade rolled her eyes at Fang's typical mindset, despite it normally being harmless in nature. "Fang, let's get to work first, then you can mess around," she deadpanned, flicking her thumb over Fang's cheek in a playful manner that told Fang she was finally getting used to being up this early. "Alright Spike, lead the way."

"Sure, they're not that far from here anyway," Spike said before Cyclone let his arm go, telling him that she was about to head off to Blaze. "Hey, Cinder," Spike spoke, looking up towards the wooden support beams to the three pets. "Quill wants you to go on with Cyclone. Peewee, bud, you're with me. We're gonna need ya for some stuff."

After giving each other a quick nuzzle, Peewee and Cinder flew from their nest with Kiri running her way down with them. Once Cinder landed on Cyclone's shoulder, the dragoness gave the phoenix a quick scratch under her beak as Peewee landed on Spike's shoulder. Kiri took the time to hop on top of Fang's head before taking two more short hops to nestle into Night's hood.

"Guess I'll see ya in a little while, Cyclone," Spike said to Cyclone as she continued to show affection towards Cinder. The sight got Spike to laugh for a bit, as it was fun to see Cyclone play with Peewee or Cinder. "It shouldn't take us too long to get this set up."

Cyclone nodded her head before giving Spike a quick kiss on his lips, pulling him down by the collar of his blue shirt for a moment before she let go. "Bye Spikey," Cyclone giggled at the blush on Spike's face. "See ya guys, good luck with finding Rydder's friends a home." Cyclone turned to leave, intentionally brushing her tail against Spike's groin before leaving with a sly smile on her face.

The moment the dragoness was out of the mansion, Veil let out a small growl at Spike as she stared at him with her gray eyes. "Wipe that smirk off your face Drake," Veil said, snapping her fingers in front of his face. She shook her head at the sheepish blush on Spike's face, but decided not to berate the lovestruck dragon further. She had remembered at the last moment that, according to Cyclone at least, she could be with the drake and dragoness before too long. The last thing she needed to do was make him think she actually disliked him. "Didn't you just got done saying the Alphas wanted us to get stuff done? Well, lead the way, would you, Drake?"

"Yeah, yeah, sorry. They should be just outside here," Spike said as he started to walk past Veil to the door leading out to the city ruins, leading the group through a corridor before they finally made it out.

Both Fang and Night took in the sight of the ancient city that was now their new home. It was definitely better than their mountaintop cave near the Swayback Mountain. Granted it would take some work, especially now that they had all agreed to help with anything in the pack, but they could already tell that it was going to work out better for them.

"C'mon, last I saw they were by some cathedral-looking building in the center of the city," Spike said as he led the three down a smooth grassy hill before walking through the city towards the last spot he'd seen the others. When they got there, Spike was miffed to find that there wasn't anyone there anymore, now stumped on what to do. "Hey bud, fly up and see if you can find them, but stay close alright?" Peewee nodded his head before he spread open his wings to take to the skies.

With nothing to do, Spike took a seat on a stone step as Night Blade had Fang sit her down near the drake while Veil leaned against a wall. "So where do you think they went off to Spike?" Night Blade asked Spike, thinking that the drake would have an idea.

"Mm...well," Spike paused to take a moment to think to himself. "I think Isis said that they would be going underground or something. So they might be checking out a tunnel. Personally though, I think that Quill is gonna think of something else."

"Something else like what?" Fang asked as he stood in front of his marefriend, not sure if a whole squad of walking suits of armor would fit in one single tunnel. "How many are there anyway?"

Spike took another moment to think to himself, trying to remember if there had been an exact count of the sentinels. "Well I th-" was all he got out before a feeling he hadn't had in a long while erupted in his gut, causing him to let out a loud burp that changed into mystical green flames.

The other three watched as the flames swirled up into a tan parchment with a red ribbon tied to it, a purple starburst on the seal. "Dude did you just…" Fang asked, unable to make sense of what he just witnessed. However, Spike knew full and well what it was as he reached for the scroll. "Can dragons even do that?"

"Nah, only dragons that've been hatched by magic can," Spike cleared up the three's curiosity, or at least part of it. He too was just as curious as the others, but his curiosity was strictly on the reason the scroll was sent to him. "This is just a letter from an old friend. Knowing her it's either to tell me and Quill about how things are going since yesterday, or maybe…"

Spike quickly undid the ribbon, unrolling the scroll to find that the letter was indeed from Twilight. "Yup, now we know just how many sentinels there are," Spike said after quickly reading over Twilight's handwriting, which read:

Dear Spike and Quill Dragul,

I hope you guys are taking it easy after the battle yesterday. I'm just writing this to tell you guys how smoothly everything is (sort of) going. As of now, we officially know how much of Canterlot has been damaged in the attack, and I have a rough estimate of how long it will take for everything to be back up and running. From my estimations, it will take roughly around six weeks (give or take a day or two) for all the damage to be repaired, and that's only with the sentinels' help.

Sorry if this is any inconvenience for you or the rest of your 'pack,' but the damage done is fairly extensive. So I hope that it isn't too much trouble for us to keep them until then. These guys move fast, and are able to do twice the work a normal construction-pony can, but there still seems to be a limit of how long they can go before even they need to rest.

Celestia said that the sentinels once drew their power from one of the masked unicorns called Saint. That explains why Dusk and Wave said that Saint barely had any magic when they fought him. Now that his horn has been removed, the sentinels are now running on the natural magic of the world. I'm not sure how they changed their source of magic, but I plan on finding out how. I'll have to run some tests to see how long each sentinel can go without rest, but I can tell that the flyers can go the longest, yet the titans are able to do twice the work they can while the normal kind seem to do a fair amount.

I have a theory on how each one is based off a different race of equine, but I could be wrong, since there isn't a sentinel type here that can use magic. Though, I still believe that it's still one way to look at this. At least then we'd have a classification to go by for them. We already started calling the big ones 'Titans.' Obsidian, who's been moved up in rank to Sergeant Major, seems to call the flyers 'Gargoyles,' the normal ones 'Knights,' and Rydder...well Rydder seems to be in a class all by himself, so I want to call him a 'Saint.'

Ironic, I know.

Anyway, there seem to be ten Titans, eighteen Gargoyles, and twenty-six Knights from the main force that attacked Canterlot. At least, that's what is left after the battle. And yet, even with their small number, they seem to be doing a lot of work. So they might be able to help you guys out greatly when they're done here in Canterlot.

Now that's that out of the way, I wanted to keep you guys in the loop about these unicorns, just in case you ever run into them again. From what we've been able to tell, each of the unicorns was someone of high-society upbringing, with some sort of connection into the political system here in Canterlot, and/or all been reported as unicorn supremacists.

I know how all of that sounds, but I don't want you guys making any sort of assumptions just yet. It isn't fully confirmed that the entire cult is full of unicorn supremacists, but that obviously is their goal from what each unicorn said before being defeated. Getting information out of the captured three is proving to be...difficult, to say the least. All but Angel Wing have been quiet about anything, and what she's told us is very limited.

What she has told us is that there were nine of them and that their goal was for unicorns (more likely, just them) to take control and overthrow Celestia. The only other bit of information that we were able to coax out of her was that they are located somewhere in the Swayback Mountains. So be careful if you or any of your pack members need to go anywhere near the mountains.

I tried to get some information about Amethyst out of her, but all Angel knew was that their 'master' (the leader of the group, I'm assuming) was the one to find her. It frustrated me for a while, as it felt like she was lying to me, but I can't do anything about it as of yet. SGM Obsidian, First Sergeant Astral Snow, and I then tried to get her to tell us some names. However, she refused, saying that we would have to see to a demand of hers.

It's not a big one, as Angel obviously didn't want to be kept in the dungeon with the other two unicorns, but Celestia isn't willing to take any chances with these unicorns.

As much as I want to agree with her, Obsidian and some other members of the guard seem convinced that the information would not only put us on the offensive, but give us the winning edge we need to put this to an end now.

Though, Celestia hasn't seemed wrong yet, so we're not in too much of a place to question her. Still though, it would be just what we need.

A motion has been made to bring in a team from the Lunar Republics to wade through their memories. But it's met quite a bit of resistance. I myself am still not sure whether or not it should happen. I've been told the experience is painful for the target, but it may be our only chance to move on the offensive and end all of this.

Furthermore, Celestia sent out an order of termination or capture for the rest of the unicorns. So, you guys don't have to worry about anyone coming down on you about killing Blueblood.

She's even got the other Elements and myself going through training to help us keep up with the threat.

Again, there are nine of them. That's what Angel told us. So if this is correct, then we've already created a large dent into our enemy, with only five of them remaining. I was able to help clear up the appearance of Frost for you guys, so you don't have to hide her from me or the other Elements any more. Though, I'm not so sure that Equestria, or even Ponyville, is ready just yet to forgive the changelings. But all of you guys are welcomed to come by the library anytime you need something.

And Quill, whatever made you think you had to hide Frost's real nature from me… I'm sorry.

Oh, there's something else I wanted to tell you guys. Amethyst is doing much better now that she's gotten something to eat. I'm going to wait a few more days before I start to see about her magic, but she's been so energetic it's hard not to show her a levitation spell or two. Kinda reminds me about how Quill was when she was younger. Wouldn't stay still for longer than a minute.

Both Rainbow and Shadow are doing much better too, in part thanks to Frost's healing, so you don't have to worry about them. I think that's everything that I wanted to tell you about about so, I'm going to let you go. Talk to you guys later.

[right]Sincerely,  
Princess Twilight Sparkle[/right]

P.S. Celestia told me why you two came to Canterlot yesterday. And she told me what she told you. While I can understand why she did what she did, I'm still not sure how I feel about it, honestly. I don't know that I would have done any different. I need time to think it through. I'm also very upset at her for having lied to us about your egg for so long. I haven't spoken to her since, and I'm not sure I'm ready to forgive her for lying to us just yet.

P.P.S. Amethyst says 'Hi,' Spike. Seems you have a big fan.

Spike felt his claws clenching hard at the mention of what Celestia had done, rumpling one corner of the letter. Veil had been watching him as he read, and saw a tint of red entering his eyes. "Hey, Drake, you okay there?" She'd never seen his eyes do that, and it was slightly unnerving. Her own eyes, and the other diamond dogs' for that matter, would turn a slight tint of red in the dark, to help them see better at night, but she'd never heard of anything like that for dragons. She'd have to ask Cyclone about it.

The hound's voice brought him back to the group, and he pushed the anger away as best he could. It was over and done with now, he needed to come to terms with it. Looking at the hound, he told her, "Fifty-four sentinels in total will be coming here in six weeks' time." Spike read the letter once again to be sure to memorize any, and every, thing that would be important to note. He was happy to hear that Amethyst was doing fine under Twilight's care, and also that Rainbow and Shadow were doing just fine.

With that bit of good news, they now had a time limit as to when the sentinels would be arriving to stay in High Moon. "That's nine squads of six that'll be coming here soon."

"Whoa, fifty-four of them? Are you sure there's enough space for all of them, Spike?" Night Blade asked before looking around the city to see if there would be enough space for the sentinels. "Because I was talking to Wolf about making a forgery for tools, and possibly weapons for hunting we may need."

"You're a blacksmith?" Spike asked the mare, remembering that Wolf had said something about seeing if either Veil or Cyclone could fit the role. But if Night really was a blacksmith, that would effectively negate that need.

Night Blade smirked at Spike before she flexed her wings out, holding up her right arm and patting her bicep with her left hand. "Yup, you're looking at a third generation bat-pony blacksmith over here. Straight out from the bat-pony colonies in the south."

"Heh, wow that's amazing Night." It really was impressive for a bat-pony to leave the colonies and venture into Equestria's regions. It was something that was almost unheard of. Spike had been taught that bat-ponies born in colonies stayed there their entire lives, and that the colonies were everything to them. Most of the exceptions to that rule consisted of the bat-ponies that had all-but flocked to Princess Luna and Nightmare after they had returned.

"And I'm sure that there's someplace we can repurpose into a forge," Spike said, quickly thinking about any spot that may help with it. "Anything you're looking for in a spot? We've got about six weeks before the sentinels get here, so I'm sure we can find a spot before then."

Night Blade crossed her arms as she looked up to the sky to think about everything that was necessary for blacksmithing. Heat obviously wasn't an issue with the dragons living in the pack, neither was man-power thanks to Fang and Spirit. The only thing she could think of that would be an issue would be fresh water.

"Mm, anywhere near some fresh water would do for me," Night said after a moment of thought before she looked back at Spike. "Any place like that here, Spike?"

"Oh yeah," Spike answered, "There's a river that cuts through the west side of here. It's actually not that far away. And there's already a building set up near it that we could easily make into a blacksmithing forge."

"Wow, really?" Night Blade asked, impressed that any of the buildings were still standing, but grateful for it nonetheless. "That would be really great Spike. All we have to do is fix it up, I'm guessing?"

Spike nodded his head slightly, as he'd caught a few glimpses of the building while going to the archives for either Blaze or Lily. "There's also a few books on blacksmithing in the archives. They'll have to be translated into modern Equestrian first, though. I can get you some more books about it as well, if ya want."

"Thanks Spike, that would really help out a lot," Night Blade gratefully said, happy that the drake was so willing to help her out, especially after she and the others had suddenly showed up last night. "So what roles do you guys fill out here?"

"Oh well," Spike started, reaching to rub the back of his head a bit. "I've been learning about potions to use from Blaze, helping her make some too. But um, that's changed lately. I've been catching fish and training Cy on her water-magic with Frost, but guess I won't be doing much of that when the winter comes." Spike awkwardly laughed. He already knew fishing and hunting in general wouldn't be easy during the winter. "Heh, to be honest, I dunno what Wolf really has planned for the winter. Me and Quill have only been here for about two and half months."

"Probably nothing, really," Veil spoke up, "Diamond dogs don't really do much during the winter months. That's why Alpha has been trying to get so much done now." Memories of being trapped inside their old house with Cyclone for days on end came rushing back, making her frown bitterly at the thoughts. 'All that wasted time…' "I can't say that Alpha would completely stop doing things, but we sure enough won't be getting things done in one day."

"She's right Spike," Fang added as he moved his hand through his black hair, laughing a bit at the times he and Spirit had literally slept through a whole day during the four winter months of the year. "Heh, there was this one time I had Nighty trapped underneath me for a whole day."

A red hue easily shone through Night Blade's midnight-blue fur from the memories of the years of being in an intimate relationship with the dog. She hit his shoulder. "Mm, Fang! Spike and Veil don't want to hear about that!" she blurted out as the blush on her cheeks got redder, making her look that much more adorable in Fang's eyes.

Fang laughed at the blush on Night's face as he quickly lunged at his mare to wrap his arms around her torso, rubbing his cheek against her's as she tried to push him off. "Aw c'mon Nighty, you know you enjoyed those sixteen hours," Fang laughed, getting a sigh out of Night while Kiri jumped from the bat-pony's shoulder.

After landing on the ground, Kiri activated the gem in her forehead, changing her form to the larger one. Kiri stretched out her forepaws as she let out a small yawn before she put her head on the ground with her body still stretched out.

"Heh, someone looks bored," Fang joked at the vixen, only getting Kiri to let out another annoyed yawn as she closed her eyes. Fang soon let Night go to sit down next to her, allowing Night to lean over so she could scratch Kiri's head behind her ears. "So Drake, these Elements of yours, how do they feel to use? From the sounds of it, as soon as you and Quill got them, ya'll went beast on those occultists."

"Huh, oh well…" Spike paused for a moment, thinking back to how easy, and natural, it felt to use his scythes. The fact that it was natural to use such a weapon worried Spike a bit, as he never thought he would ever use something like that. But then there were those dreams… "They feel, I dunno, natural. That was my first real fight, but it wasn't my first time using a scythe before."

"What do you mean, Spike?" Night Blade asked, just as interested in the story as Fang was.

Spike didn't answer for a moment as he thought back to the dreams where he had been pitted against his ghost-heart. He then raised up his hand, activating the element in his gloves. As his scythe came to his hand in a blue light, Spike and the others watched as the sharp and curved blade shined from the light of the sun.

The scythe wasn't the same from his dream, but the similarity was enough to bring back the memories. "Have you ever had a dream that seemed so real that you can remember every bit of it?" Spike asked, not just to Night or the others, but to himself as well. He didn't want to remember the dreams, but he couldn't help it. "Like, a dream you do remember, but don't want to?"

"Uh, like a nightmare dude?" Fang asked, a little put off by Spike's sudden change in tone. It was dark and grim, almost like he had seen his own death play out in front of him.

Spike merely shrugged his shoulders as he willed away the scythe. "No, not a nightmare," he answered. "That's something you'd be afraid of, something that you were scared of." Spike turned his head up to the cloudy blue skies as he continued to think about how to explain what he felt about the dreams he'd had a few weeks ago. "This was something different. I mean, yeah, at first I was scared of them, but then I honestly started looking forward to them until they eventually just stopped."

"Dude, that's some heavy stuff right there," Fang said with a small laugh as Spike looked down from the cloudy skies. "But nah, I never had any dreams like that before. Heh, the best dream I had before was finding a cave filled with thick bones." Fang began licking his lips with a hungry look in his green eyes. "What about you Nighty?"

"Actually," Night sighed as she rested her head against Fang's chest, ceasing her scratching of Kiri's ears. "Yeah, I do know what Spike is talking about." Another sigh came out of Night as she continued to bury herself against Fang's chest, prompting him to place an arm around her.

"When I was a filly, I would have the strangest dream of waking up in a palace on the moon. Every time I was greeted by the same filly; pitch black fur like an empty night sky. She had a flowy purple and light-blue mane with teal eyes that looked like they belonged to a dragon. She was always nice to me, though she was...distant. But about four years ago, the dreams just suddenly stopped."

Spike furrowed his eyebrows at the description of the filly as it sounded familiar to him. "Hm, black fur, flowy purple mane, and teal eyes...why does that sound familiar?" he mused for another moment, not noticing Quill landing on the top of the cathedral.

"Because that sounds like Princess Nightmare Moon to me," Quill said, startling the four, and getting them to look up towards her as she was sitting on top of the cathedral with a slightly thoughtful expression on her face. The dragoness still had a bandage covering half her face, though it looked like it had been replaced at some point. "I know we've only met her once, and for a really short time, but from what I remember that's what she looked like."

"How could that be? Nightmare Moon looks as old as Luna, and she's thousands years old." Quill rolled her eye at her brother, allowing him to continue to talk it out with himself. "There's no way that Nightmare Moon could make herself look like a filly unless...Oh, I get it."

"There we go, now he gets it," Quill laughed as she put her elbow on her leg to rest her head in her palm. Spike started to scratch the back of his head with a small chuckle, seeming to not believe that he couldn't piece together who the filly was. "Anyway, that was Nightmare Moon, Night. Wouldn't know why she would do that to you. She doesn't seem to be the type to play around with stuff like that."

"How would you know that, Quill?" Spike asked as the dragoness leaped off of the building when she spotted Peewee leading the others back. After landing in front of Spike, Quill dusted off her blue jeans from all the dirt they had gathered up the tunnel Isis led her and the others to. "Like you said, we've only met the Lunar Princesses once. Unless you've…"

Quill started to nod her head, giving Spike the answer that he was about to ask. "Yeah, I had a few dreams about her after Twilight became an Element. And also a few other times after that for other reasons. But don't you mind that, where'd that come from?" she asked, pointing to the letter sticking out of Spike's pocket.

"Oh right, it's a letter from Twi that came in just a few minutes ago," Spike said as he handed the letter to Quill so she could read it herself. "We know how many sentinels that'll be coming here and when they'll get here."

As Quill read the letter, Wolf, Isis, Frost, and Rydder with Peewee perched on his shoulder, all came around the side of the cathedral. "And that would be how many and when?" Wolf asked with his arms crossed over his chest, still trying to think of what to do with an army of walking suits of armor. But right now, he was more concerned about where to house all of the sentinels.

Spike opened his mouth, only for Quill to beat him to it. "Fifty-four in six weeks," she said after she read the line where Twilight had all of the sentinels accounted for. "Rydder makes fifty-five I guess. That's not that bad, just need to fix up this old cathedral, and boom you got a sentinel living space."

"This cathedral, huh?" Wolf turned to look at the cathedral for a moment, trying to think if he had anything planned for the space other than a housing area for the sentinels. However, nothing else practical came to mind. "Fine, but you have to come up with the plans for it Quill. Before the end of the week, alright? I want to at least start on this before they get here." Wolf looked up towards the skies, seeing the gray clouds rolling over towards the valley. "Winter's coming."

Everyone followed Wolf's gaze up to the gray clouds, suddenly feeling a strong chilling wind blow past them. As the wind continued to blow through, Wolf closed his eyes to get the full feel of it. Once he opened them again, the wind began to pick up to a strong gust that rustled a few trees. "Come on everyone, it's going to rain soon, and we have to make sure that the mansion's roof is all patched up."

Wolf turned to head back to the mansion with everyone else following behind him, all surprised that the dog was able to tell Everfree's weather patterns. "So Night Blade, have you told Spike your idea yet?" Wolf asked, turning his head back to the bat-pony riding on top of Kiri. "Because I want that planned out by the end of this week too."

"Yes sir, I have," Night Blade said with a small smile on her face as she continued to ride Kiri with her hands placed on the vixen's neck. "And for what I have planned, it shouldn't take long to set up, either."

Wolf nodded his head before turning it back up the path to see Lily and Spirit chatting with Blaze and Cyclone. Before the group made it up all the way to the hill that the mansion sat on, Wolf gave Spike a quick order to take Fang, Quill, and Rydder to go grab the wooden planks out of the storage shack over on the left side of the hill so they could begin patching up the mansion's roof while he sent Frost and Isis to go see what damage they could find.

"Morning, you three," Wolf said after giving everyone their assignments as he walked up to the group. Blaze quickly moved to wrap her arms around Wolf's chest, nuzzling into his fur as he placed a hand on top of her head. "Spirit," Wolf pointed down the path behind him with his thumb, over towards the group he'd sent to get the wooden planks. "You head down the path with the others to help out. A storm is heading our way and we have to make sure that everything will be able to make it through."

"Aye Alpha," Spirit said with a nod before he left down the path to help with gathering the wood.

"Wolf, you don't really think a storm is coming, do you?" Blaze asked, looking up into her lover's forest-green eyes. She knew the possibility of a storm happening in Everfree was always there, but for one to come this late in the fall was out of the ordinary. Then again, the rain seemed to have been easy on them this year, which could only mean that the winter was going to be rough. "And just when I wanted to go visit Zecora too. Oh wait! Someone has to tell her so she can get ready for it."

"Blaze calm down, would you?" Wolf laughed, ruffling up Blaze's long red mane with his hand, none too surprised that Blaze would be worried about the mare. "Tell you what, you can go tell Zecora. I'll get either Night Blade or Veil to go with you just to be safe," he said, knowing that his pack wasn't the only one still getting ready for the winter, and that outside of their valley anything could happen. "How does that sound?"

Blaze giggled a little bit from slight embarrassment before she nodded her head with a sheepish smile on her face. "Hehe, sure, that will be fine Wolf," Blaze said with another giggle as Frost and Isis landed back on the ground to give Wolf their report about the mansion's condition.

"Master," Isis started after she had landed back onto the ground. "There are several places on the mansion's roof that are indeed in need of repair. There are some places that require being replaced, and a few areas that will give no cause to worry."

Wolf nodded his head towards the sphinx as Spike's group started up the hill. "Alright Isis, think you can somehow mark the areas that need replacing? We're going to start on that first, then move on to the smaller fixes." Isis nodded her head before she flew back up to the mansion's roof to carry out her master's request.

Reaching the top of the hill, Spike and the others spotted Wolf and made their way over to him. "Hey Wolf, we got the wood," Spike informed him, carrying three pieces of wood long ways against his chest while everyone else only had one or two in their possession. "Oh, and hey Blaze," he greeted with a smile after seeing the mare behind Wolf.

"Hello Spike, how are you feeling this morning? Your injuries aren't bothering you, are they?" Blaze asked as she gave the drake a quick look over just like she had with Frost and Quill earlier this morning. Visibly they all looked fine, but she was just as worried for their mental health, especially since the twins weren't very forthcoming about what they'd been told.

"Nah, I'm good. Well, legs are little sore, but I still can work," Spike said with a cheerful smile before he followed the others over to the back wall of the mansion to sit the wooden planks down until Wolf told them what they were going to be doing with them.

Once the planks were set down, Wolf nodded his head towards Blaze, telling her that she could go whenever she wanted to. "Alright everyone, Isis is marking the places we're going to replace with these wooden planks. Be sure not to waste any of them, and be careful when you're up there."

Everyone nodded their heads as they got ready to carry out the job. While everyone was making their way to the rooftop in their own ways, Night Blade slid off of Kiri's back, kneeling down to the vixen's eye level and scratching the back of her head. "Kiri, you stay down here with Blaze and Cyclone, keep guard okay?"

Kiri let out a small howl in response before she walked over towards Blaze, brushing her head against Blaze's leg. Blaze smiled down towards the vixen, gently patting on her head as she sat on the ground while Kiri continued to submissively move around her. The vixen was still a wonder to the mare, the shine of her coat, the jewel in her forehead, and her abilities. All of it was something that Blaze had never seen before.

Satisfied that Kiri was behaving herself, Night Blade opened up her wings to help lift some of the wooden planks onto the roof. After handing the wooden plank off to Night, Quill looked back at Rydder. "Rydder, you do the same thing too." Quill took the last plank from Rydder before she opened her wings to follow the others up to the roof.

Rydder merely returned his hands to his sides before he turned to walk back to where Blaze and Cyclone sat on the soft grassy hill, removing his sheathed swords from his waist and back. Rydder soon began sitting down with his legs crossed and his swords resting against his chest as he did his active duty of watching over the pack.

Turning her head back while still stretching a spot behind Kiri's ears, Blaze watched the sentinel with just as much interest as she had with the vixen. The way Isis spoke about the sentinel last night made her wonder what other kind of spells were left buried from Equestria's past. And why the kingdom was unprepared for such a threat.

"She's really something, isn't she Clan-Mother?" Cyclone asked, taking her spot next to Blaze, and taking a turn to gently scratch her claws into the back of Kiri's head. Kiri let out a small purr as she moved further into Blaze's lap, resting her forepaws and head on it. "Kiri I mean, she's no ordinary vixen."

What Cyclone just said got Blaze thinking for a small moment, finding her curiosity growing. "Yes, I think you're right Cyclone," Blaze said in a blank tone of voice that got both Cyclone and Kiri's attention. As Kiri gazed into the mare's crimson eyes, and the mare back into Kiri's crimson eyes, both felt a small connection between them. "Cyclone dear, remember that little secret I told you to keep for me a few weeks ago?"

"Y-yes Clan-Mother, I do," Cyclone answered, remembering back to the day Blaze had told her the story of why she was able to use dragon-magic and speak their language. The truth had shocked Cyclone as much as it saddened her. "I won't tell anyone, promise."

Blaze nodded her head as she sparked her horn, allowing a small portion of her dragon-magic to manifest. As black markings began to form from the tip of Blaze's horn, pale-purple, almost lavender markings moved out from the red jewel in Kiri's head, giving Blaze all the answers she needed as of now.

"Ah, I see." Blaze ceased the light from her horn before the black markings began to fade away, consequentially ending the light from Kiri's jewelry along with the marking on her forehead. "So you're really are something special. Isn't that right Kiri?" Blaze asked as she raised a hand in front of Kiri, getting her to nudge against it.

Blaze went back to petting the vixen as she continued to let out small and playful howls. Whatever magic was locked inside the vixen was something Blaze had never seen before. Whether its origins were holy or unholy didn't matter to the mare. "My, my, you really are one of a kind, Kiri," Blaze said, moving her hand underneath Kiri's neck, and getting what almost sounded like a purr from her. Giggling, Blaze continued to play with the vixen while Cyclone watched idly by.

While the two females enjoyed the peace of the midmorning day, everyone else in the back continued to go hard at work on the roof, carefully following Wolf's instructions so not to cause any cave-ins. Things were going quickly and smoothly with Isis' magic able to meld the new planks of wood into the parts that they had to cut out, allowing some of the members to start working on the repairs while the others did the replacing.

The job was going along smoothly and quickly, which was a good thing because clouds began gathering over the city ruins, forewarning the pack that it was going to rain soon. "Blaze, go on to Zecora's if you still want," Wolf called down, still standing on top of the roof after he had finished hammering in a plank. "Night Blade, I want you to go with her too. The same goes for you, Rydder."

Sitting on the edge of the roof with her dogfriend, Night Blade nodded her head towards the alpha. "Yes sir," Night Blade said before she placed a kiss on Fang's sweaty neck, purposefully breathing in the dog's heavy scent. A small shiver went down Night's back before she hopped off the roof, safely gliding down. "Anytime you're ready Blaze."

Rydder merely looked back at where Wolf was on the roof, before turning to look at Quill. She noticed that he hadn't moved, and called down to him. "Go with her, Rydder. Wolf's in charge around here, so follow what he says like you would for me, ok?" In reply, the sentinel merely nodded before turning to watch Blaze.

Blaze nodded her head as she started to get up from her spot on the ground after Kiri moved out of her lap. The moment the mare moved, Rydder began getting out of his spot on the ground, placing his swords on his sides and back, ready to follow the mare wherever she was going.

"Cyclone dear, you don't mind staying here, do you?" Blaze asked in a calm gentle voice that carried something else behind it. "We're not doing anything else besides going to see Zecora for a moment. We can do something about your fire-magic tomorrow or the day after. Is that alright with you, sweetie?"

Cyclone nodded her head, wondering what had made Blaze change her mind so suddenly, but she wasn't going to argue with the clan's mother. "That's fine Clan-Mother. I need to talk with Spike anyways," she said with a smile on her face, giggling a little when Blaze scratched the scales on top of her head.

Blaze then turned to leave through the mansion with her 'escorts' following behind, stopping at the door when she remembered something. "Oh, Spike," she started, looking up to see the drake looking over the edge after he heard Blaze calling for him. "Be sure to bring in the sage and other herbs before the storm. I'm going to be working on some stuff after we get back."

"Okay Blaze," Spike nodded, "I'll get to that as soon as I can. And can you tell Zecora I said hi for me?" Blaze returned Spike's nod before disappearing inside of the mansion with Night and Rydder behind her to leave on the simple task of seeing about the zebra.

Everfree Forest; Zecora's hut

"My, my, events have surely come and passed," Zecora said after Blaze had shown up at her doorstep with a bat-pony, and odd-looking fox, and a suit of living armor. She wasn't one to question this, however. Living in Everfree for nine years had taught Zecora a lot of things, and one of those was to never question something until you heard something about it.

That's when Blaze began explaining everything that had happened since she was able to visit her friend like this. Zecora was amazed at the story of how far the twins and the pack itself had come in such a short time.

"The twins seem to be growing quite fast," Zecora finished with a small giggle before she handed Blaze a cup of tea she had began fixing during Blaze's story. All the while, both Night and Rydder kept mostly quiet against the far right wall as the two mares caught up with each other. Night Blade declined a cup of tea politely when Zecora offered her one. During Blaze's story, Night had been given a better grasp of what kind of struggles the pack had to go through for the last few weeks, and the achievements that they had all overcame.

"Yes, those two are coming along nicely," Blaze said with a small smile on her face before she took a sip of the fresh herbal tea. "Every day they seemed to grow stronger. The same goes for everyone, really. Cyclone has been getting much better with her magic, according to Wolf, Veil is quite the fighter, and Frost seems to be getting closer to her dreams each day."

Zecora began to nod her head at Blaze as she was partaking of her own drink, pleased to see that her old friend had been doing just fine, along with her growing family. "That is very good to hear, but what of winter drawing near? Knowing Wolf will not take a chance, plans surely have been made in advance."

"That they have, Zecora," Blaze answered with the knowledge that the winter coats were almost ready for the pack to use. The newcomers had already finished making their plans to survive in the winter months with the pack as well. "But what about you Zecora? Are you going to be alright this winter? Wolf thinks it's going to be a bad one this time around."

A small laugh left Zecora's lips after she set her cup back on the table. "Yes my friend, I will be fine until winter's end. I have food of plenty that could happily feed many. There's no need for worry."

Blaze smiled towards the zebra, happy to see that the mare was set for the winter just as much as the pack was. "Well that's good to hear, Zecora. And remember, if there's anything you need, you can come to us. It's never any trouble."

"Blaze please, put yourself at ease," Zecora said before she took another sip of her tea with Blaze doing the same. "There is no need for any cause of alarm, you just have to worry about the child you will soon carry in your arms."

A gentle smile came onto Blaze's face as she reached a hand to her half-exposed stomach to begin rubbing it with a dreamy look on her face. "Yes...from what Quill told me, I should be expecting just before the spring months. Oh, I just can't wait any longer," Blaze said with a giggly smile on her face before she went back to talking to Zecora.

On the other side of the room, Night Blade watched as Blaze continued to caress her pregnant belly with a glee about her. It was the joy only a mother could know, and it was something the mare was looking forward to.

"I'm sorry to chat and leave, Zecora," Blaze started as she rose from the ground after finishing her drink, causing Rydder to be fully aware of his surroundings again. Zecora soon stood up after the mare, knowing that she needed to get back to High Moon soon. "But there's a storm brewing over the valley and Wolf has everyone running around. Are you sure that you'll be okay here? I can't help but have a bad feeling."

Zecora shook her head at the mare with a slight smile on her face. "Blaze, I will be just fine in my abode, you just start on the road." Blaze giggled a bit at Zecora as she gave Zecora a quick hug before she started out of the door.

"Goodbye Zecora, you stay safe," Blaze said with a wave as Night Blade gave the zebra mare a bow of her head before they started out of the door, hurrying back to High Moon before the storm could kick in.

And did it ever.

The very moment Blaze and the others got inside the safety of the temple, the rain started pouring down so fast that much of the pack was trapped inside of Blaze's work area. Spirit and Lily were able to make it to the mansion before the storm had began. According to Veil, Cyclone had led Spike off almost as soon as Blaze had left for Zecora's. This left everyone else to find something to do while waiting out the storm.

Veil ended up helping Blaze take stock of potions for the winter, Wolf went over ideas for things during the winter with Isis, while Quill and Frost took the time to get to know the newcomers a bit more.

Much to Quill's surprise, the two newcomers admitted to having dreams of becoming Fallen Saints one day. When both Frost and Veil said that they didn't know what a Fallen Saint was, Quill went on explaining the difference between the two classes of bounty-hunters.

"See, Saints are like your everyday vigilante or bounty hunter," Quill explained with Frost sitting sideways in her lap while Fang had Night in his lap, Veil to the side of Quill. The only reason Quill knew anything about the bounty hunter classes was because she had been raised in Canterlot, where she overheard a few nobles talking down about them. "They do things like take down local criminals, but tend to stay within the law while doing it, right?"

"That's right," Fang answered with a nod while Night continued to feed Kiri freshly cut orange slices, who was sitting on the table in her smaller size. "See, the reason we were in that mountain cave was because we were trying to train to get stronger. That way we would be able to take on threats like those unicorn guys."

Quill nodded her head, despite actually believing that the three newcomers would have troubles in a fight against even one of the unicorn supremacists. "Yeah, it would've been nice to have some Fallen Saints with us that day. Speaking of which, Fallen Saints are something different from Saints. They tend to go for bigger prizes, and they do it outside of the law."

"But they get the job done," Fang added as he locked eyes with Quill, who only returned his gaze with her one unbandaged eye. "Sure, there are Saints and Fallen that look only for money, but there are others out there. Good ones. Ones that want to see good win, that want justice."

"Well Fang, as noble as a cause that is, justice is only as just as we see fit," Frost said, knowing the type of manner the three newcomers were going by. "There is no true just way in everyone's eyes, only the one we see fit for it to be. Remember that you two, it's a very important lesson that I had to learn young and the hard way."

Fang and Night quickly turned towards each other for a moment, as if to see if there was any change in the other. When they found none they both turned back to Frost to give the mare a nod. They already knew it took a lot to do the things that Fallen Saints were known to do, but they had dreams about it, and they'd made a vow to reach this goal.

"Speaking of which, since you guys are trying to be Fallen Saints, there's something that I'm sure would help with that," Quill started, chuckling as she looked slyly at Frost in her lap.

"And what is that, Quill?" Frost asked, cocking an eyebrow at her younger lover.

"You remember how the letter from Twilight said that the unicorn's hideout was somewhere in the Swayback Mountains, right?" Quill asked, making Frost frown as she already had an inkling of Quill's idea, if she knew the dragoness at all. "Well I got a plan."

"Hold on, let me guess," Frost started with a flat look on her face, as if she was seeing into Quill's mind. "The plan involves us using the sentinels to find the unicorns' hideout, taking them on, and turning them into Celestia, doesn't it?" Quill snorted at the mare in her lap with a smile on her face that easily told Frost that she was wrong. "I'm...wrong?"

"Close, but you're a bit off point, Icy," Quill said rubbing the side of her head as she continued to think about an idea that would satisfy everyone. "Nah, I got a better idea. I'm just hoping that these unicorn guys don't wise up and leave the Swayback Mountains. If they do, I'll have to think of something else."

Frost titled her head with an arched eyebrow. "Yes, and what sort of plan would that be? I highly doubt that the unicorns will be staying in the Swayback for very long. If I was them, I would leave Equestria altogether." Frost could almost hope that the unicorns had fled Equestria. If that was the case, they could just be done with them.

However, Frost knew better to than to believe that it was going to be that easy. "They wouldn't try the same thing twice, would they? I mean, their whole plan depended on Amethyst, and we saw how that turned out for them."

"Frost, I doubt that they would give up so easily," Quill said, despite wishing the same thing Frost was. "If they really want to take control of Equestria, they would look for more than one way to do it."

A heavy sigh came out of Frost as she dropped her head slightly. She knew that Quill was right. Though it didn't help that she wanted this to be all wrapped up. "You're right, Quill. These guys do not seem like the quitting type," Frost said.

"If you're sure your plan will work, Quill, then we'll help," Fang nodded his head firmly, Night at his side with a determined look in her lavender eyes. "And this isn't even about us wanting to be Fallen Saints, this is to protect High Moon. These unicorn guys are starting to sound too big for their horns, and I want to help shave them down a notch."

"You sure, guys? I'm sure we can figure something else out," Quill said as she glanced over at the two lovers with a concerned look in her eyes. "It's not really fair for us to suddenly push you into a fight that you guys aren't ready for."

"Quill, it's guys like these unicorns that give us the reason to become stronger," Night Blade said, one of her eyes hidden behind her mane. However, that didn't diminish the look of pure determination on her face. In fact, to Quill it seemed to have heightened it. "We're becoming Fallen Saints so we can take on guys like this. To help defend our home, our family."

Quill smirked at the two's courage. Their determination reminded her of Twilight and the other Elements. Quill found herself respecting the two for their dreams.

"Guys," Quill said in a low tone of voice with a slightly dark gleam in her eyes that earned a shiver from Frost. The scorpio mare couldn't tell if the feeling she was getting from Quill was good or bad. Either way, she enjoyed the thrill it sent down her spine. "Get ready to train like you've never had to before. We're gonna be killing so many birds with one stone."

Back in the room they shared, Spike and Cyclone were enjoying the time alone, and the sounds from the storm outside had an oddly calming effect on the two. Cyclone was sitting in his lap sideways, with his arms wrapped around her waist. She had her own arms wrapped around one of his as he lightly caressed her thigh over her dress. Sighing, she nuzzled against Spike's neck and gave him a soft nip.

Spike jerked against Cyclone, looking down at her to see the impish smile on her face. Grinning back, Spike started, "So that's how you want to play, huh?" Growling at her, he earned a giggle from the white dragoness as he wrapped one arm around her shoulders to hold her in place, moving his lips to her neck. The other hand slipped down along her leg, and slowly began lifting Cyclone's dress up along her leg.

Grinning, and with a sudden blush painting her cheeks, Cyclone pressed her chest against Spike's and slid one hand up underneath his shirt. Breathing in deeply to squish her breasts against him more, her other hand slid down along Spike's arm to guide his claws up the side of her leg. She shivered from the feeling of his claws against the soft scales on her thighs, delighting in Spike's touch.

"Someone's enjoying themselves," she moaned softly into his ear-frill, earning another growl against her neck. She kissed the side of his head by his ear-frill, and moaned again as his claws trailed over the large curve of her ass. She could feel his excitement pressing against her hip, and she ground herself against it.

Spike was losing himself in everything that was Cyclone. Her scent, her taste, her scales against his claws… she was just intoxicating. It felt like his mind was fogging up. Spike turned his head up to seal her lips in a kiss, and pushed his tongue into her mouth to curl against hers. Taking in a deep breath through his nose, Spike's hand began sliding up past Cyclone's ass to her back.

Immediately, Cyclone froze in his lap and broke the kiss.

"Spike!" Cyclone all-but yelped, her hand shooting to grab Spike's wrist, holding it in place before it could go any higher than the dip of her lower back. "Spike, please…" Her eyes were wide as she watched him. 'It's ok Cyclone, you stopped his hand in time, he didn't feel anything...' Her mind raced as she tried to reassure herself.

Spike wasn't sure what had gone wrong, but he knew he'd crossed a line. He pulled his hand away from her back and smoothed her dress back down. "Cy, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to try and push you into -" The pale dragoness in his lap silenced him by putting a finger on his lips, her eyes having softened, a smile back on her face.

"Shush," she commanded softly, replacing her finger with her lips. After kissing Spike for a few short moments, after which he untensed and pressed back into it, Cyclone pulled back. "You stopped when I needed you to." She pressed her forehead against Spike's and closed her eyes. "It's not that I don't want to be yours completely, Spike, it's just…" Cyclone faltered for a moment. She didn't want to lie to Spike, but then she wouldn't really be lying to him if she only told him one of the reasons she wanted to wait. The other… she shivered, tightening her grip on Spike's arms momentarily.

"Spike, I know you weren't raised by dragons, but for clan dragons, it's considered traditional to wait until both members have undergone their growth-spurt before… claiming one another."

Spike was quiet for a moment, before tilting his head up slightly to kiss the smaller dragoness in his lap. "Cy, you don't need to give me a reason. If you want to wait, then we wait. As long as you need."

She giggled huskily before placing a kiss on his nose and leaning in close to his ear-frill, whispering, "Spikey, I promise you, after your growth-spurt, I am going to wear. You. Out."

Spikes eyes went wide, and his face turned a bright red. He tried to stammer something out, but Cyclone silenced him with a slow, teasing kiss.

"Now, Spikey," Cyclone said as she moved to straddle Spike's waist, pressing her chest forward and up against Spike's chin, "We have something very important to talk about."

Spike's blush was still present, and he was doing his best to keep his emerald eyes locked onto Cyclone's pink ones. "Y-yeah?" Spike gulped, the scent from Cyclone invading his mind again. Her large breasts pressing against him were serving as a very tempting distraction. His hands moved down to her thighs, massaging them softly through her dress.

Nodding, Cyclone leaned her forehead against Spike's again. "Yes, Spikey. Very important." She took a deep breath to calm herself, inadvertently pressing her chest against Spike harder for a moment. "It's about Veil."

Spike's mind shorted out for a moment, and it took another second for it to restart.

"What?"

/ Ch. 55: Path to Winter part 1; A Gamble/-/

High Moon Ch. 55: Path to Winter part one; A Gamble

Two weeks had passed since the battle in Canterlot, and everyone that had been involved began to move on in their lives. After returning home to his two mares, Dusk and his sisters decided that it was time for them to get fully involved in the matter after having taken down some of the unicorns. Jinx and Sketchy told Dusk to be careful, so he began training with his sisters again, learning a few moves and strategies that they had picked up on during their time in the Republic Guard.

Of course it was dangerous for them to use their magic inside Ponyville, especially Verdite's earth-magic. So instead they thought it best to keep with more physically-focused training at the local gym. Naturally, both Jinx and Sketchy were worried about their lover getting hurt during a battle. But Dusk was able to put their fears to rest when he said that he knew that he wasn't alone in the fight and that he wasn't going to let anything happen.

Meanwhile, in Canterlot, Obsidian began his own kind of training to better tackle the threat for the next time it decided to appear. It was hard to predict the enemy's next move since they had been pushed into a more defensive position, but he wasn't going to let that stop him from ensuring the safety of his home.

Princess Twilight had the filly, they knew the location of the enemy's hideout in the Swayback Mountains, and they could get even more information out of the three unicorns they had captured. Applications for the Guard had nearly doubled since the attack on Canterlot. Ponies, griffons, and even other canines had started to join the Guard. A drive for new technology and tactical practices had been put forth by Celestia, increasing the workforce exponentially in the last two weeks.

Obsidian hated to say it, but the attack on Canterlot could be seen as a good thing - with the victory of Canterlot, a spark had been ignited in the kingdom, causing a fast-moving boom of growth. However, as good as all of this was, there was now a strain on the higher class of unicorns - and in some places, unicorns in general.

Civil disputes, false accusations, and other discriminating reports had begun coming in from all around Equestria. This had caused some unrest until Celestia had made it publicly known that there were only five remaining criminals, all of which were possibly high-class individuals. All this did was place a suspicious target on the backs of the noble unicorns.

However, everything had calmed down after the initial flares of suspicion, allowing everyone to refocus on preparing to either defend or go on the attack. On this matter though, it was difficult for everyone to pick a side. On the one side, taking the unicorns out quickly would prove better in the long run, but could also prove to be deadlier without knowing everything first. One the other side of the argument, going on the defense could help better ready Equestria for this, and future, threats. Though doing this would give the enemy time to devise another plan that might be even more fatal than the one they originally had.

Confirming whether or not they had a second plan was hard to prove given that Angel was quickly becoming more tight-lipped every day. Whether or not they had a second plan though, everyone could agree that Equestria needed to prepare for the inevitable battle.

Even the Elements of Harmony had been preparing for battle, with special training Celestia had been giving them. The training involved tapping further into the power of their Elements. This was done by combining the powers of their Elements together in a way they hadn't before.

In a sense, this was a type of 'fusion,' as Twilight called it. Not a fusion of their physical bodies, but mentally through the raw magic of the Elements. However, this seemed to be a difficult thing for all of the Elements to do. Largely because not only were their good qualities fused together, but their negative ones as well.

Whether it was Fluttershy's shyness, Rainbow's brashness, Applejack's stubbornness, Pinkie's inability to take things seriously, Rarity's high-class and ofttimes haughty attitude, or even Twilight's hesitation, all the Elements had something negative they brought to the fusion that they were unable to work past. Something would go wrong and the fusion would be thrown off. And with each failure, another strain was placed upon their friendship.

Twilight was able to see that this was just like the type of magic that Jinx and Sketchy were telling her about during their visits to the library. Though, instead of conventional magic, the Elements were using the Elements of Harmony themselves to achieve the task. So she figured that their best way of achieving the fusion was by learning as much as she could from Dusk's two mares.

During said visits by the mares, they were always more than happy to give Twilight a little help with Amethyst, who, according to some medical testing, had been proven to be eight years of age. In fact, any chance the other Elements had, they found some excuse to check up on Twilight and her adoptive daughter.

Twilight was still having some problems getting used to the idea, but everyone had been giving her nothing but votes of confidence that she could do it. That she could keep Amethyst safe.

One day in particular, Twilight noticed how Jinx was being more motherly towards Amethyst than usual. She was wondering what had gotten into the mare when Sketchy whispered to Twilight that Jinx had recently found out that she was pregnant. They had yet to tell Dusk, for fear of discouraging him from doing what he believed was right and helping with the occultists.

The news of the mare being pregnant brightened Twilight's day, and she promptly wished the best for the two mares. Later that night, when Amethyst had been put to bed and the Elements came to hang out for a little while, everyone began taking turns admitting that they themselves had been eying someone special.

Ironically, the only one who had any experience with this was Fluttershy, as she said everything was going well with Arctic. The mare had been an amazing help with Fluttershy's animal friends, who were all getting ready for the winter. Not to mention that Arctic had been treating Fluttershy amazingly, as she had been taking her out on dates anytime she could. Arctic was even able to talk Fluttershy into going on an adventure retreat this spring.

All of the girls were happy for Fluttershy, seeing that the shy mare could do so well on her own. The other girls were starting to believe that starting and maintaining a relationship in spite of all their duties wasn't as hard as they all thought it would be.

Deep inside of Everfree, the twins, Frost, and the newcomers had all had doubled their training they had been going through. After hearing Quill's plan two weeks ago, they had all began working towards getting strong enough for it to work.

They had all been training with each other, Rydder, or Wolf. They had ran throughout the valley, worked on their individual skills, and even created fun competitions between each other. Already, the plan was in motion, and there were only a few events that could mess everything up.

One of these events was something that'd been hanging at the back of Frost's head. Something that she'd been worried about for quite some time. Her sister. Granted it would take quite some time for the mare to recover after what their mother had done to her, but… Chrysalis wasn't the kind to give up without a fight.

Frost tried not to worry about it, but the thought of her sister forging another plan like she had definitely lingered in Frost's thoughts at times. The biggest worry was that Chrysalis would attempt another grab at power, but that wasn't likely, as she no longer had the aid of an entire hive.

Another thing that could go wrong was if the enemy, or even Celestia made a move that was unforeseeable. Quill, and the others in fact, were all fine with Celestia dealing with the unicorns so as long as the battle didn't spill over into the valley.

That, above everything, came first. The safety of the valley and the pack. In the end that was their goal, making sure that the unicorns couldn't one day do the pack any harm. Quill's plan was mostly circumstantial, and that was another one of it's flaws. Perhaps the biggest was the way things could turn south real quick.

However, Quill's plan was so loose and based on others' moves that the only way for it to fail was for them to act instead of react. That's how they were going to tackle this battle. Prepare, strategize, wait, and react; the hunter's way.

Yet, that didn't mean that they devoted all of their time solely to training for a battle that didn't have a date. Additionally, Spike had sent a letter in response to Twilight, which read:

Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,

Thank you for keeping the pack and I posted with what's going on with the sentinels. And really, take your time with them, we still have to fix up a home to keep them all at. Anyway, we need a little favor. As you might have guessed, Quill and I are planning on getting involved in this battle with you guys. So we would like to be kept up to date every time something happens. Quill says she has a plan, but it will only work if we share information.

Stay strong, we're gonna need you when this is all over.

[right]With faith, Spike Shi Dragul[/right]

P.S. Tell Amethyst I said 'Hi' - looking forward to visiting and seeing how she's doing. We're focusing on training right now, but odds are after our growth-spurts hit Quill and I can drop by, and I'll make sure to bring Cyclone so she can meet you guys. Amethyst is gonna love her.

P.P.S. Quill didn't really want to talk about why she hid Frost's changeling nature. My best guess is that she's worried someone will try to take out their mistrust against the changelings on her. Not to mention how some ponies feel about dragons.

The twins sent the letter off to Twilight the day after they'd gotten hers, and two days later Quill decided to finally take off the bandage on her face. When she came out to the main area for breakfast that morning, a sulking Frost by her side, the pack was shocked to see Quill's new scar. The scar was still slightly pink, and cut a groove through her scales on the left side of her face. It started near the center of her forehead and cut down over her eye, nearly to the center of her cheek. Quill was more than happy to show it off. Spike shook his head at his sister, knowing that his twin had the time of her life during that fight, but he still found it hard to believe she had chose to keep the wound. Blaze and Isis mothered the dragoness for a few minutes, checking to make sure that nothing was infected, though Frost's own healing talents had been more than sufficient to make sure the wound was clean. Still though, the mare had started an argument with her younger lover over it every day since the battle.

Frost was mostly frightened that Quill would want to collect scars like grotesque trophies, but Quill had finally convinced her that wasn't the case. She had gotten that scar during her first real battle, and she didn't want to just get rid of it because it would have been convenient - she wanted something to remind her that she wasn't unhurtable. That she would have to keep training and improving constantly.

Frost had also gone off on Quill about how she'd nearly lost the eye - and Frost didn't think her healing was up to a level where she could have fixed it. Quill didn't have much of a reply about that beyond that her eye was fine. Frost was just worried for her lover, and Quill knew that, so she took all the lectures and worrying with a smile. It had helped that sex with the angry mare was especially vigorous.

Once the pack got over her new scar, Quill began exploring every option of battle that she could. She already knew about her own abilities, as well as Frost and Spike's. The questions she wanted answers for were about the newcomers, more specifically the kinetic gems on Spirit's wrists. Spirit decided to tell Quill and the others the tale of how he found the gems.

It happened when he was a little cub wandering through the forest alone with Fang. The two came across the small hoard of gems that were being guarded by an odd-looking fox. Fang hadn't liked the look of the fox and had wanted to leave, while Spirit hadn't been able to take his eyes off the glowings gems.

So he made a break for it. Luck would have it that Spirit was able to snag the gems and get away with two handfuls of them. Years later, they ran into the same fox again, only this time it was accompanied by a bat-pony, who had turned out to be Night Blade. Quill laughed at the odd way the three met up with each other, finding it somewhat ironic.

As the two half-listened to the story, Night Blade and Quill were both planning out the spaces that they wanted to use within the city ruins. Both plans were relatively simple, especially since all they had to do was fix the places up. Quill was already dead-set on using the cathedral as the home for the sentinels, while Night Blade was able to find a place alongside the river near the city thanks to Spike's help.

With the spaces picked out, both females began working together to draw out plans that would satisfy Wolf. It was a short three hours later before the both of them had their plans made out, and ready to start as soon as they could.

Since Quill's plan was the larger one, the dragoness agreed to help Night Blade out with her blacksmithing shop. The plans were simple, just a fix-up job at most thanks to there already being an old blacksmithing shop along with river. After a little sweeping, roof and support beam repair, adding a few things, and within two days the shop was mostly back up. At least, it was up to a point where Night could start reinforcing the tools that the pack already had in use.

With that done, the entire pack began working on the cathedral since it was a much larger project. Thankfully though, just like with the shop, the cathedral mostly only needed a fixing up, and with over eleven pairs of hands on the job at some point or another, it went by surprisingly fast.

However, the time did come were everyone in the pack needed to take a small breather from all the hard work. Quill and Frost had gotten up quite early this late fall morning to go spend the day flying together. Spike and Cyclone also had gotten up early to spend some time alone together, just like much of the rest of the pack had.

To her sorrow, Veil found herself alone, only adding to the bad mood she was in right now. And she knew why, as painful as it was to accept the answer. Veil was afraid. And she hated admitting to that. So she went to the one of the few people she knew she could trust to help her; Alpha-Mother.

Sliding out of the bed, grumbling to herself, Veil quickly made her way out of the mansion, up the hill and into the tunnel to the temple. All while thinking about the relationship Cyclone had with Drake. And how she wanted to be together with the two. At this point in her life, Veil couldn't imagine going without Cyclone anymore. The two had helped each other in a vulnerable time of their lives, and even if things had been… very rocky, the important thing was that they'd been there for each other. From what she had seen, and from what Cyclone had been telling her, Drake was treating Cyclone more than nicely, and was willing to give her a chance too.

So why was she so afraid of the idea? Drake was a perfectly nice guy like everyone said, but after seeing him, Fang, and even Spirit get thrown into each other the other day by Wolf, it made Veil wonder if Spike was really strong enough or had the conviction to care for both her and the dragoness.

Then again, the two females were practically more sisters than they were friends. It felt wrong not to ensure Cyclone's happiness - and Veil knew she wouldn't compromise on her own. At least, not so long as she could make Cyclone happy.

"I hope Alpha-Mother can help," Veil muttered to herself with her head hanging. She rubbed her arm over a band that she had found from the cave she went back too up on the cliff edge, and had it engraved with a fire-stone. If there was one thing Veil hated to do, it was get others to worry about her and her troubles. She was just a beta hound, and she was happy… mostly. She was just afraid of this new step.

As Veil reached the slab-door to the temple, both of the spiral runes and her fire-stone arm-band began shining a bright red before the slab slowly moved out of the way, allowing Veil to walk into Blaze's work area.

She quickly saw Blaze and Isis both sitting next to each other as they were reading a book of some sort before they looked up to see who was coming into the temple. "Oh good morning Veil," Blaze quickly flashed a smile to the beta hound, eliciting a slightly weaker smile back from the younger female. "Have you eaten yet?"

"Morning Alpha-Mother, Isis, and no ma'am I haven't just yet," Veil said as she stepped inside the temple, walking over towards the two alpha females, her hair covering one of her eyes. "Is Alpha out or something?" she asked as she tried to fix her hair out of her face, only to fail, causing her to growl in annoyance.

Blaze giggled at Veil's hair troubles for a bit before she sparked her horn and waved her finger over towards the hound, gesturing for her to come over. "Come here sweetie, I think I can help you with your little hair trouble."

Sighing, and with a small blush on her cheeks, Veil walked over towards Blaze's free left side, sitting down on the stone floor when the mare motioned for her to do so. Once she was on the ground, Blaze summoned a comb that Quill had gotten from Ponyville about a month ago, and began to comb through Veil's matted hair with difficulty.

"My, my Veil, when was the last time you washed your hair?" Blaze asked as she continued to force the comb through Veil's black and white hair, while the hound was whining from the pain. "Hm, Isis, could you get me some water to perhaps loosen up Veil's hair?"

Isis had been trying to hide the smile on her face, as it somewhat humorous to see the fully grown hound struggle against Blaze as though Veil was a cub. "Yes mistress, I will go fetch some river water. I suppose that would...help with the situation, hah," Isis laughed before teleporting off in a burst of black fathers.

Before Veil could question Isis's laughter, Blaze patted her on the back before she went back to combing through the tall hound's hair. "So Veil, is there anything you wanted to talk about? You've seemed distracted and upset about something for a while now. You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Yes I do Alpha-Mother, thank you," Veil said with a slight sigh before she bit down on her lower lip. Blaze said nothing as she went back to moving the comb through Veil's matted hair. It was comforting to know that Veil could count on Blaze whenever she needed it, and right now she needed it.

"It's… it's about Drake and Cy," Veil answered in a low tone of voice as she was still unsure what to exactly feel. Steeling herself, Veil decided to get it all out in a rush. "I want to be with them. But I'm scared. I don't think Drake really cares much for me either way. I think he's just willing to give this a shot for Cyclone's sake. And he's weak. He's doesn't act like an alpha. I need someone that can protect Cyclone when I can't."

"Oh, Veilstone," Blaze giggled a little. "Veil, you and Cyclone have been here for over a month now, and you still think so little of Spike?" Veil merely grumbled something underneath her breath, only getting Blaze to giggle again. "So what are you going to do, then? You can't keep avoiding them. That wouldn't be fair to any of you."

Veil was quiet for a moment as Blaze continued to move the comb through her hair, which was longer than either realized, thanks to Veil always having it matted down. All the hound could think about right now was what was really bugging her. She knew that Cyclone was happy with him, and that he'd treat them both right, so why couldn't she get over her fear?

"I...I don't know. I just, I just don't know any more, Alpha-Mother," Veil said with a sad sigh leaving her lips. She leaned her head against Blaze's knee, making Blaze stop the combing for a moment to let the hound speak her mind. "Cyclone's right, isn't she? I'm just being a big puppy about this, aren't I?"

Blaze watched dejectedly as Veil began visibly shaking, telling the mare that Veil had been struggling with these thoughts for a lot longer than she realized she was. "Shush sweetie, it's okay." Blaze slowly wrapped her arms around Veil's neck to get the hound to stop her shaking. "I'm glad that you're willing to give Spike a chance, but you know there's no reason to be worried, right? I know that you and Cyclone only had each other during some of the most important years of your lives, so you should be able to trust her on this. Sometimes those closest to us know things about us that we don't even realize."

"Alpha-Mother...I guess. I took care of Cyclone for six years, we've depended on each other for so long that usually we don't even question the other's decisions." Blaze nuzzled against Veil's cheek to get the hound to calm down, and began to gently hum as Veil continued. "I just...Cy always wanted us to be pack-sisters for Cadjo knows how long, and I'm starting to think that she was right. But this is such a huge change..."

"Veil, I think it's time that you stop running from your fear," Blaze said, moving her hands to Veil's shoulders to turn her around a little so Blaze could look into Veil's gray eyes. "Dear, you care deeply for Cyclone. You trust her more than anybody else here. So don't you owe her a chance to help you with Spike?"

"That's the thing Alpha-Mother! I don't know what to do about him!" Veil whined, turning her head down to the ground in frustration, feeling helpless. "I'm worried that I'll make things weird or something. And what if Dra...Spike doesn't like me back? What if I end up not being able to accept him as my mate?"

"Dear," Blaze started, reaching for Veil's chin to raise her head slightly as Isis finally reappeared with a bucket of water from the river. "Love takes a while to grow, Veil. I didn't fully love Wolf when we first met. In fact, it took me a long while before I finally realized that my heart belonged to Wolf."

Isis brought the bucket of water over them, sitting it down on the table next to Blaze before taking her seat. Blaze went back to combing through Veil's hair, looking over her shoulders to Isis. "Thank you Isis," the mare said before she turned her attention back to the hound. "Now Veil, I know that it may be hard for you, but you have to at least try. You can't keep running from how you feel."

Blaze, after removing the clumps of hair out of the comb, dipped the plastic grooming tool into the tin bucket to wet it. After she tapped the comb to shake off the extra water, Blaze went through Veil's hair again, now easier with the water. "You have to give it a try, Veil. Think for a moment how Cyclone feels. She's doing her best to ensure that you are happy too, including being willing to share Spike. Could you hope for more?"

"No," Veil sighed, "No I can't, but Cy wouldn't let me be unhappy if I tried. After the life we lived, I can't complain, either." Blaze kept quiet to let the hound continue while she continued to finish combing Veil's hair. "We usually got into arguments all the time when we first met. Usually it was her trying to cheer me up when I didn't want it, more rarely it was me trying to get to the bottom of her past. I mean, Cyclone couldn't even sleep in a bed by herself for months without freaking out, and then it got to the point where we just kept sleeping together. Now, though…"

"Now she's sleeping with Spike and not you. Is that it, sweetie?" Blaze asked, connecting two and two together easily. "You miss the connection that you and Cyclone had before she started hanging out with Spike more. And now you're worried that you might not be able to regain that connection."

"I guess, Alpha-Mother," Veil sighed again, but knowing that Blaze was right about what she was saying. "But what am I supposed to do? I have no idea what to say to him. It's already bad enough that I make Dra- Spike think that I don't like him, and that's all on top of me not even being half as pretty as Cyclone. I mean, she's all curves and I'm just tall and all angles. Ugh, I'm even taller than Spike. That's going to be so weird.."

"No Veil, you know Spike's not that kind of dragon," Blaze said after tapping the top of Veil's head with the comb in a playful manner. Veil let out a weak chuckle, though easily able to be identified as half-hearted. "He won't care what you look like, and it's not fair for you to compare yourself with Cyclone. You are a very pretty hound, Veilstone, you just have a different body type than Cyclone. Yes, she's curvy, but you're all muscle under that fur. Lean, sexy muscle. You'll drive the poor dragon wild, sweetie. As much as Cyclone does."

Veil groaned in embarrassment from what Blaze was telling her. Veil didn't think she was right, but there was no point in arguing with the blue mare. If Blaze thought she was right, she wasn't going to let it go until Veil did what she wanted. That wouldn't stop Veil from trying, though.

"But Alpha-Mother…"

"No buts, young lady," Blaze interrupted, crossing her arms underneath her chest with a stern look on her face. "I don't want you to run from your fear any longer. It isn't fair to you, and it isn't fair to Spike and Cyclone." Blaze motioned for Veil to stand up, getting the hound to do just that without question. "Now you march out there right now, they should be at the fishing river. And if you can't find them there, I want you to come right back here until they come in. Understand me?"

With a worried frown, Veil nodded her head as she moved her hand through her now straightened, and slightly wet, hair. "Yes Alpha-Mother, I'll try, but I don't-" Veil stopped with a yelp when Blaze flicked the plastic black comb against Veil's rear-end. She turned to question the mare about why she spanked her like that, but the stern look on Blaze's face told Veil everything she needed to know. "I-I'll be going."

"Be safe dear, and do your best," Blaze said as she sat back against her chair, sparking her horn to envelope the comb in her magic and teleport it back where it came from.

With a final nod towards the mare, Veil left out of the temple in search of her friend and Drake. Hopefully, this wouldn't be as bad or awkward as Veil was thinking it would be. Maybe.

A few minutes later at Rainbow Streams

Veilstone watched the two from the brush, still debating with herself whether or not she wanted to confront them here and now about how she was feeling. Trying to find the courage to end the fear she'd been forcing herself through. It was just getting to be too much, though. However, with the talk she had with Alpha-Mother, Veil couldn't just turn away any more. It would be more simple to just leave things the way they were, and bury her feelings like she always had.

But not today, apparently.  
She knew that Cyclone would help her however she could, but this was still a huge step. Sure, taking in Cyclone had been one too, but she'd had no time to worry about it when the dragoness had showed up in her life. Much like when their home had burned down and the two had moved to High Moon. Then they'd had no other real option. But now that Veil had time to consider what she was about to go through with...  
Now Cyclone didn't need Veil to protect her, or even take care of her. Much less keep her company at night. That was all Drake, now. But Cyclone was giving Veil a chance to get that back, and more. Veil was certainly attracted to Spike - he was cute enough, and he seemed to always put others ahead of himself. With Cyclone's help, this was a shot at her finding someone special too - and keeping Cyclone, the one constant in her life that she couldn't imagine being without. She turned her attention back to the two in the river. The two certainly seemed to be having fun - mock-fighting each other using only water-magic, completely drenched in the small river they were standing in. Veil was reluctant to intrude on them, but figured this would be her best chance. She had to talk to Spike, and she knew Cyclone would help her. She could do this.  
Taking in a deep breath to calm herself, Veilstone walked out of the bushes, a half-forced, half-  
genuine smile on her face. "You two seem to be having fun," Veil raised her eyebrows at the two soaking dragons, shaking her head lightly.

Spike laughed awkwardly. He couldn't remember having this much fun in... well, quite some time. His time spent with Cyclone was the best time of his life so far, even surpassing when he'd first learned he could use magic. Seeing Veil here though, Spike remembered the talk Cyclone had had with him about her two weeks ago. He still didn't really believe Cyclone, but she had told him that Veil would approach them on her own, when she was ready.

Shaking himself and putting it out of his mind, he sent another swipe of water at Cyclone, before replying to the hound. "Yeah, it's nice to be able to relax finally. We've got the greenhouse set up, Blaze doesn't need us to collect any ingredients, and everyone is taking a break from being thrown around by Wolf all the time. Not to mention having setup the cathedral for the sentinels. Glad to get some off time."

"To be fair Spike, you're not getting thrown around as much anymore," Cyclone retorted, having avoided the small blast of water. She turned to Veil, eyeing her carefully before asking, "So did you want to join us for a swim?"

Veil shook her head, taking a seat on the edge of the bank. "Just came by to talk, that's all. You two seemed to be having fun, though, and besides, I can't use magic like you."

"Well, if you're sure, Veil…" Cyclone trailed off, managing to catch Spike off-guard with a well-timed undercurrent against the backs of his knees.

He fell over backwards, coming back up a few seconds later, sputtering, "Ok, now it's on!"

The two quickly fell back into their game, splashing and tripping each other up. They almost seemed to have forgotten about Veil sitting on the bank, watching them. She smiled though, glad that Cyclone was happy again. Drake seemed to be good for her. That was the only reason she hadn't ripped his head off when he'd began returning the interest Cyclone showed-he made her happy. Veil flexed her hands lightly, thinking that if he ever hurt her...

She was interrupted by a large splash that got the fur on her legs wet. "Cyclone!" she berated her friend, continuing, "What the hell! I'm not in this!"

Cyclone seemed to be caught in a giggling fit, finally managing an apology. "Sorry, you just seemed too caught up in your thoughts. Besides, you missed my question."

Veil shook her head, thinking that maybe Drake was a bad influence on Cyclone after all.  
She dipped a foot in the water and splashed towards Cyclone, figuring she was already wet now anyways. "Well, what'd you ask?"

"So what'd you want to talk about?" Cyclone repeated the missed question, laughing at the childish move from her friend.

Veil went silent, unsure of how to broach the subject now that she'd been called out. She could just blurt it all out, but sneaking a quick glance at Spike, it seemed almost beyond embarrassing. "Well…" she trailed off, looking away from Cyclone.

Cyclone raised an eyebrow, proclaiming, "Well, if you don't want to talk, you must want to get soaked too!" as she sent another splash over her friend.

"Agh! No!" Veil laughed, trying to avoid the water unsuccessfully. Cyclone had managed to get Veil wet up to her stomach, so Veil figured it was pointless to avoid the water now. She jumped in after Cyclone, putting her claws out in a threatening gesture, playfully growling, "You're going to get it now, Gustie!"

"Spike, help!" Cyclone laughed as she tried to splash over to him. She made it halfway there before Veil caught up to her and started wrestling with her, dunking the white dragoness as she kept laughing.

"Drake knows better than to try and stop me, I'd-"  
"You'd what?" Spike interrupted her, one hand held out towards her and Cyclone. He had a cocky grin on his face, like he'd already played his winning card.

Veil rolled her eyes, as Drake didn't worry her. In fact, he worried her as much as she herself would worry Alpha. "We both know Alpha tosses you around like a chewtoy, and if he can do-" she was again interrupted, this time by a veritable waterfall that lasted only a few seconds, soaking her to the bone. Spike quickly began laughing at the shocked expression on Veil's face, thinking he'd have to remember that trick for any fights he might get into with Fang or Quill.

"Oh. You. Are. Dead." Veil growled, letting Cyclone-who had also gotten caught in the water, but was laughing-go, and began advancing on Spike.

Spike just laughed at the oncoming hound, knowing that she wouldn't do anything too drastic - and that he could handle it if she tried anything serious. When Veil got up to him, though, she paused, seeming to think to herself for a moment. Spike watched her visibly calm down, and take a deep breath.

"Dra… Spike. I know Cyclone's already told you this, but I… I want to be with the two of you. I… think you're good for her, and… uh, you've shown that you'd make a suitable mate, and I... honestly can't imagine letting Cyclone go entirely. So… er, what I'm asking… do you think we could make this, us, work?" Veil forced herself to get it all out at once, afraid of the answer. She couldn't figure out why she couldn't form whole sentences. If he said no, she'd just have to resign herself to watching over Cyclone from the side. 'Why is it so hard to express myself to him? Come on Veil, just tell him you like him already,' she thought to herself furiously, fighting off a blush and failing.

Spike's eyes went wide, and he glanced at Cyclone disbelievingly for a moment. He hadn't actually thought that Veil liked him that way - half the time, she was ready to snap his nose off. "Well, uh, if Cy's ok with -" He was cut off with an eager "I am!" by the smiling dragoness, and he stopped himself before starting back up again. "Then… Sure. I mean, I didn't think you liked me. As often as not, you're always angry with me. Why?"

Blushing again and shifting her weight from one foot to the other, Veil looked down at the water in between the two of them. 'Well, now's as good a time as any.' "It's… I'm afraid. Of being alone. Of letting go. Of taking a big step like this. I've never... dated anyone, Drake. Never seen the point. Cy's helped opened my eyes by just being with you - and now I can't help but want to be with you too. I was always... upset at you because until you came along, I'd never cared. I was content with my life. Then everything changed. I saw you as taking Cyclone from me and I… I'm sorry for how I've been."

Spike thought to himself for a bit. He'd never seen the hound open herself up like this. He wondered if this is how she was with Cyclone. Sighing, and with a weak chuckle, he replied. "Well, Veil, I'm still sorry about your old home. I know neither of you asked for this. As for Cy, well, I'm making this all up as I go. She's the first girl I've been with. So we can explore this together, I guess." He smiled up at her. This was one of the first times her extra height hadn't really bothered him - but then again, she wasn't trying to intimidate him, either.

Smiling weakly back, Veil met his emerald eyes. He looked as worried as she did, which was a small relief. Looking over her shoulder at Cyclone, Veil saw the smaller dragoness making encouraging motions with her hands. Sighing again, and with another blush darkening her fur, Veil tilted her head down to meet Spike's gaze again. Screwing up as much courage as she could, she shut her eyes and shot herself forward into a kiss with Spike.

Shocked, Spike almost tumbled back, but caught himself and placed his hands on her arms. It wasn't much of a kiss, in his opinion - she was just pressing her lips against his, and she was keeping her body stiff. Keeping his amusement to himself, he returned the quasi-kiss as best he could. When she pulled away from him, she looked at him with a frown.

"I was hoping you could kiss better than you fight, but I guess not." Veil turned to look at Cyclone over her shoulder, calling out, "Aren't you teaching him -" she was cut off abruptly as a clawed hand cupped her cheek, and she was pulled into another kiss by Spike. She barely had time for a surprised squawk before their lips met.

'Say I can't kiss? She didn't know what she was doing!' Spike thought indignantly as he kissed the taller hound. Going on impulse, Spike slipped his long, thin tongue into her mouth, and nearly jolted in surprise when he met hers. It was so different from his and Cyclone's. Where theirs' were long and thin, hers was shorter, but thicker.

Inspiration struck him, and he slithered his tongue all around Veil's, before squeezing gently with it, and dragged her tongue into his mouth. He heard Veil let out a shuddering moan before her hands moved up his chest to grip at his shirt.

After a few more mind-numbing moments of bliss, Veil realized what Spike was doing, and her eyes shot wide. She broke the kiss, glaring down at the drake indignantly. "You - I… what… Rrrrragh!" With a growl, she picked up Spike by his shirt and hurled him backwards into the water. Huffing slightly - she wouldn't even consider that it was from the kiss - she turned back to look at Cyclone, silently mouthing a 'wow'.

Cyclone, who had been keeping in her laughter at Spike's sudden and forceful kiss, let it all go, and she nearly fell into the water herself. It took her another minute before she could get herself under control, and by then, Spike had stood up and was watching Veil warily again.

Veil brushed a hand through her hair, breathing out through her nose as she regarded Spike. Spike watched her back, still wary of the taller hound. He hadn't expected her to be that strong - she'd tossed him like he was still a little hatchling.

With a nod to herself and a sudden grin that showed her fangs, Veil finally spoke. "Yeah, this will work. But don't think I'll be meek like Cyclone. You're going to have to fight if you want to be in charge here, Drake."

Spike cocked an eyebrow. She thought Cyclone was the meek one in their relationship? He was going to enjoy seeing Cyclone disprove that. That said, it still seemed like Veil planned on being as predictable as a twitchy explosive. "Uh, ok, I guess?"

Cyclone finally moved up behind Veil and pinched her rear before wrapping her arms around her taller friend's waist. "See? I told you he'd say yes. And you were worried."

Blushing hotly, Veil shot a glare at Cyclone before replying. "I wasn't worried, Gustie. I knew what he'd say."

Rolling her eyes, Cyclone giggled. "That's why you've been awkward around him for two weeks and not approaching us."

Realization hit Spike. "So that's why you've been-"

Veil growled at Spike, face still red. "You want another dunk, Drake?"

Spikes eyes went wide, before a cocky grin found its way to his face. For some reason, Veil made him want to push her. "You think you can? I could just pour the river on you again."

A feral-looking grin appeared on Veil's face, and she cracked the knuckles on both of her hands. "Ok Drake, time to show you who's top do-" she was cut off by Cyclone sweeping her feet out from under her with her tail, the pale dragoness still holding onto her friend as the two of them went down into the water.

Laughter erupted from Spike at the sight. Veil deciding she wanted to be with the two of them might just turn to be amazing.

/ High Moon Ch. 55: Path to Winter part 2: Snowfall/-/

High Moon Ch. 55: Path to Winter part two; Snowfall

Two months flew by for the pack, before the hardest time of the year hit: winter. Undoubtedly the coldest and toughest time that Wolf, Blaze, and Lily had all faced out in the valley in previous years. Before the pack had expanded so much, Wolf had struggled to keep things up and running, having to venture out further than the valley to find food, while Lily went into a hibernation-like state. In this cold time of the year, Wolf wouldn't allow Blaze to leave the temple for nearly any reason, worried for her health now that she was carrying their cub. Being from a country that almost never saw snow, however, Blaze always tried to sneak outside to play in it. It always made her feel like a little filly to be playing in the snow, and Wolf was never really mad at her for finding her outside, seeing how happy it made the mare.

Additionally, from studying many of the potion books she had, Blaze had learned that there were plants that only grew during the winter. Still though, Wolf wouldn't allow the mare too far out of the temple. So any time she needed a winter-based ingredient, Wolf would personally head out to search for it. Usually, he would find what Blaze needed, though there were times where he would pick up the wrong thing and Blaze couldn't tell before the potion brew was already ruined.

As winter hit the valley, all of the diamond dogs' coats became denser and thicker, losing most of their pigment. Even their eyes changed to a brighter color of red to absorb more sunlight. Physically, they were mostly the same. However, mentally, a few things had changed. Wolf was far more blunt and direct with everything. Especially anything that came to the safety of the valley.

Wolf was happy, however, that the pack had grown and was better able to take care of and defend itself. Though with such a diverse pack, there were a few hurdles to be expected. Four diamond dogs, three dragons, four equines, and one sphinx, all with their own winter habits, for example. For the canines and dragons, their sleeping patterns were heavily affected during the winter months.

As for the equines, Lily had already entered her lone hibernation, going so far as to kick Spirit out of her bed. Night Blade, being a bat-pony, had switched to a more nocturnal sleeping pattern than she normally kept to, moving all of her work to the night, only returning to sleep a few hours after the sun had risen. Kiri, bonded to Night in almost every way possible, took the same sleeping patterns as her mistress, yet could still be awake during the day for a few hours longer at best. Frost was one of the few in the pack that was awake during the morning hours, thanks to her constantly waking as a filly during the winter to play in the snow with her ice-magic. But with Quill going through her growth-spurt along with her brother, she started having doubts on whether to get up or not.

That was something the pack had dealt with easily enough, the twins entering their growth-spurts. There had been a morning where Quill and Spike had not gotten up, even after their respective lovers had shaken them, when they had realized the twins had entered their growth-spurts.

Cyclone wasn't fit to be outside for long without a thick layering of clothing, so she mostly stayed inside the mansion. She was naturally worried for Spike, asleep deep in his growth-spurt, but she knew that she needed to have faith in her drake. Besides, she had gone through her own growth-spurt without a problem, and she had never heard of a dragon dying or being injured while in it. Still, though, Veil would often catch Cyclone sitting on the bed next to Spike, a nervous shake in her legs as she softly stroked his cheek.

Drake falling this deeply asleep also worried Veil, especially since she still didn't understand a lot about dragons. When she caught Cyclone worrying like this, Veil would always go to the younger dragoness and rub her shoulders to try and reassure her as best she could. She also found herself periodically taking Cyclone's place when the dragoness was called on by Blaze to help her with a potion brew. Instead of stroking his cheek, though, Veil always reached a hand under his blanket to grab his hand. As hard as she pushed the drake, she still cared for him deeply - even if he hadn't proved he could be her alpha.

Thinking back on the past two months, Veil chuckled at the odd relationship she'd developed with the drake. She hadn't fully accepted him as her mate, and wouldn't until he proved himself to her, but she'd told Cyclone she wouldn't force Spike into anything until after his growth-spurt was complete.

She'd gotten to be nearly as close to Spike as Cyclone was now, and Veil had never felt closer to the dragoness than ever before. That last was still something of a surprise to Veil - she hadn't expected to ever really be a pack-sister with Cyclone, but here she was, soothing not only herself, but Cyclone, by keeping Spike company when she couldn't. She'd have already done anything for Cyclone before the two dragons had accepted her into their group, but now that she was a pack-sister to the younger dragoness, that Cyclone had actually wanted to share Spike with her… well, she doubted she'd ever be able to pay the dragoness back.

As for Spike… she was enjoying pushing his buttons, and making him be more proactive in regards to both her and Cyclone. He seemed to enjoy pushing back just as much, which was good - the last thing she wanted was a weak mate. She'd even caught him talking back to Wolf once. She had been particularly impressed at that - though the drake still seemed to always let his sister take charge whenever she was involved.

So far as her and Spike went, though, they were still in an odd place. Though the hound wouldn't admit it to him, she rather enjoyed when he was aggressive. Once she'd started to get him to be more forward in regards to her and Cyclone, things had certainly gotten more interesting. She still hadn't let the drake go nearly as far with her as Cyclone had. Sure, they'd all shared Spike's bed - thankful that it was more than large enough for the three of them - but she was still reluctant to do much with the drake beyond kiss him. She still blushed at their sleeping arrangements sometimes - her and Spike had an unspoken agreement that they'd take turns holding Cyclone, but as often as not anymore, somehow Spike would end up in between the two females. The first time it had happened she'd nearly leapt out of the bed. After that, she figured that it was fine so long as he wasn't awake to notice. She was determined to not make it seem like she was being too easy on the drake. At least not until she knew he was what her and Cyclone needed.

Isis had already assured everyone that the twins were going to be fine since neither of them had been showing any negative signs in their physical, mental, or magical conditions. Still, to give the twins as much comfort as they needed and to make sure nothing bad happened, Blaze advised the twins' respective lovers to find beds of their own in the mansion for the time being. Cyclone had protested at the beginning, but fell silent after Veil had wrapped an arm around her and talked to her in a soft voice that nobody else could hear. When she had finished, Cyclone had hugged the hound in return and gone off to pick a room for her and Veil that was close to Spike's.

Blaze seemed to be the only one of the pack to keep her normal sleeping habits, despite having her two lovers often holding her in their bed until they had gotten up. Isis, before joining the High Moon pack, normally would get up at the first signs of sunlight, even in the winter. However, she now seemed to be falling into the same sleeping patterns as Wolf.

Yet, with all the changes, this didn't mean that the pack was inactive. In fact, once Wolf was up, the rest of the pack, or at least the three betas dogs, became highly active until nightfall. With the canines' winter coats in, they could all stay outside for long periods of time without feeling the effects of the winter. It was only during the night that they felt anything.

Most of the pack's activities were focused solely on hunting and scavenging for food. With all of the fruits and vegetables pulled in for harvest, all the canines had to worry about was hunting down meat to eat.

Ensuring they had enough meat was even more vital during the winter. Now the canines were acting more like wolves, hunting for their own food first, then going after food for the rest of the pack. Even then, Wolf still got the larger portion without question from the other three canines.

There were times where they got lucky, and then there were times where someone would make a mistake and go after too much food due to hunger impulses. For the High Moon pack, this wasn't usually a problem, it just meant that they had to go out further than the last time.

But the times they got lucky and found more food than they needed for a few days were a blessing, as it gave them time to stay in and and rest their bodies. Times like today.

"Wolfie, you can go back to bed if you want," Blaze said as she continued to gently scratch behind Wolf's ears while he sat on his knees to rest his head in the mare's lap. By this time of day, most of the pack was awake, but not active as the twins were still going through their growth-spurts, and the other canines were taking the day off that Wolf had given them.

"The both of you," Blaze continued, looking towards Isis, whose fur had also faded to a pure-white, much like Wolf's. The only thing on her that had stayed the same on the sphinx were her black hair and wings. "I'm fine down here by myself. I'm just doing some reading."

"Nothing else?" Wolf questioned in a low growl. His growl wasn't of malice or anger like it normally would be, his voice always deepened during the winter, and Blaze was used to it by now. "You're not going to try sneaking out, are you?"

Blaze smiled down towards Wolf before placing a kiss on his forehead, scratching the back of Wolf's head. "I'll be fine, I promise I won't try sneaking out Wolf. You two just get some more rest."

"Fine," Wolf huffed. He placed his hand up on the side of her chair, pushing away. Placing a soft kiss next to the unicorn's horn, he turned away to walk on all fours as he often did during the winter. Isis shared one more look down towards Blaze before giving her a quick hug. She quickly made her way over to Wolf, who had stood up from the ground after he had started opening the door up.

As they ascended the stairs, Wolf saw Frost gently closing her bedroom door with a conflicted look on her face. "Frost," Wolf started, getting the mare to jump slightly before she looked towards the alpha. "Head downstairs and keep an eye on Blaze for me. I don't want to take any chances with her right now."

"Su-sure Wolf, I can do that," Frost said, running a hand down the slightly-ajar wooden door. Wolf nodded his head, catching a quick glance at the sleeping dragoness inside. He said nothing, and turned to open his bedroom door. Frost pushed open her door a bit more to get another look inside. However, what she was saw was no different from what she'd been looking at for a over a week now. The dragoness' body was completely covered by the bed sheets and blankets, and the only thing Frost could make out was her lover's slow, deep breathing, along with a constant line of gray smoke seeping from where Quill's head was. A week without her lover's affection had bothered Frost more than she had suspected it would. The mare missed sharing a bed with the younger dragoness, and had resolved to do something special for her when she woke up. Frost remembered that her own growth-spurt, being a half-dragon, had only lasted a short two days, and she had come out of it fine, and in fact stronger than ever. Still, seeing Quill in this condition had her nearly sick with worry.

"Frost," Isis placed her hand on Frost's shoulder, causing her to jump again. When she turned, Isis could see the exhaustion lingering in the mare's eyes. She brought a hand to cup Frost's cheek, rubbing away the tear that was forming in the corner of her eye. "Quill is going to be fine. Both of the twins will be, that much I can assure you."

Frost closed her eyes and sighed. There wasn't anything she could do but put her faith in Isis' words. Quill had proven herself many times before, and logically the mare knew she shouldn't be worrying. "Okay, thank you Isis. Have a nice nap, the both of you," she said gratefully before closing the door and descending the stairs.

Isis watched the mare go down the stairs before she joined her master in the bedroom for them to rest a bit more before the pack really started going again. However, even knowing that the twins were strong enough to make it, she couldn't predict if they would be the same afterwards.

XXX

Sitting criss-cross in the air of a gray plane, Quill listened to her wise ancestor's final words before she would eventually leave Quill forever. She don't know how long it'd been since she had started listening to the tales, but she was at the point of no longer caring. The stories were far too fascinating to her to want to stop listening.

From the stories that her ancestor, Sol Argento, told her, Sol was once a soldier in the Nightmare Rebellion. On the side of Nightmare Moon. Sol's reason for being on Nightmare's side was not for Nightmare herself, but for Luna. She and Sol had been close to one another for quite some time before the war.

They would spend whole nights together, since Luna never had an actual court to go to. Sol would take the place of a pillow for Luna to cry on while Isis was asleep from a long day of serving the two princesses. It soon got to the point where Luna simply changed her sleeping patterns to the night so she could go see Sol just outside of High Moon.

Sol admitted to knowing of the existence of Nightmare Moon long before the rebellion. She never said anything, because she had too much faith in Luna. That faith had not diminished in the slightest when Nightmare took over that fateful day. Sol knew that Nightmare was merely acting out Luna's desires.

Desires to be free. Desires to have her voice heard. Desires to be acknowledged for the things she did for her kingdom with her elder sister. Nightmare had found a way for the mare that she was a twin to. A way that would give Luna everything she desired.

Rebellion.

When it was all said and done, even dying at the hands of a group of dragon-hunters, Sol held no malice towards either Nightmare nor Luna. Sol had followed her heart. She fought under Nightmare's allegiance because she wanted to. In fact, Nightmare hadn't forced any soldier to fight for her.

After hearing this, there was one question that Quill had to ask of the elder dragoness. "The name of the dragon-hunter that killed you, did you ever learn it?"

Sol regarded the young dragoness for a long moment, watching Quill's purple eyes. She saw a look she remembered seeing in Nightmare's eyes before the life faded from Sol's body. A look that hungered for revenge, one that wouldn't stop until it was sated. Sol could've not answered the dragoness, but that would have driven her to hunt every dragon-hunter she could learn about. And Sol didn't want her to fall down that path.

"I doubt you will be able to find their descendant, but it was a stallion named Helosis Sword, of the Solar Guard. I believe he was Celestia's first general."

After getting her answer, Quill completely dropped the subject and just simply began asking about times long before Nightmare was ever involved. Times where Sol and Luna could spend time together in peace under Luna's bright moon.

However, it was hard for them to actually be together with all the dragon hunting. That was one of Luna's reasons for trying to outlaw the dragon-hunters, so she and Sol would be able to spend time together without worry. Yet Celestia argued against it, never really giving Luna the real reason why.

The truth was another reason Nightmare was able to get through to Luna. Saying that Celestia feared dragons could easily overpower equines, which they both could and did. Sol admitted that she herself had raided several villages that were inside her clan's territory. Ponies were so vain that some would even dare challenge dragons, trying to remove them with force. Dragons often retaliated without second thought.

This was how Luna met Sol, surprisingly. The younger princess had ventured into Sol's territory in order to barter a peace between her clan and the villages in their territory. Sol described it as something she sensed inside of Luna, the way she moved, carried herself, spoke, and thought sparked a fire inside of Sol's body. And Sol later found out that Luna felt the same way about her.

It took a moment for Quill to realize that Sol and Luna had a thing for each other. And from the stories that Sol told her, they'd had it bad. Bad enough for Luna to try and change the way her nation regarded dragons. All told though, it would explain why Quill felt a small attraction towards both the lunar goddesses.

But something bothered Quill. She asked her ancestor how the two could have been together if Sol was… well, as she was. The elder dragoness was massive, far larger than even a handful of ponies put together. Sol merely chuckled at the young dragoness, a rumbling noise that seemed to shake the air around Quill. Sol told her descendant that Luna and her had met when she still was still in her bipedal form, much like Quill was. She had only changed to her elder form with the onset of the rebellion - and that had been to protect the lunar princess. She would have likely found a way to change back at the end of the war, but so far as she knew there was no way of going back. This worried Quill, as she didn't want to change while she was with Frost.

Afterwards, the two began talking about other matters. Mostly pertaining to what Quill must do in regards to her future with Frost. It seemed that Sol already believed that the two could do it, especially with the new power Quill carried.

However there was one final warning that Sol had for the young dragoness;

"Young one, be forewarned. The path you are on is righteous to an extent, but do not allow your ambitions to blind you. Many before you believed that their dream and goals were just, and many before you started wars that they were none too ready for. I say this not in spite of your dreams, but in warning for what they could lead to. The path you walk is the same your parents walked. They let their ambition blind them, and you know well where that led them. I have faith in you, young one. Stay safe, and do your ancestors proud."

It was then that the smoky image of the massive elder dragoness began fading away, along with the grey plane she was in. Quill knew that this was the final time she would hear Sol's voice, and she took her ancestor's final words to heart.

XXX

"So… are you ever going to say something? Maybe some mocking, insults, something to belittle me? Anything?" Spike questioned, as he was trapped in his own watery realm with his ancestor, who was laying on his stomach, his four massive legs folded up under him as he waited ascension to the Four Makers. Spike held himself up with his tail against the water's surface after he had woken up falling from the sky, his ancestor baring his fangs at him.

After the Spike's battle with the titanic drake, the green and red scaled dragon had simply laid down on the water. Spike tried all sorts of different ways to get the drake to answer his questions. But all he could ever get was a grumble from the ancestor, and after seemingly hours of doing this, Spike simply tried to wait it out until the elder drake had something to say to him.

Yet he said nothing. For what felt like days, the elder had nothing to say to Spike, and the waiting was starting to get to him. "Say something already! You can't just trap me in here with you for days, and not say anything!" Spike shouted at the drake who continued to look over to the endless horizon. Spike soon got off of his tail, walking over towards where the drake was looking and grumbled.

"That's it," Spike muttered to himself before dashing over in front of the elder drake, kneeling down to the waver as he placed his hand on top of it. "Murum aquarum." Suddenly, a towering wall of water rose up from the water's surface behind Spike, cutting off all sight of the horizon that the elder drake seemed to find more interesting than talking to Spike.

The water wall had its intended effect of getting the elder drake to snap out of his daze, glaring down at Spike. "What, Drake, what do you want from me?" he demanded while still glaring down at the drake, the younger drake returning the glare back up at him. "You already have my blessings to continue living whatever life you choose to live. I have even deigned to eliminate the remnants of your ghost-heart, so that will no longer trouble you. So let me fade away in peace already."

"No way!" Spike shouted at the elder drake, baring his fangs at him in anger at being pushed aside by his ancestor. "I've already told you that I don't care what you think about my life, but you can at least talk to me." Spike paused to think for a moment as he calmed himself down. "Maybe the reason that the Makers haven't taken you yet is because you have something that you're not confessing to."

"Confess to? Me, an elder drake, confess to you, a hatchling that has yet to truly live?" the elder drake questioned with a faint scoff as he moved his head back away from Spike. "Do you believe that me confessing the sins I committed in my life would give me some redemption?"

"Yeah man, why else would you still be here?" Spike questioned as he crossed his arms over his chest, looking at the elder drake with a disapproving glare. "This is your final time to be conscious about things around you, so you could at least tell your story to your own descendant. It would be better than just sitting here and waiting for whatever is supposed to happen, happen."

The elder drake was quiet for a moment as he laid his head back down onto the water's surface, looking the other direction away from Spike. Seeing the drake acting like this, Spike dropped the wall of water behind him, and began slowly walking over towards where the drake's head was at.

"Well you want to know something? My life feels pretty complete right now," Spike said as he came to a stop in front of of the massive black dragon. "You took out my ghost-heart, thank you by the way, I became a knight, and oh wait," Spike laughed, putting on a smug look on his face as he looked into the elder's red eyes. "I also have two smoking hot mates. Both of which are way more than I could ever ask for."

"One of which always want to descale you like some small spineless fish," the elder scoffed, blowing a shot of smoldering ash in Spike's face.

Spike was able to block out the ash thanks to his airtight secondary eyelids, and the heat was nothing thanks to his scales. "Th-that's not the point...and we're working on that!" Spike shouted at the dragon, rolling his eyes when the drake started to laugh at him. "Gurh, you're hopeless! All you ever do is either mock me or complain about something. It's almost like… like you never achieved your dreams."

Once the dragon saw where the young drake was going with what he was saying, the elder drake's gaze locked onto the younger dragon, eyes going hard. "Hold your tongue, drake," he growled with green and red embers leaving his nostrils, but soon began coughing from a sudden drain of his energy. "I lived my life the way I wished, and there is nothing I wish to change."

"No, no, there was something that you wanted to do but didn't. Or even couldn't, right?" Spike asked, stepping back from the dragon as he continued to read his facial expression. "Wait a minute… you tried becoming a soldier, or even a knight didn't you?"

A moment went by before the elder dragon started to laugh uncontrollably, telling Spike that he was wrong. "Haha...ah, I haven't had an honest laugh like that in a while. No, the Makers didn't plan for me to be a 'knight.'" The elder dragon filled the word with scorn. Then his gaze flicked back to the young drake for a moment, before he gave a loud sigh. "However, if you really have to know, I had made a promise to protect my sister's eggs. I failed."

"O-oh, well at least we're getting somewhere," Spike said as he pierced the water's surface with the tip of his tail to balance back onto it. "So what?" he continued questioning, crossing his arms over his chest while staring flatly at the elder. "That made you bitter and angry at yourself, and you just turned it on me? That's not fair."

"Well, Drake," the elder spat at Spike, clearly unfazed by Spike's sudden stare. "Life is not fair. Things don't go the way you like, gems are not handed to you in a silver bowl, and power - real power - is earned, not taught. Through battles, hardships, strife. This is how the dragon race grows, Drake. Learn it well."

Spike let a small chuckle that was filled with a small sense of dejection in it as he briefly looked away from the elder drake for a moment. "And you thought the best way to… 'toughen' me up, was to treat everything I did as crap and throw me to the side? Don't you have any pride in you?"

"And what's that supposed to mean, Drake?" the elder questioned in a snarl, pushing his massive face into Spike's to glare down into the younger drake's green eyes. "Answer wisely, for I still can make these next few moments a living nightmare for you."

'So much for acting tough,' Spike gulped as he pushed himself back with this tail, only to land perfectly on the tip. "I'm just saying, if you really had any sense of duty or honor you would have helped me out more than you had. Or at least not put me down all the time."

"Do you not understand what I just finished saying, Drake?" the elder questioned, slowly snaking towards Spike while the younger drake used his water-magic to scoot away. Only when the elder's massive tail blocked Spike from behind did he finally stop trying to move. "Dragons grow from strife, pain, battles. A lesson like that needed active practice for someone such as yourself."

Spike got down from his tail to stand tall in front of the elder, looking up into his eyes to see that he was being serious with what he was saying. "What do you mean?"

"Be honest, Drake," the elder spat, "Would you really have listened to me if I told you to stop letting everyone use you?" Spike quickly had opened his mouth to answer the elder, only to be stopped. "No, you wouldn't. If there's anything I have learned from watching over you these last eighteen years, it is that you are very stubborn, and you don't like anything to change for you."

Slowly, Spike closed his mouth with nothing to say. The elder was right, Spike was stubborn, or what he always thought as loyal to Twilight and the other Elements. He was always there for them, more Rarity than the others, but the point remained. Spike wouldn't even listen to his own sister, so what would make him listen to an elder dragon?

"You were set in your ways," the elder continued while Spike kept his gaze held to the watery ground. "That was until the God of Disharmony came along and changed your course in life. If you had stayed on the path you once were, you would surely have became the sun mare's puppet against your own kind."

'He's right. Celestia had known all the answers but lied to us, just so she could use us. Just like Rarity used me...'

"Do you now see why I was harsh with you, Drake?" the dragon questioned with a soft tone of voice that shocked Spike more that the realization that his ancestor actually had a heart. "You wouldn't have listened to me because you were spoiled. You were ready to waste your life on trivial matters, a slave to those you called friends. You had everything handed to you, and you needed to learn the hard way. You needed to learn what your life was worth, and what was worth your life. So, have you learned?"

Spike clenched his fists at his sides, now angry at himself for not connecting everything from the beginning. "I've learned that… nothing is worth keeping if it comes easy." Spike sighed as he unclenched his fists, looking down at the water. "I have to start taking control. I am an Element, a knight, now. I need to start acting like it."

"Nigra Vetus." Spike tilted his head to the side at what the elder drake said, prompting him to continue. "My name, young Spike. Nigra Vetus, do me the honor of remembering, it will you?"

"Yeah, I will," Spike nodded his head just before the realm of endless ocean began to fade, taking Nigra along with it. The things that elder had said to Spike would once have made him want to stop trying, but he had made it through. He had taken all the blows Nigra had thrown at him, and now he was tougher for it. Spike was ready for anything the world had to throw at him.

So he hoped.

Everfree Forest, High Moon Temple

"Fascinating, so you say this Red Metal can convert raw magic into controlled bursts?" Frost asked after finally getting an answer for why Blaze knew as much as she did with dragon culture and magic. That answer turned to be startling for a bit, but Frost had already figured that it was something close to the nature of Blaze taking on an elder dragoness. She just was lucky to have found the dragon dying and to have won over her favor.

After speaking about that for a few more moments, Frost had then turned her attention on the culture Blaze had grown up with. Along with a certain weapon she had been hiding for some time now.

"Why yes, Frost," Blaze said with a smile towards the changeling half-breed as she continued to rub her six-month pregnant belly. "That's how the Red Fang is supposed to work. Of course, now it's a bit more powerful than it was when I was younger. I try not using it too often because the metal ore is severely rare and repairing it is not only difficult, but dangerous."

"Because of the arcane energy already stored inside of the metal, I'm assuming?" Frost hypothesized, guessing that the Red Fang must have absorbed some of the elder dragoness' magic along with Blaze. Then again, any magical ore would be dangerous to meld with in the first place, and required special techniques to repair and shape. "I wonder if Night knows how to do it."

Blaze shrugged her shoulders as she had wondered the same thing. It certainly would be helpful if the bat-pony could do such a thing. "I don't know dear, but it would-" was all she managed to say before she was stopped by the arcane-door opening up to reveal Quill dressed in her purple jacket and denim jeans.

As the dragoness walked into the room with a stretch of her body, Frost gasped at how much Quill's body had changed over the week she had been asleep. However, there would be plenty of time to admire the changes later, now was the time to rejoice that her lover was awake. "Quill, you're awake!" Frost cheered, using a quick teleportation spell to appear right in front of Quill and wrap her arms around the dragoness' lower back, pulling her in tightly.

"H...h-huh? Frost wh-" Quill was cut off by another long, tired yawn as she gave another stretch of her wings, eventually gaining control of her body again enough to wrap an arm around Frost's neck. "Oh, Frost. Eh? What's with the tight hug? Let up a bit, will ya?" she asked with another yawn, still unable to get her bearings. "Bleh, what time is it? Head feels like it's been hit with a baseball-bat and I got knocked out for days."

"That's because you've been in your growth-spurt, Quill," Frost said, looking into Quill purple eyes to see them shining brighter than ever before. "Both you and Spike have been asleep for over a week now, and we were starting to get worried about you two."

Quill raised an eyebrow at Frost in disbelief. She knew it would have been awhile, but not over a week. "Really, a whole week?" Quill questioned, looking down at the ground for a moment before she turned towards Blaze. "Well, how are things with the pack? I hope our growth-spurts haven't caused too much trouble, have they?"

"No dear, they haven't," Blaze said, sitting back in her chair to admire Quill's new body. She was now a bit taller, just a little taller than Frost, and her voice seemed to be smoother than it used to be. However, Blaze knew there was more to Quill's growth than just her physical body. "Wolf, Fang, Spirit, and Veil have been spending most of their days hunting. We already have enough vegetables to last us well into early spring. Though it seems Wolf and the others are taking a break from hunting, for today, at least."

"So now's the time to bunker down and survive," Quill guessed as she walked over towards Blaze with her arm still around Frost's neck, just now realizing that she was now slightly taller than the mare. Quill took the seat Frost had just been in so the mare could sit in her lap. "And it sounds like everyone has to pull their own weight more, right?"

Blaze shook her head, "No dear," she softly laughed. "Wolf and the others kind of have an unspoken 'system' between them."

"A system?"

"Yes Quill, a system," Blaze answered with a slight nod of her head, closing her eyes as she thought of the best way to describe the primal hunting habits the canines had. "It's like this, they all hunt together as one to take down a few wild deers and boars, but Wolf gets first grabs at the meat before the others."

Quill took a quick moment to think about this before she had an answer for the reasoning behind it. "It's because the others are betas, right?" she asked, prompting Blaze to nod her head. Quill now knew that the pack was on pack-heavy rules, as there was little time to do anything else. She had been lucky to wake up during a day on which there was a break. "Hm, well that seems fair. Wolf does keep all of us together and focused on the things that we need to be doing, and he is the alpha."

"That's the same thing the others have said," Blaze answered with a slight smile on her face as she could now see the second part of Quill's Queen Dragoness growth-spurt, mental processing. That part of her growth was less visible than say, a Salamander's, but it would also help Quill not always act so impulsively. "I can only say that the same rule applies to you and Spike. So I want the both of you getting used to wearing the winter coats while you're out. Understand me?"

"Yes ma'am," Quill said with a small laugh, knowing that Blaze only had what was best for her and Spike in mind. She also didn't mind that anyway, Quill was never a fan of the cold, so she was going to take every advantage she could to keep out of it. Her wings always got especially sore if she stayed out in the winter air for too long. "So if I'm awake, I can only guess that Spike must be awake too, right?"

"That's what I've been waiting to see," Blaze said, taking a glance over towards the slab-door again, as if she was expecting either Spike or Cyclone to come through at any moment. "Cyclone promised to either come here to tell me that Spike is up, or have him come over himself. So we'll get news about that soon. Anyways Quill, how do you feel?"

Quill tilted her head a little before she realized that Blaze was talking about the time she had spent with her ancestor. "I feel pretty great, actually. Oh wait, there is something I wanted to talk about. Sol Argento, my ancestor, apparently had a thing for Princess Luna and, inherently, Princess Nightmare. And she was a soldier in the Nightmare Rebellion."

"Well that explains a lot," Blaze giggled, joking about all the times Quill had put the lunar goddesses in a favorable light over the solar one. "But really, that's something quite incredible, I hope you got a lot cleared up for you."

"Oh yeah, she cleared up a lot," Quill said with a mischievous giggle as she moved her hand to Frost's side and gave it a soft squeeze, getting the mare to jump a little. A blush soon came to the mare's face the moment she felt Quill's love, making her feel a bit hot underneath the gray jacket that she was wearing. "She even helped me figure out a few new tricks, as well."

"Well that's great to hear, sweetie. I'm sure that all of-" Once again, Blaze was cut off by the slab-door opening up, and Spike walking in. Both Frost and Quill had to take a second glance at Spike, as he was now a full four inches taller than either of them remembered. His head-spines were now directed back, and Quill made a mental note to joke about how he always ran a hand back along them.

None of the females could see his body due to the cotton-white winter pelt coat he was wearing. However, Blaze knew from the resources she had in High Moon that Salamander Drakes, like Spike, gained slight muscle definition and growth after their spurts.

"Dude, who hit you with the handsome stick?" Quill joked with a wolf call, laughing moments after with Spike merely shaking his head and smiling as he walked over towards the three pack members.

"My ancestor Nigra did," he retorted, wrapping his tail around the leg of a chair that was at Blaze's table, and sitting down with a sigh after he had turned it sideways. "I swear, I've never met someone so stubborn, so bullheaded, and yet so right before in my life."

Quill raised an eyebrow towards Spike as she leaned over towards her twin, smirking. "Really? There's no one else that you would like to say that to? Even someone that's related to you?" she joked, surprised when Spike shook his head. "Really, he was that bad?"

"Not bad, just had a jackass way of doing things," Spike said as he turned his head up to the stone ceiling with a sigh of green flames. "What makes me even more mad about it was that he was right. Only about a few things, but they were an important few."

"Geez," Quill laughed at her brother from saying, so far as she knew, his first curse word. "That bad then," she said with another soft laugh after seeing the look on Spike's face. A look that she knew meant Spike was right and wrong at the same time. "Okay, so he was right and not right. And you were right and not right. I'd say that evens out, right?"

"I guess," Spike shrugged his shoulders as he looked down towards Quill to see that she hadn't changed as much as he had. She was taller, for sure, but visibly she still looked much the same. Then again, she'd always been more in-shape than Spike had. "So where is everyone? Cy and Veil weren't there when I got up, and I haven't seen anyone else."

"Most likely asleep, Spike. And I had everyone temporarily move out of your rooms to not bother you in your growth-spurt sleep," Blaze answered for the drake as she sat back in her chair, letting out a sigh afterwards. She soon sparked her horn in a soft red light, bringing her book to her so she could pick her reading back up. "Cyclone was decidedly not happy about that, but her and Veil have been doing fine. Veil told me they took one of the rooms next to yours, so that's likely where they are. I believe today is going to be fairly slow unless something dangerous enough to wake up Wolf moves into the valley. Other than that, we might as well enjoy this peace while we have it."

The other three nodded their heads in agreement at what Blaze has said, especially after the time the twins had been out for the last week. "Oh right, Quill," Spike said, getting Quill's attention away from eying Frost as he pulled out a rolled up pair of scrolls. One had a purple starburst on it. The other was sealed by a symbol that looked like fire. "These were laying beside my bed when I woke up. And it's not too good."

After hearing the serious tone in Spike's voice, Quill took the letters from the drake's hand, and undid the seal on the first parchment to read:

Dear Spike and Quill Dragul,

I have both good and bad news as of now.

The good news is, we finally got Angel to willingly give up the names of the remaining five unicorns, and the exact location of their base of operations inside the Swayback Mountains. Celestia has been going over a battle plan to raid the location as soon as they possibly can. But we're having issues with that due to a number of the guard being injured, in the reserves, or off duty at the moment.

In light of this, I have been taking a more active duty as princess, and been helping out wherever I could. And that place seems to be with Obsidian's team in the Engineer Core of the guard. I've been serving as a replacement for Obsidian's right hand mare, Gizmo - I believe her name is.

I have to say, it's been tough, and a little hectic with having to ask the girls to watch over Amethyst a few times for me. She says she doesn't mind it. She's actually taken a liking to cooking with Pinkie Pie at Sugarcube Corner. Even Dusk's marefriends have been helping look after her. But still, I would like to be the one to take care of her myself. Unfortunately, my duties as princess are too important to ignore. That said, I refuse to make the same mistake again that I did with you two. I won't let that happen again.

Anyways, Obsidian was able to push for a project to be started with his team, but it's slow going. There isn't a lack of manpower, or resources. The trouble starts with what exactly we're making. I vowed not to tell anyone what it is under any circumstances, but it's big, and could win this thing for us in one shot. Literally.

We've been having to run at least three test on everything before we even move on to the next step. Now, I know how you guys feel about slow progress, but this is for a good reason.

A tactical strike is being worked out as I'm writing this. It would go faster if we have a more accurate photo of the area, but Celestia believes that she knows the place from some time ago. I guess that's better than nothing.

Okay, so bad news time. You know how Dusk and you two have been getting your Elements? Well, apparently, the enemy, which Angel has named as the Followers of the Fallen Star, have somehow figured a way to duplicate the Elements' power, to an extent. Again, it's duplicated, but I believe that their goal is to create their own 'Dark Elements' and use them to overthrow Celestia.

We have no idea how far along they are with this, or even if this is true or not. However, at this point, no one wants to take any chances. I know that you guys will want to end this as soon as possible, given that this is happening in your backyard, but please be careful.

[right]With faith and strength, your friend, Princess Twilight Sparkle.[/right]

P.S: You guys really need to stop by sometime. Little Amethyst have been asking about you guys constantly, and it would be nice to catch up. Dusk says that you may be going through your growth-spurts, and I know the girls will want to see you nearly as much as I do.

"Okay, that is kinda bad, but that's not too bad," Quill said as she rolled up the first letter, looking over at Spike who knew more about what's been going on than she did. "It's nothing that I really expected, and I wish Celestia would give us a bit more time, but it's not anything we can't handle."

"Oh yeah? Read the next one."

Not liking the tone Spike had regarding the second letter, Quill quickly tossed the first one aside so she could undo the next one. There wasn't much on this one, just a couple of lines. Lines that were nowhere near Twilight's neat handwriting, or anyone else's she had ever seen before. And a message that held something Quill didn't quite understand.

Dear Dragul Twins,

Please, forgive my handwriting. It is late and I have struggled to find the correct words that I wish to use to convey the wonderful joy and anticipation swelling within my chest. Even still, I write these words with a slow and decided hand, and I hope that is enough to suffice for my subpar writing.

I never thought I would have the chance to meet you two. Our Grandmother told me that your egg was lost to us forever after the monarch of Equestria attacked and killed most of our parents' clan - them included, sadly. And then I learned that you were hatched by magic… it was hard for me to accept it. I wanted to believe the news, I wanted to so much. The years passed much faster than I expected and more proof of who you two were came in. I wanted to think of the best way we could met, but it seems I've failed to contain my joy and hope to see you two. Even now, as I attempt to write this letter for the fourth time, my mind is still reeling on what to say. Funny, all of those classes on royal demeanor and I can't even keep my composure when writing this letter. Nevertheless, I know you two must have many questions and I wish I could answer them all in this one letter, but I need to see you face to face first.

I am terribly sorry for the shortness of this letter, but please, whenever you can, contact me so that we can meet.

[right]Forever waiting, your sister, Queen Rania.[/right]

Quill continued to read over the letter a few more times, before she simply had to place it face-down on the table with a stupefied look on her face. "I don't...how…" Quill gave up on trying to understand the letter and its origins, merely sighing as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"What do you want to do about it Quill?" Spike asked, sliding the letter back over towards him, and wrapping it back up with the same fire symbol that it had been sealed with. "I mean, you know that-"

"I know what it means, Spike. I'm just trying to figure out how and when to deal with it," Quill answered with another sigh as she quickly thought about everything that was going on right now, and how this letter could potentially affect everything she had planned. "We sure enough can't ignore this, but we can't get distracted from everything else going on right now. I say we deal with it after this whole unicorn thing is over."

"Alright, that seems best anyway," Spike nodded his head in agreement as he knew Quill didn't want to blow this chance, and neither did he. "From the way everything's going with the occultists, I give it two months, tops. I'll send a letter back saying that we can get in touch after that. What do you think?"

Quill closed her eyes as she thought about this. There were only five unicorns left, most of which had to be in hiding somewhere, and were being targeted from just about all sides. And of that five, Quill wasn't really sure how strong or weak they were, even if they were able to make these 'Dark Elements.'

"Better make it three or four months Spike," Quill finally answered, "I know we want this done in less time, but…"

"It's not looking like that, is it?" Spike questioned, prompting a nod out of Quill, and sighing from the answer. "This can't go on forever you know. We need a way to move things along if we're going to stop them from reaching their goals Quill."

"I know that Spike, everyone knows that. But we can't do anything until we know exactly what Celestia is going to do," Quill said, hating the idea of having to rely on Celestia's moves with theirs. However, Quill wanted to take down the occultist group with as little risk as possible. So they needed the rest of Equestria backing them. "It sucks, but we can't do much without their help."

"Then we need to do something to speed things up," Spike said, scratching the side of his head out of habit for when he was thinking. "How about we… I dunno, provoke Celestia to make the final move? That way we could know exactly how and when to make our move."

Quill again closed her eyes to think about what Spike was saying, sighing when she realized there wasn't anything they could do. "No Spike, we can't do something like that." She took another moment to think about how everything was happening and the timing of it. "Okay, we stick to the same plan as before. Nothing's changed, we just now have to keep a closer tab on Celestia's moves."

Spike sighed after hearing the obvious; that they couldn't do much without the help of Celestia and the other Elements. "That sounds like a lot of work, think we can pull it off?"

"I'm sure you guys can," Blaze said, closing her book after listening to the twins plan around whatever condition their enemy and allies were in. She could only guess that what they were talking about now was the same enemy they faced in Canterlot over two months ago. "You've come this far, and it sounds like you're not fighting alone. So this isn't something to worry too much about, right?"

"Yeah you're right Blaze, it's not going to be easy, but it's not like we're on the losing side," Spike said with a confident smile on his face while Quill continued to think about their plans for beating the occultists.

However, she knew she needed to think about this further, much further.

"So I guess we're done with the planning, right Quill?" Spike asked, not getting a response out of Quill until Frost had to nudge Quill on her shoulder.

"Huh, oh yeah. Everything stays the same Spike," she said with a nod after being broken out of her thoughts by Frost nudging her shoulder. "Just tell our 'sister' or whoever it is that we'll contact her at a better time in three or four months. Also say that we'll meet at the summit of the Swayback Mountains."

"Alright Quill," Spike said with a returning nod before he got up from his seat. "Anything you want to send to Twi and the others?"

Quill thought for a moment before saying, "Tell them that we'll be over sometime this week if we can. If it looks like we can't, Spike, could you send a letter asking Twilight to tell us the moment Celestia is ready to make a move?"

"Sure thing Quill, that's our best bet anyways, right?" Spike joked, getting a small laugh out of Quill as she waved him off. "Alright, I'll get it done. I'm going to go find Cy or Veil, see ya guys later."

Quill waved her brother off as she took hold of her mare's hip. "See ya Spike. Tell the others I said hey for me," she called out to him as he reached the the arcane-slab door. He waved back to Quill, giving her a thumbs up in affirmation before he slipped past the opening door, hurrying to get out of the chill of winter's grip. Once the drake was gone, Blaze closed her book, and got ready to stand up from her chair.

When she saw this, Quill started to get out of her chair while Frost slid off her lap, both moving to take one hand of Blaze's to help the pregnant mare up from her chair. "Thank you, girls," she said after getting up from the chair with a small sigh. The three then made their way to the door with Quill in front while Frost and Blaze talked about magical spells.

Once they were at the two bedroom doors, the three parted ways as Blaze went into her bedroom with Wolf and Isis while Frost went into her bedroom, Quill following right behind.

"Frost, we need to talk," Quill started after she closed the door. Frost turned around to look at her lover. "Could you, y'know," she said, nodding towards the door for Frost to put the sound-proof barrier on the room.

"Oh right," Frost said after understanding what Quill was hinting towards, closing her eyes as she sparked her horn in it's ice-blue glow for a moment before the barrier was in place. "Alright Quill, what is it that you wanted to speak with me about?"

"Your dreams, Frost," Quill started slowly, taking a step towards Frost to place her hands on the mare's shoulders, and looking her straight in the eyes. "We need to start talking about them."

Frost stared deep into Quill's purple eyes for a moment. The topic of conversation surprised her, but it was not completely unexpected. "Quill, we have. We just don't have a full plan yet. You know that we still have to find a starting point. I've been having ideas but-"

"That's not what I meant, Frost," Quill said, moving one of her hands to Frost's lower back while the other one shot out to take hold of one of the mare's wrists. Quill brought her lover's knuckles up to her lips and softly ran them across her lips, enjoying feeling Frost against her after the time spent with her ancestor. Taken back by Quill's sudden move, Frost gave a small gasp and then a soft sigh. She looked up at Quills eyes, and met the pure fire in her bright purple eyes. Quill finally spoke again, "What I meant was that I want to ask you to postpone taking on your mother a little bit longer. That letter… it brought up something important that me and Spike need to look into. I hope you can understand, Frost."

Frost soon calmed down from the sudden thrill she was getting from Quill, slowly embracing her dragoness. "I do, my love," she said, pressing her forehead against Quill's, signing.

Quill smiled and hugged Frost tighter. "Great, thank you Frost." She closed her eyes and sighed, basking in the warmth of her lover. It was then that Quill felt the effects of a week without her marefriend's hold. As inspirational and comforting it was to speak freely with her ancestor, Quill missed the comfort of Frost's… hands groping at her butt? "Uhh... "

"S-so hungry. I'm so hungry, Quill," Frost hissed in her ear. "I wanted to give you time to get used to your new body but… but… this power coming from you is too much to bear. And being around a powerful mare like Blaze for so long, without you grounding me, is almost torture." Frost squeezed Quill's toned rear, slipping a hand into her pants to give the dragoness' scales a squeeze through the fabric of her panties. "Please, love. I don't know how much longer I can hold myself back."

A hot red blush colored Quill's purple cheeks, and she groaned from the sensation of Frost's fangs nipping at her neck. She was still a little sore and stiff from the week-long sleep, but the prospect of having sex for the first time in what felt like forever was too tempting for her to pass up. "Well... I don't know, Icy. I'm pretty stiff, don't know how well I'll be able to perform for you right now."

Quill reached down to the hem of the black pants Frost was wearing, hooking her thumbs inside and tugging them down a little. Her lips turned up into a smile upon hearing Frost hissing. She tugged down a little more but stopped just enough to tease the mare before moving her hands back up to the mare's bare hips.

"Q-Quill… don't tease me. Not now," Frost panted. Her horn glowed a faint blue light as Quill placed a soft kiss on her neck. Quill knew just how to tease her, and the very thought made Frost squirm. Hissing in frustration, Frost suddenly pushed Quill back onto the bed, straddling her hips and pressing her lips tightly against Quill's.

Frost quickly darted her tongue into Quill's mouth, meeting with the dragoness' in the middle. Her hips thrust against Quill's leg as her hands roamed over Quill's body, attempting to strip her. However, Frost couldn't seem to disrobe Quill as fast as she wanted to, hissing in frustration and desire.

She pushed herself from Quill's lips, panting and gasping for breath as her eyes were wide and lust-hungry. "I need you now, Quill," Frost demanded, but it sounded weak to Quill, since the mare moaned the moment she opened her mouth.

Quill laughed as she brought her hands to Frost's thick thighs, which were almost straining against the jeans she was wearing. She grinned as she grazed her claws up into the gray jacket Frost was wearing, tickling the mare's flat stomach. Frost's body shivered, her back arching as her wings grew stiff. A week without Quill had done more than just make her hungry. She had never felt so sensitive before! Her hands shot towards Quill's, pulling them up to her breasts, moaning and shivering when the dragoness grasped her large chest.

"Y'know, if someone was kind enough to work out some… kinks in my wings and back, I'd-"

"Yes! Say no more, my love," Frost quickly said, sparking her horn and teleporting away. Quill sat up in the bed, blinking abruptly. She cocked her head to the side as she wondered where the mare went off to. However, before she could utter a single word, a bright blue flash alerted her of the mare's return.

Frost stood in front of her with two orbs of water hovering above her hands. Her body was stripped of clothing, her pants and jacket lay neatly folded at her feet. Quill's eyes hungrily gazed up and down Frost's naked body, licking her lips at the mare's hardened nipples on her heavy chest and the faint scent of the mare's feminine musk filling her nose.

Quill's eyes drew back up to Frost's face. The mare's eyes were half-lidded, her lips were tugged into a subtle grin, and her horn shone faintly with arcane power. After giving Quill a full reminder of her body, Frost closed her eyes and started swaying her hips slowly while she waved her hands around. The spheres of water followed her hands' fluid motions, creating short trails flowing around Frost's swaying body. Turning her body to the side, Frost opened an eye to see Quill quickly disrobing and giving her a 'come hither' look.

She happily obliged her younger lover. Frost slowly continued her hypnotic dance towards Quill, swinging her hips in a manner that clearly enticed her dragoness. She clasped her hands together above her chest, bringing the water into a single large sphere. With an arch of her back, Frost quickly pulled her hands apart as she took the last step to Quill. She slowly waved her hands in small circles, snaking them down to Quill's chin.

Frost's middle finger grazed down Quill's jaw, tracing down her neck, collarbone and the gap between her now-fuller C-cup breasts. Quill sighed and shivered as the chilled liquid, cold as an ice-cube, immediately soothed the areas it touched. When Frost removed her finger, the calming sensation left Quill's body, forcing a whimper out of her while her lover flashed her fangs. "Lay down love. Let your troubles slip away and let me make you feel all better," the enchanting scorpio-mare whispered.

Quill didn't waste a moment before she lay on her stomach, her head resting in her arms with her wings spread outwards. Giggling, Frost straddled Quill's lower back and gently brought her hands down. Initially, Quill gasped from the cold water touching her back, causing her wings to flex upwards. But she grit her teeth and powered through it until the liquid started feeling much better on her scales.

Once she saw her lover was accustomed to the water's temperature, Frost started kneading her hands against Quill's back, already knowing where to add pressure from previous experience with the dragoness' body. Quill hummed as Frost started working her magic, literally and figuratively, into her stiff joints. She closed her eyes and gave herself over to the pleasure and relief her body was feeling. Soft moans and coos left her mouth as Frost continued to demonstrate her massaging abilities.

While Quill was allowing her mind to slip away, she failed to notice that Frost's horn started glowing brighter. The mare quickly pooled magic into the tip of her horn before allowing the energy to surge down her body. Her lips quivered as the magic filled her nether regions with pleasure. It slowly became harder for Frost to keep focus on massaging Quill while she filled her body with magic. She was forced to swallow down her moans so as to not alert the dragoness underneath her to what she was doing.

The chilled orbs of water and magic were enough to ensure that Quill felt as though she was going to fall asleep again. "Mmm… d-do the wing-joints too Frost," Quill moaned, her tail wrapping around Frost's midsection. However, she didn't get a response from the mare, nor did her hands move from her lower back and sides. Thinking the mare was planning on getting to it later, Quill patiently waited and enjoyed Frost's cool hands, though she did peek an eye open look back at the mare. Moments later, Frost still remained at her lower back, doing the same squeezing motions. Looking forward again, Quill thought, 'Okay… what's-'

Quill's thoughts were interrupted when a deep moan forced her ear-frills to perk up. What followed was the feeling of a second type of liquid on her back, this one much, much hotter than the first and a lot thicker in comparison. It didn't take half a brain for Quill to guess what Frost did, but she still looked back over her shoulder, confirming her thoughts.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to the newly-grown equine member throbbing above Frost's glistening slit. Frost's cheeks were shining bright red as she smiled and panted lightly. "O-oh bother, I had meant to surprise you, but it seems I couldn't contain myself," she said in an apologetic-sounding tone. Giggling, Frost bent over Quill's back, sliding her hands up to her ivory seed. Frost's seed was quickly absorbed into the blobs of water on Quill's back, replacing the lukewarm feeling with the cold sensation the water brought for a moment until Frost removed her hands from Quill's back.

She held them up to her face, slowly sending the orbs to the space between her palms and closing the distance. As the orb became smaller, the temperature dropped, causing a crystallization effect to start from the center and rapidly expand outwards. In moments, a small ball of ice hovered in the air, cooling the air around it, and leaving a chilled frost to wash down from it and onto Quill's back.

Quill shuddered from the fog wafting on her back until Frost sparked her horn and teleported the ball somewhere else - presumably outside. "Icy… what's the big idea here? Ain't I usually the one that grows a dick?" she asked, blushing as she couldn't take her eyes off the leaking member on her lover.

"Yes… but you always give me so much love, I wanted to have my turn," Frost hissed, quickly sitting up off Quill to turn her over on her back. The surprised dragoness couldn't do much more than keep from laying down on her wings the wrong way. Once on her back, Quill looked up at Frost as she grasped the dragoness' long legs, her fingers grazing down the scales on Quill's tight thighs, while Frost's member pressed against Quill's virgin slit.

Frost gasped at the heat coming from Quill. Her hips jerked upwards in response, causing Quill to whimper. "Mm, it's been so long without your touch that I've actually forgotten how it felt." She stared down at her onyx-colored shaft throbbing against her lover, hands running up to Quill's slender hips. "Don't worry love, I will be gentle. Unlike you are, sometimes," Frost giggled as she sensed Quill's hesitation. "And I've modified the spell so you can't get with child from it, love."

"Ha! Wh-who said I was worried?" Quill laughed mockingly, gripping the bed sheets below her.

However, Frost giggled at her lover, knowing just how she really felt. She stood up on her knees and leaned over Quill's body, lining the flared tip of her thick shaft against Quill's flower, her breasts squishing against Quill's. Their eyes locked as Quill bit her quivering bottom lip and threw her head up when she felt Frost's tip pushing against her outer walls.

Frost giggled again and cupped Quill's cheek, whispering, "You just did."

Quill quietly cursed as she turned her head to the side, blushing brighter than before. She knew she couldn't lie or keep anything hidden from Frost, that had been proven to be impossible many times before. And she would be lying if she said that she hadn't thought about how it felt to be on the receiving end.

But this was so weird!

"Just… just kiss me when you go inside, alright?"

"And a nibble?"

Quill laughed a little, turning her head back to face Frost and nodding. "Yeah, a nibble." Frost smiled and planted a slow kiss on her lover's lips, gently stroking her cheek lovingly. She slowly thrust her hips into Quill's tight slit, both lovers moaning from the alien sensations. Even with just the tip and a few inches inside, Frost felt like she was going to melt from the heat wrapping tightly around her, and her mind started to blur from the whirlwind of intense emotions coming from Quill.

Underneath her, Quill's body tensed up the moment Frost got her flared head inside. She could feel her wings flexing a bit but she forced herself to control them while Frost slowly inserted more. There was a lot more pain than she thought there would be, but she'd been through worse. Quill broke the kiss, her back arching as she felt Frost's tip brush against her hymen. Biting back tears, Quill gripped the bed sheets in one hand and Frost's head in the other, taking a moment to breath.

"O-o-okay Frost… A little bit of that venom would help right now," she hissed through her teeth.

Frost didn't say anything as she smiled, moving to Quill's exposed neck, bringing her fangs down on the soft scales, breaking through with a little bit of effort. The moment she injected a fair dose of her venom inside Quill's bloodstream, Frost thrust her hips one final time, taking Quill's virginity.

Quill's arms wrapped around Frost's head and neck, keeping her lover's fangs buried in her neck. She grit her teeth to keep from biting on her tongue while a slow trickle of blood seeped out of her. When the onset of pain ebbed away, Quill relaxed her body and opened her mouth to gasp for air. She lost her grip around Frost as her strength wavered.

When she sensed her lover overcoming the pain, Frost removed her fangs and licked over the bite mark to coat it in a blood-clotting enzyme. Her hand dipped down to Quill's lower abdomen as she sparked her magic to treat the pain Quill was still feeling. "Quill, love, are you alright?" Frost asked after kissing Quill's cheek and bite mark. It took Quill a moment to answer, but she managed to give quick, short nods while she continued to grit her teeth and keep her eyes clenched closed. Frost smiled and moved to lick away the tears away from her eyes. "That's my love, always putting on a brave face."

"Don't… don't patronize me, Frost." Quill had never felt so full before, she even could feel Frost's heartbeat through her throbbing member inside her. She blushed at those lewd thoughts, which only served to turn her on even more. "You can start moving now."

Frost nodded her head and sweetly kissed Quill's lips before pulling her hips back. Quill groaned as the full feeling she had faded, causing her hips to thrust upwards in a vain attempt to recapture it. She whimpered in disappointment that was quickly replaced with a deep moan when Frost started lurching her hips forward. She gasped at the full feeling in her very core, moaning when Frost started building a slow rhythm she could get accustomed to.

Quill moved her hands down Frost's body, grabbing her breasts and squeezing them as she moaned, "C-c'mon, more." The mare on top grunted as she struggled to give her lover the pounding she was craving. Even though she just started, Frost could feel a familiar tightness growing in her lower belly. Moving inside Quill was very difficult for her as the dragoness' hot tight walls clamped around her, almost stopping her movement altogether. And that wasn't even counting the lustful emotions she was being fed from Quill.

"E-e-even when you're on the bottom, y-you still make me want to melt, Quill!" Frost cried out as she let out a spurt of pre inside Quill, causing the dragoness to moan. More of the hot pre squirted out from Frost's flared tip, making it easier for her her to move in Quill's tight hole. She sat up from Quill's body and started thrusting her hips with renewed energy.

Tears of effort swelled up in Quill's eyes from the sudden roughness, but thanks to Frost's venom, whatever pain she might have felt was numbed, leaving only pleasure in it's wake. Her legs wrapped around Frost's body and her hands darted to the mare's thrusting hips to help steady her movements. Frost's eyes crossed as she continued to relentlessly thrust into Quill's tight walls, vainly trying to stave off the mounting pleasure building in her loins.

However, her body quickly grew tired as she was not used to being deep inside of Quill. Thankfully, Quill wasn't fairing much better as her legs trembled around the scorpio mare's waist. Plumes of smoke seeped from her nose, her mouth filled with involuntary puffs of fire, and her walls clamped down tightly around Frost, all signs of her impending climax. The sensation was so similar to when she was the one with the magically-conjured member, but in this case it felt as though the pressure had nowhere to go. It felt as though it was just going to keep building, and building, and building until…

"Nugh, lo-love, you're squeezing me too tightly!" Frost gasped, breaking Quill out of her thoughts. "I w-won't be able to…" Her voice trailed off into a long moan as her hips jerked violently. Quill's bottom lip quivered as she felt Frost's hot pre seeping out of her walls and trailing down to her tailhole, causing her to shiver and lose what little strength she kept after the venom had taken its effect. She was helpless to stop Frost from continuing her uneven thrusts as her own mounting pleasure clouded her mind.

Frost bent over Quill's body and quickly took her lips into a deep kiss as she thrust inward a final time before her entire body rocked with euphoric release. Her flared tip engorged with blood and a rush of hot, sticky seed, filled Quill's dragonesshood. Quill's body tensed up from being filled with her lover's seed, the feeling far more fulfilling than anything she had felt before. Her eyes rolled up as her own release hit, shivering and shaking from orgasmic bliss.

By the time Frost's climax was over with, the mare had let Quill's lips go, allowing the both of them to catch their breaths in heavy pants and gaps. Eventually, in a weak tone of voice, Frost was the first to speak. "S-s-so full."

"Wh… which one of us?" Quill giggled as she wrapped her arms around Frost's back, snuggling close to the mare.

Frost giggled a moment after she caught the breath to do so, nuzzling her cheek against Quill's. "Th-thank you, love… for trusting me so much. I'd have died underneath that tree if it wasn't for you... and even still, I would've been alone in that cold wet cave."

Quill sighed as she tangled her fingers into Frost's icy-blue mane. "Don't go getting cheesy on me now Icy." She giggled, moving her legs around Frost's. However, she simply got a sigh out of the mare, which forced her to sigh herself. "I did what I had to back then, simple as that."

Frost smiled as she gently stroked Quill's scarred cheek. "Humph, as if it was simple. Still Quill, thank you."

"Don't mention it, Frost. I love you," Quill whispered, planting a kiss on the bottom of Frost's jaw. "Oh, and next time we have sex, I'm on top. Sorry to say but you're a quick shooter, Frost."

"I-it's not my fault you were so incredibly tight," Frost whined. "I think I just need more practice."

Quill laughed at Frost's expense, moving a hand down the mare's body. She rubbed over the soft scales on the mare's tail before gently squeezing her plump ass. Frost squealed from Quill's claws sinking into her flesh. "Still though, I'm sure both you and I enjoy me on top. That said, switching and trying new stuff is never bad. Fair?"

"Fair," Frost giggled as she blushed, nuzzling into Quill's neck and closing her eyes to take a quick nap. Seeing the mare going to sleep with a peaceful smile, Quill closed her own eyes to do the same.

High Moon, mansion

"Brr, need to buy some thicker boots," Spike said to himself as he closed the large set of doors to the entrance room of the mansion after getting back from the temple. Winter certainly had hit the Everfree pretty hard, as everything was covered in a pure white blanket of snow and ice. Spike was lucky that his old boots still fit him somewhat, but they were far too uncomfortable for him to be wearing them much longer.

"Wonder if anyone is up yet?" he mused as he began walking into the center of the entrance, looking up to the support beams to see that Peewee and Cinder were fast asleep nuzzled against each other closely. Thinking that his bird had the right idea, Spike started making his way to the hall where his room was to try and find Cyclone and Veil.

However, at the sound of footsteps at the stairs, Spike stopped to see Fang, whose fur had become paler in pigment, carrying a blanket-wrapped Night Blade in his arms, with Kiri following behind. "Oh hey Fang, good to see that you three are doing fine," Spike greeted while Fang came to a stop at the second flight of the stairs, staring at Spike. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

"Spike?" Fang slowly asked in a very scratchy voice, causing Night to roll around in his arms to see if the drake really had awakened. "Spike, is that really you man? Heh, almost didn't recognize you with that new voice of yours."

Spike chuckled as he scratched his cheek, clearing his throat before saying, "Heh, well thanks Fang. So where're you taking Night, anyways? She don't seem to want to do anything."

A hiss came through Night's fangs as she turned back around to the soft warmth of Fang's thicker winter coat. Spike reeled his head back from the mare's hissing, worried that he might have said something he shouldn't have. "Don't mind Nightie, she's just really nocturnalish during the winter. She's actually been worried about you and Quill. We all have."

"Oh well, sorry to make ya'll worry like that. Me and Quill will try not to fall asleep for a week and a half again," he joked while Fang continued to make his way down the steps with Kiri following. "So where are you guys going, anyways?"

Fang nodded his head down the hall to Spike's right side. "Me and Spirit fixed up a lounging area with Alpha's help. So we're just gonna chill by the fire to pass the time. You?"

"I'm gonna see if Cy or Veil are up now. Might meet you guys there," Spike answered, getting a nod from Fang before he took off with his grumbling bat-mare. Spike chuckled to himself again before he started to walk down the left hall to his room.

Opening a door at random, luck would have it that the first room he chose had the two females he was looking for. A blush came onto Spike's face when he saw what was happening on the bed.

"Mm…C-Cy, slow down will ya?" Veil panted. Cyclone was on top of her, grasping Veil's breasts with her claws while she nibbled on the hound's ear. Spikes eyes went wide when we saw that all Cyclone had on was an overly large, blue shirt that seems about ready to fall off her shoulders. The pale dragoness' rear was mostly hidden by the shirt, and what that didn't cover, her tail did. Veil only had on a pair of pants, Cyclone apparently having removed the hound's shirt at some point. Spike could feel a fire growing in his chest, looking at Veil's toned stomach and revealed breasts. Her chest wasn't nearly as large as Cyclone's, but the hound was definitely a beauty. Veil had her hands on Cyclone's slender shoulders, not really trying to push the dragoness off. "A-At least wait until Drake gets… mmmf, back."

Apparently the two hadn't heard the door open, because Cyclone continued to fondle Veil's breasts, in much the same way Spike had been wanting to for a while now. The hound hadn't let him touch her like Cyclone had, but Spike wasn't going to push the hound. Taking a quick gulp, Spike dropped all nervousness from his system as he closed the door behind him, making his presence known with a simple, "Ahem."

Both females jumped at the deep sounding voice, fearing that it was either Fang or Spirit at the door. However, when they looked back, one was shocked while the other one was thrilled. "D-Drake! H-how long have you been standing over there? Get over here and get Cyclone off of me," Veil whined, which was uncharacteristic for her, making him chuckle at the distressed hound.

While Veil was glaring at Spike, Cyclone got off Veil, and started to claw the entire way towards Spike. A bead of sweat went down the side of Spike's head, his eyes forced follow Cyclone's body as she continued to seductively make her way to him with a small hiss.

When Cyclone finally made her way to Spike, she slowly slid up Spike's body, moving her hands over the exquisitely hardened chest on her drake. Even with her standing up all the way, Spike was now nearly a full head taller than she was.

"Oh Spikey, we've missed seeing you awake," Cyclone purred as she wrapped her arms around Spike's neck. Cyclone took in a deep breath of Spike's heavier scent, quivering as she breathed out.

Spike merely smirked to himself a bit as he took hold of Cyclone's sides, lowing his eyes to look down at her. "Oh, is that so? Is there anything I can do to make up for that?" he asked while Cyclone was busy licking and breathing in Spike's scent again. Her hand slid down Spike's body to take hold of the thick, hard, outline that was beginning to show between Spike's thighs.

Taking the less-than-subtle hint, Spike pushed his lips against Cyclone's while she slowly began stroking his length with eagerness. Spike followed the dragoness up by moving his hands around and down to the base of Cyclone's tail, getting encouraging noises from her. He soon moved his hands down to her bare white ass-cheeks, taking hold of the smooth scales in his hands. Cyclone squealed with joy against Spike's lips from his boldness, causing her to become more forceful.

"Mm, h-harder," Cyclone moaned through the lip-smacking kisses before she was sealed in another, more furious one. Her knees started to feel weak when Spike's hands forced her lower lips to part slightly as Spike kneaded her ass-cheeks.

Spike could feel her legs trembling, so he moved his hands from Cyclone's soft rump down to her thick thighs. Giving them a squeeze, Spike forced another squeal of joy out of Cyclone as she was lifted off the ground.

Cyclone quickly reached for the hook of the fur-pelt hooded overcoat around Spike's neck, twisting the loop undone to allow it to fall off of Spike's body. She grabbed the hem of Spike's dark-gray shirt, nearly tearing it off as she quickly pulled it from his body while she held onto Spike with her legs. Once the shirt was up and over Spike's head, both Cyclone and Veil gave a small gasp at the more defined muscles on all over Spike's upper body, which had been stripped of all fat.

Spike chuckled from Cyclone's response to his matured body, his hands moving back to her soft rump. Cyclone was broken out of her daze with a soft moan as her untapped flower began leaking clear dripples of nectar down onto Spike's jeans.

"I take it that you like what you're seeing?" Spike asked, taking Cyclone's blush and moans as a sign that she was enjoying the treatment, since that was all he had to go on.

Cyclone opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by another moan when Spike spread her cheeks again. Her toes began to curl from the pleasure she was feeling through her loins. More moans came from Cyclone as she pushed against Spike's chest, wrapping her arms around his neck, sealing his lips in a furious kiss as she squeezed her chest against his.

Still on the bed, Veil watched the two with a bright blush spread across her dark gray cheeks. Biting her lower lip, she slowly moved a hand into her damp black pants, softly prodding at her flower. She couldn't lie, Spike's had body come out nicely, and from Cyclone's moans, he apparently knew how to use it.

'Why is this so hot?' Veil asked to herself as she moved her free hand to cup her breast as Spike continued to tease Cyclone. It wasn't the first time she'd watched the two make out in front of her, but for some reason, now it felt so much more intimate than it ever had. She was actually getting off just watching her two mates.

"Spike, I need you," Cyclone lightly panted after she had pulled back from her drake's lips. Her flower was now leaking her juices faster while it clenched with a burning need. Heat had started to build inside Cyclone, which was shared by Spike. "P-please Spike, I want to give myself to you now." Spike nodded his head before he began walking over to the bed, knowing what Cyclone needed from him.

He sat her close to the edge of the bed as he got ready to pin her underneath him. However, he was forced to stop when Cyclone gave a suddenly frightful whince. "Oh no, Cyclone I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to hurt you," Spike said, thinking that he'd done something to hurt Cyclone. Then he saw Cyclone look behind her, and noticed Veil tracking a claw along a small part of a scar on Cyclone's back. Spike had never seen that scar on Cyclone's back. Thinking about it, Spike hadn't known she'd had any scars at all. And the way she had always seemed nervous whenever he touched her back...

Following the dragoness' gaze, Spike opened his mouth to question Veil, but was cut off with, "Cyclone… you have to tell us." When Spike saw Veil's eyes, they held tears that hadn't began falling yet. Cyclone slowly reached a hand back to Veil's to stop her from moving her claws any more. "Please, you know the moment Drake sees them he's going to flip."

"I know Veilstone, but I…" Cyclone again froze, her body quivering in fear. Spike watched in growing worry as tears began to form around her eyes. "I-I don't know if I can."

"At least show him," Veil continued to press on, placing her other hand on Cyclone's shoulder to slip off the sleeve of the blue shirt she was wearing. She stopped when Cyclone gave a small whimper, but still kept her hands on Cyclone. "Cy, come on. Dr...Spike can handle it, but you have to show him."

Cyclone dropped her head in defeat, with a small whispering sigh following. Spike was going to question the girls about what they were talking about when Cyclone let out another sigh before she turned her back to Spike.

His eyes quickly focused on the visible scar at the top of Cyclone's left side. Cyclone reached for the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her body.

Spike's eyes widened at the large slash marks going across Cyclone's back. The rounded blue spines down her back seemed to have healed but it was still almost painfully obvious that some of them had been damaged, or even forcefully removed. The uneven sizes were a dead giveaway to that fact.

Breathlessly, Spike reached a hand out to Cyclone's back, but stopped himself mere inches away from her; she was trembling. "Cy-Cyclone...wh-what happened? Wh-who did this to you?" Spike questioned as he opted for wrapping his arms around Cyclone's waist. He sat by Veil on the bed, and pulled Cyclone into his lap. It was a measure of his worry that it didn't even register that Cyclone was naked in his lap. He squeezed her waist softly, gently kissing her neck. "Please Cyclone, please tell us what happened."

Cyclone sniffed as she reached her hands down to Spike's strong arms, lightly sobbing, "I...i-it happened wh-when I was thirteen…"

/ Ch. 55: Path to Winter part 3; The Hunt pt 1/-/

High Moon Ch. 55:  
Path to Winter part 3; the Hunt

Volcanic ash spewed forth from the top of the volcano home of a clan of dragons. This was how dragons lived before the formation of the Dragon Empire; a tradition that dated further back than any other, making homes out of semi-dormant volcanos or the sides of mountains. Though this tradition still stoodands to this very day, most clans had long since gathered in the civilized, or as civilized as one could call it, empire under the reign of its Leviathan ruler; one of the few 'everlasting' dragons left in the world.

At the very peak of the volcano, the younger males would constantly challenge each other for superiority over one another. Elder drakes would line the outer ring of the volcano, keeping watch over the younger drakes to make sure they weren't doing something that would bring shame onto the clan. They hunted for gems, battled each other for power, and flexed their muscles, all for one cause.

To attract a mate.

Conversely, the dragonesses would stay on the inside of the volcano, bathing in its overpowering heat. Here, in the safety of the caves, it was far less violent, but there were still hostilities to deal with. Even though dragonesses stayed within the caves to keep themselves safe from the clan's violent drakes above them, they would also compete for a suitable mates, even going so far to share the same drake with a few other dragonesses. Often, the only thing many of the dragoness would agree upon is the safety of all the clan's eggs above all else.

This was common. What wasn't common was a dragoness refusing a male's advances. That was Cyclone's mistake. She had the unlucky fate of being forced to be paired with her old clan's King drake. Her family had been all but strong-armed into giving her to the King drake. However, Cyclone didn't enjoy how the drake treated her or the other dragonesses. The one thing that made it all bearable was that she was considered too young by the clan's traditions for him to mate with her for some time yet. Still, being the youngest of the drake's living hoard, Cyclone was treated horribly by the other dragonesses.

She couldn't take it, and one day, she ran. In the middle of the night, Cyclone fled from the mountaintop to get away from the King drake and new 'family' that didn't care for her. By this time, she already had a few bruises on her arms where the drake had gripped her so hard her scales had almost given out.

Cyclone needed to get away, there was no way she was going to live much longer like this. However, as she made her escape, the eldest of the dragonesses, a Queen dragoness, heard Cyclone's attempt to escape and gathered her sister dragonesses to give chase without their drake's knowledge. They chased Cyclone all the way down the mountain and into the forest of White Tail. If they wanted to, they could've easily captured Cyclone by now.

Instead, their plan wasn't to bring Cyclone back to their drake, but to scare her away from him and the clan. They wanted her gone. But that didn't stop them from toying with Cyclone. Using fire to scare her, earth and wind to trip her up, they even blocked her path with walls of thick ivy.

Cyclone was mercilessly hunted, or rather toyed with, by the fury of dragonesses. Lacking any real experience with her magic, fighting back was out of the question. Even if it had been just one of the dragonesses chasing her, Cyclone wouldn't have stood a thread of a chance against them. It wasn't long before the older dragonesses had already torn all her clothing from her, shaming the fleeing dragoness. By the time she was out of sight of the volcano, her legs and lungs were pushed far beyond their limits, and it showed when she tripped again at the edge of a large waterfall.

Looking down, it had to have been a hundred foot drop to the speck of water that was the bottom. Cyclone turned away from the edge, looking for a better way down. However, she was only able to take three steps before the black and luminescent teal Queen dragoness landed on the ground in front of Cyclone, with the other dragonesses suddenly appearing right after.

Cyclone fell back from the Queen Dragoness, quickly backing away from her in fear as the older dragon approached on all fours. "What's the matter, little one?" she questioned, snaking behind Cyclone, and brushing one of her wings around the trembling Cyclone. "You act like you saw one of your ancestors."

The other dragonesses laughed together while the Queen was moving to the front of Cyclone, keeping her body close to the frightened dragoness. "Aw, can't speak?" she mocked again, moving away from Cyclone, and flicking the tip of her tail on Cyclone's nose. After laughing at the frightened dragoness falling down, the Queen got up to her feet, standing taller than any of the others. "Why did you run, little Salamander? Did you really believe that you can live out there? All. By. Yourself? This must be a joke."

"I say let her do it, be a thorn out of our scales," one of the other dragonesses said, getting the others to laugh. Their laughter was cut deathly short when the Queen whipped her head back towards her, a blast of pitch-black smoke coming out of her nose. This caused the offending dragoness to back away while trying to make herself as small as she could. "Please forgive me, Sister Azurra."

Soon a softer expression adorned Azurra's face, no longer showing fake joy, but nor could it be called a real snarl. She turned back to Cyclone, morbidly smiling at the look of fear in her eyes. "Now as I was saying, you won't make it out there on your own."

"Th-then come with me," Cyclone stuttered, heavily panting with fear at what Azurra could say or do to her. "Y-you can't want to say with him. H-he doesn't love any of us. We d-don't mean anything to h-him. Please, Sister Azurra!"

For a short moment, Azurra didn't say or do anything but look down towards the small dragoness. She closed her eyes before she began laughing gently. "Oh is that so, little…sister," she said, almost forcefully as she slowly walked over to Cyclone with a gentle, yet still forced, smile on her face. Azurra giggled when Cyclone backed away from her, but didn't let it faze her.

"Come now, little Sister Cyclone. We're sorry for chasing you around like that, but if that's how you really feel," Azurra trailed off, taking Cyclone's shoulders, turning her to the cliff's edge. "Here, I'll fly you down the cliff and we'll just tell our drake that you ran off during the night. How's that sound?"

Cyclone foolishly bought into what Azurra was saying. Despite the voice in her head screaming at her, desperately saying that Azurra was going to betray her, she didn't listen. "R-really? Y-you'll help me?" Cyclone asked desperately as she somewhat allowed Azurra to push her closer to the edge, shaking a little when she saw a few rocks fall free from the cliffside. "Wh-what if I fall, Sister Azurra?"

"Don't worry little one, I won't let you fall," Azurra said, flashing a smile when Cyclone looked back up towards her. "Now stand up straight, and don't look back or down. Okay?" Cyclone looked worried for a moment but did slowly turn her head around to overlook much of White Tail. The smile on Azurra's face grew into a twisted sneer as Cyclone did what she was told.

She took her left hand off of Cyclone's left shoulder, raising it up as she gathered her wind-magic to cause a small vortex to start swirling around it before reshaping the wind to her talons. "Close your eyes, and take in a deep breath."

"Okay, thank you Sister Azurra," Cyclone said before she inhaled the cooling late night air, waiting to be taken away from the cliff.

However, Azurra had one last thing to say to the unsuspecting dragoness. "Oh and little one?"

"Yes, sister?"

"I never was your sister." Right as Cyclone realized what Azurra was saying, it was already too late as the Queen Dragoness took a wide swipe across Cyclone's bare back. Cyclone's eyes widened from the sudden stinging pain of her scales being cut through. But she couldn't make a single sound before she fell forward to her certain death.

High Moon, Mansion; Present day

Cyclone held onto Spike's arms around her midsection as she was left a sobbing mess after she had finished her story, needing something strong to hold onto. Meanwhile, both Veil and Spike had mixed looks of shock and anger at what had happened to their mate. Spike looked over at Veil, who spared one tear-stricken look for him before lunging forward and wrapping her arms around Cyclone.

Veil was almost in as bad a shape as Cyclone. With her face buried against Cyclone's neck, in between sobs, she seemed to be repeating herself, "I love you, you're my sister, I love you, you're my sister…" Cyclone herself had her arms around Veil now, nodding repeatedly. Both sobbing, Cyclone had one hand in the hound's hair while the other ran up and down her back. As the two comforted each other, Spike touched one of Veil's arms, and suddenly the hound was grasping his arm back nearly as hard as she was holding onto Cyclone.

Spike began placing soft kisses on the side of Cyclone's neck while rubbing his free hand over her blue underbelly scales. He wished that he could do more but right now it seemed to be doing its job with helping Cyclone calm down a bit more to where she could speak.

"Veil...Veilstone please look at me," Cyclone softly sniffled before she gently pushed Veil off of her, before reaching up to cup the hound's cheeks. A small, sad smile spread on Cyclone's face, only drawing out more tears from Veil. "Veily, stop crying. It's in the past, and frankly, I'm happy that it happened."

"B-but Cyclone," Veil started, moving Cyclone's hands off her cheeks, and squeezing the dragoness' hands in hers. "I-it isn't fair. They shouldn't be able to get away with that… Drake!" Veil shot a pleading look at Spike. "Tell Cyclone that-"

"Veil, stop." Veil reeled back from the deep and stern voice from Spike, oddly being turned on by it. "There's nothing we can do about it now. And I know that Cyclone doesn't want us to go hunt them down, so don't even say that."

Veil averted her eyes away from her two mates, cursing to herself under her breath as new tears began to form. Six years and Cyclone had never told Veil any of this. It wasn't right. None of what Cyclone had to go through was right. And she couldn't let those dragonesses get away with it.

Spike sighed, wanting the same thing that Veil was thinking to herself. He didn't care if it would be justice, he burned for vengeance at the thought of someone hurting Cyclone. However, after crying through most of her story, he knew that Cyclone wouldn't want to ever relive or look back at her past again.

"Veil…" Cyclone reached out for Veil's cheeks again, wiping away the hound's tears with her thumb. She then brought Veil's lips closer to seal them in a quick passionate kiss, surprising both of her mates.

Because the warmth from Cyclone was so gentle, Veilstone soon gave into it, pushing back before they parted with a soft sigh. "If I hadn't ran, I would've never met you or Spike. I love the both of you. I've never regretted a single moment of it. So don't cry, okay?"

Veil meekly nodded her head as she stared deeply into Cyclone's pink eyes. "O-okay Cyclone, it's still messed up though," she said, cracking a small smile from Cyclone's giggle while Spike resumed the slow kisses on Cyclone's neck.

Bringing her mind back to what it was on before, again giggling, "Now that that's off my chest," Cyclone took Spike's hands in hers and move them up to her chest, letting out a happy sigh as Spike squeezed her breasts, "I still want you to make me a real dragoness Spikey~" Cyclone turned her body around slightly to take Spike's lips in a kiss as she moved an arm around his neck.

Spike happily returned the favor as he wanted to do anything in his power to make Cyclone forget her past tragedies. Their eyes fluttered shut before Cyclone's lips parted to allow Spike's forked tongue to snake inside her mouth. Light smacking sounds came from the two, tongues swirling around each other.

Suddenly, Cyclone kicked off the bed to push Spike down on his back, quickly becoming more forceful. Her kiss with Spike deepened, breathing heavily through her nose as she pressed her large chest, that she swore had grown since she got to High Moon, against Spike.

She moved her hands down Spike's body, placing them on top of his lower abs. Spike wrapped his arms around Cyclone's body to pull her closer. A blush came to his cheeks at the feeling of Cyclone's soft mounds resting on top of his bare chest, causing his member below to start stiffening.

He met her eyes, and a lusty smile found its way to his face. "I love you, Cy." Cyclone's blush deepened, and her only response was to recapture Spike's lips in another deep kiss.

Veil saw the bulge growing in Spike's pants, smirking when an idea crept into her head. "Hey, hey you two, I'm still here too you know," she said as she crawled in between Spike's legs to reach underneath Cyclone's arms, taking hold of her plentiful breasts.

A loud gasp forced Cyclone to break the kiss before she was pulled back to sit up in Spike's lap. "Aah...Veil b-be gentle," Cyclone whined as Veil continued to grope her breasts with her sharp claws flicking over her hardened nipples. Spike just placed his hands on Cyclone's wide hips, looking up at the two with a sly smirk on his face. He laid back to watch Veil toy with Cyclone's breasts, the hound's plan working as the bulge in Spike's pants began to grow at a faster pace.

Cyclone threw her head back, giving Veil further access to start taking bites and kisses of her own on Cyclone's neck. When the dragoness felt Spike's shaft growing rapidly underneath her, Cyclone's hips started to move on their own, only showing more of Cyclone's desires.

"S-Spike...I need you," Cyclone whined as she continued to desperately grind her hips against the denim jeans, her flower leaking in response to her needs. Veil opened one eye to look down at Spike, catching his small nod.

With a wide grin on her face, Veil moved her hands from Cyclone's breasts to the undersides of her thighs, lifting her off Spike's lap and spreading her open more. Cyclone's cheeks took on a bright red hue from having her flower completely exposed to Spike.

"I wonder how this 'nectar' tastes," Spike chuckled as his eyes were glued on Cyclone's glistening blue scales at her nether regions. Much of Cyclone's inner thighs were soaked with the clear juices, causing Spike to catch a heated whiff of Cyclone's access. Spike ran a thumb along the inner part of her thigh, brushing over her folds and dipping in for a second. Cyclone tried to muffle a moan from Spike's intrusion against Veil's neck, which oddly brought out a very bright blush from the hound, and made her shiver.

Bringing his thumb up to his lips, Spike stuck it in his mouth and sucked Cyclone's juices off. Just like he thought, she tasted like the purest of sapphires. The taste was only magnified, given its source. "You taste perfect, my lovely sapphire," Spike said, hoping that his mates wouldn't find the line too cheesy.

Veil merely chuckled while Cyclone thought her head would explode from blushing so hard. "Then you better not keep her waiting, Spike," Veil said before dragging her tongue across Cyclone's neck, getting the dragoness to shudder. Spike chuckled as he reached for the button of his jeans, undoing it slowly before he got around to his zipper. Once he pulled off his pants, Spike's member sprang forth, lightly smacking his lower stomach with a clean glob of arousal finding its way up to Cyclone's stomach.

When she saw Spike's shaft out in the open for the first time, Veil's legs gave out as her own flower heavily clenched from just looking at it. She fell back into a sitting position, dragging Cyclone with her. The massive size wasn't the only thing that got her attention. Thick ridges lined the underside of Spike's shaft, leading to a pair of heavy-looking balls. The sides also had smooth green barbs, going up from the base to the flaring head, where another glob of his pre-cum was already beginning to leak down the underside.

Spike blushed and sheepishly laughed at the two's reactions to see his girth for the first time. He wasn't the kind to boast or anything, but Spike took Veil and Cyclone's wide-eyed stares as a compliment.

"Girls you're um...drooling a bit," Spike laughed, and before his mates knew what they were doing, they wiped at the corners of their mouths.

Another laugh left Spike's lips when he saw Veil mouth, "It's so big." under her breath while Cyclone simply smiled before moving to straddle Spike's raging shaft. The two of them moaned when she sat down on the ridged underside, forcing her flower to split open.

Yet Spike was able to retain control of himself, taking hold of Cyclone's hips to start moving her along the underside of his shaft. Cyclone moaned from the feeling of the thick shaft and its deep ridges pushing apart her slit even more. To keep from falling, Cyclone placed her hands on Spike's shoulders.

This allowed Spike to crane his head up to Cyclone's breasts, his tongue already slithering out to move over Cyclone's blue areolas and nipples. Getting a soft sigh as a response prompted him to go further. Spike opened his mouth to begin gently suckling on Cyclone's breasts.

"Aah Spikey~" Cyclone moaned before she bit down on her quivering bottom lip. Her hips soon started to pick up the pace, feeling Spike's shaft heavily throb beneath her. "I-in, I want it in Spike."

Spike pulled off of Cyclone's nipple with a nod of his head, moving his hands to the underside of Cyclone's thighs to lift her up. A small whine came out of Cyclone from being lifted off of Spike, but that quickly turned into a gasp when the flaring head of Spike's shaft pushed against her walls. "B-be gentle Spike," Cyclone said, remembering what Blaze had said about how her first time was going to feel, and the pain that came with it.

"He'd better," Veil hissed as she was lightly tugging at her own nipples while Cyclone lubricated Spike's shaft with her juices. Moving behind Cyclone, Veil got ready to help her sister ease her way down the monster that was Spike's shaft. "You got it, Spike?"

Spike chuckled at Veil, nodding his head. "Yeah, I'll try to make it as easy as I can. Whenever you're ready Cyclone," Spike said to the white dragoness, who was clenching her hands on his shoulders while trembling a little.

"I'm ready." With a slow breath Cyclone began lowering herself down onto Spike's girth, having a bit of trouble getting the head to squeeze through her tight walls. Spike gave a small buck of his hips, forcing his head to push into Cyclone, causing her to let out a loud squeal of pain before she calmed down with a small quivering breath.

Once she had regained control of herself, Cyclone resumed moving down the rest of Spike's shaft, whimpering every inch or so. "S-so thick...I don't th-think I can." Veil quickly moved her hands around Cyclone's body to rub her lower belly, surprised that she didn't feel a small bump of Spike's shaft.

"Yes you can, Cy," Veil said before placing kisses up Cyclone's neck and cheek to lick away the tear from her eye. Taking another breath, Cyclone nodded her head towards Spike for him to take control and start slowly pulling her down. A few moments later, Spike felt his tip push against a wall of resistance, blushing when he realized what it was.

"Cyclone are you su-"

"Yes Spike, I am," Cyclone said with a small smile, her pink eyes half-lidded as she cupped Spike's face with her right hand. "I-I want to give m-myself to you, so please do it."

Spike gripped his hands tighter around Cyclone's waist as he got ready to take away the last bit of her innocence. As he pulled her down, the crown of his shaft prodded at the seal, causing Cyclone to turn her head up as she cried out from the discomfort.

Hearing her cries, Spike quickly started to lift Cyclone off but was stopped by Cyclone clenching down. "Cyclone I don't-" Spike was cut off by Cyclone lividly shaking her head with tears at the corners of her eyes. Gritting his teeth, Spike resumed prodding at the seal, doing his best to ignore Cyclone's cries.

Suddenly, Spike managed to push past Cyclone's hymen, causing her to fall forward onto Spike's chest. Spike didn't allow Cyclone to go any further than that as he held onto her waist to keep her from taking the rest of his member - which had quickly became coated in small streams of Cyclone's blood while her body trembled in pain.

"Cy, are you alright?" Veil asked, rubbing her back gently and watching Cyclone shiver while Spike heavily panted.

A few quivering moments passed with no answer from Cyclone, as she was still trying to get used to the feeling of being full. Yet she still felt empty, making her want more of Spike's shaft as fast as possible, for as long as possible.

Another moment gave way with Cyclone slowly easing herself off of Spike's built chest. "Y-yeah...I'm f-fine." Bringing her hands from Spike's shoulders, Cyclone winced with one of her eyes closed, still getting used to the feeling of his barbed and ridged shaft inside her. "It's a-a lot thicker th-than it looks," Cyclone softly joked, laughing as she tried to take in more deep breaths to ready herself for what was to come. "I'm re-ready, Spike."

"You'd better go easy on her, Drake." Spike merely laughed off Veil as she got behind Cyclone again, cupping the dragoness' breasts with her claws, and biting down on her neck softly. After taking a moment to stare at Cyclone's breasts being pushed and pulled away from each other, Spike began to slowly lift Cyclone up off of his shaft before letting her back down.

The two winced at the same time from Cyclone's walls clamping down around Spike's throbbing member. Spike kept the pace slow for Cyclone to get used to his girth, pulling her up until he felt Cyclone's walls clench around him.

Cyclone rode the pain out as she started to feel it slowly fading away, turning into a spine-tingling pleasure she hadn't ever felt before. "F-faster Spike," Cyclone breathed out as her tail wrapped itself around Veil's exposed midsection.

Spike did what Cyclone asked, working through her tight and periodically clenching walls to build a faster pace. Heat rose in the drake's chest, causing his grip on Cyclone's wide waist to tighten while he started to breathe out small plums of light-gray smoke. He grit his teeth again as Cyclone's walls continued to constrict around his throbbing member, causing a pressure to start building in his loins, and oddly his chest.

This same pressure was already rapidly building inside of Cyclone as well, inducing her to coil more of her tail around Veil's body. The hound neither cared nor paid any attention to it, though. All her focus was on Cyclone's breasts, and giving the dragoness as much pleasure as she could.

The two hefty mounds slipped out of her hands as she continued to rub her palms over them. Veil had noticed that Cyclone enjoyed having her nipples played with, so she began tugging at them with her claws.

Cyclone's moans reverberated inside the bedroom, causing Veil's ears to twitch slightly while Spike began quickening his pace. "Here Spike, put that mouth of yours to some real use," Veil mocked as she pushed Cyclone's breasts together in his face, pressing Cyclone's nipples together to make them look more inviting to him.

Spike didn't hesitate a moment before he opened his mouth to latch onto Cyclone's nipples. Cyclone cried out in surprise as she wrapped her arms around Spike's neck, burying his head in her soft mounds while she continued to take more and more of his shaft.

"Aah...more," Cyclone moaned as Veil started to bite the side of her neck harder and Spike lifted her up and down faster. The rushes of pleasures soon caused Cyclone's tongue to loll out of her mouth, unconsciously breathing out hot blue and white flames.

The pressure building was so great inside of her that her vaginal walls began clenching down around Spike's smooth barbs, milking out a few hot beads of pre-cum from the drake. However, Cyclone wanted more.

Cyclone mustered up what strength she could in her legs to suddenly quicken the pace of Spike's shaft moving inside her, causing Spike to grunt around her nipples. "M-more!" Cyclone clamped down around all of Spike's shaft, body spasming uncontrollably as she reached her first-ever peak. Her tail tightened around Veilstone, and for a second the hound thought that Cyclone might break something in her.

Cyclone's sudden climax threw Spike over the edge as well. His two heavy balls pulled up to his body as he pulled Cyclone down to take all of his shaft, their hips meeting before he released a torrent of pent-up seed inside Cyclone's quivering walls. As the hot seed filled her core, Cyclone let out a small burst of fire from her mouth, holding onto Spike's neck tightly.

Spike let out a low groan as he continued to pulse within Cyclone, feeling like his ejaculation would never end. Spike rode out the rest of Cyclone's climax with his hips bucking into her every so often. Eventually, the two dragons came down from their highs, with Spike removing himself from Cyclone's nipples as her body slackened up and her tail uncoiled from around Veil's body.

"Mm...Spikey~" Cyclone rested her head in the crook of Spike's neck as the excess of Spike's cum streamed out of her twitching walls, not having the strength enough to keep all of Spike's seed from freely flowing out. She moved her hands to Spike's broad shoulders, both of them panting heavily.

Soon, Cyclone's eyes closed with a blissful smile on her face as she fell asleep against Spike's chest. After wrapping his arms around her lower back, Spike chuckled when the sound of Cyclone's soft snores reached his ears.

"Well, she's out cold," Veil softly whispered, moving towards them to rub the back of Cyclone's smooth, round-tipped head spines. The two shared a laugh when Cyclone started to softly murmur in her sleep, nuzzling into Spike's chest. "I'm gonna head down to the kitchen to grab some snacks for us."

Spike furrowed his eyebrows. "Kitchen? When did that happen?" he asked, not knowing that the three newcomers had fixed up an area in the mansion to store food and other cooking items while he had been asleep for a week and a half.

"When you were knocked out," Veil answered before she started dressing herself to head further into the mansion. "But don't worry about it. 'Cus tomorrow, you are coming hunting with us and Alpha to help. Got it, Spike?" She fixed him with an intent stare.

"Yeah, I was planning on it anyway Veil," Spike said, starting to gently rub Cyclone's back with his hand as she continued to softly snore in his ear. He barely even noticed the mass of scars.

Veil silently looked at Spike tenderly holding Cyclone, unable to avert her eyes away from the scars going down the entirety of Cyclone's back. She heard Spike murmur something that sounded like, "My sweet, perfect sapphire." She snorted and rolled her eyes before standing up. With a final glance at the scars on Cyclone's back, Veil held her tongue, knowing that bringing it up would cause more problems than they needed right now.

However, as she opened the door, Spike stopped her, asking in a hushed voice, "Veil, if we ever, by some small unlucky chance, confront those dragonesses and that King Drake… What will you do?"

No response came as Veil stood at the door with her head lowered to the point her hair covered her eyes. She thought about it for a long moment. Veil wanted to say that she would try attacking the dragonesses out of vengeance. However, she knew there was nothing she could do up against dragons like that. And that angered her.

"Stop talking already, will ya Drake?" Veil left the room before Spike could respond, not sure if she could contain herself if she heard his reply. Just before she closed the door, Veil's sensitive ears picked up on Spike muttering, 'I'm sorry.' But she forced herself to wave it off as her imagination.

Veil took a moment standing at the door to reflect on everything she had personally accomplished at High Moon. Training, climbing, digging, and even learning new tricks; she'd done so much these last few months. Out of the diamond dogs, only Wolf could consistently beat her in a fair fight. And yet, up against magic, dragon magic, all of that was nothing.

Shaking these thoughts out of her head, Veil wiped away the lone frustrated tear that had gathered in the corner of an eye. She started venturing off to the left wing of the mansion where the kitchen had been finished a few days ago, and was already nearly filled in for its use.

When she reached the door to the lounging area, Veil pushed it open, not surprised to find Kiri laying out in front of the roaring firepit, Spirit sitting next to the demon fox, and Fang sitting on the couch with Night Blade sleeping in his arms. Veil stepped into the room, getting both Fang and Kiri's attentions. Spirit, however, had been oddly distant the last few days, and Veil had a strong feeling as to why. "Hey guys, how ya'll holding up?" Veil asked in a friendly tone to further distract her mind from Spike's question.

"Oh hey Veil, just coming after spending some time with Spike?" Fang joked, wagging his eyebrows suggestively as he continued to rock his bat-pony mare in her sleep.

"Oh go chew on a bone, Fang," Veil quipped back with a small laugh herself while her cheeks flushed red, closing the door.

Fang laughed, answering back, "Smells to me like you already did." His laughter resumed when he caught Veil's blush grow in intensity as she let out a frustrated growl at him. Her flusterdness was more evident by her tail rising up on its own, and from the scent she was giving off. "But seriously, it's good to know that the twins are up now."

"Yeah, I guess," Veil sighed, her mind going back to Spike's question a few moments ago. She let out another sigh to fight off those thoughts before she walked over to the sofa that was one of the many things they'd bought with Quill's prize money from the flight competition. Veil sat down on an empty cushion next to Fang while Spirit continued to sit directly in front of the fire.

"He isn't doing any better is he?" Veil asked softly, getting Fang to sigh while Night stirred in her sleep.

Fang placed his a hand on Night's head to slowly start stroking it, gently soothing her back to sleep. Once he was satisfied that the mare was fully asleep again, Fang turned towards Veil and shook his head. "No, this is his first winter seeing Lily like this. And I gotta say, it has me worried too..." Fang sighed as he continued to cuddle his mare in his arms, looking at his cubhood friend. "I have to say, seeing Spirit like this has me really worried. He's usually the optimistic guy of the group."

"The what?" Veil asked, not sure what Fang meant by the word he used to describe Spirit. "You mean that he's the happy one right?"

"Something like that," Fang sighed, "Spirit always has his eye on the prize, ready to go at something no matter the plan. But seeing him like this...I dunno, it worries me is all."

Veil looked over towards Spirit, who hadn't made a single indication that he had heard the conversation behind him, despite the fact that diamond dog ears were more sensitive during the winter. "But Alpha-Mother said that Lily would be fine once spring rolled around."

"Spring is a long time away from now, you know," Fang said, "But you're right, Lily will be fine as long as she sleeps and saves her energy. It's just hard seeing Spirit like this, though. Tried everything to snap him out of it, so far only Alpha has been able to do it."

Veil turned her attention away from Spirit over towards Fang, seeing his disposition change greatly. This whole thing was reminding her of when she first found Cyclone, and how she'd felt after doing her best to treat Cyclone's injuries. How helpless she was to do anything else for the dragoness during or after her recovery.

Initially, that was the first reason Veil allowed Cyclone to stay. She couldn't just send her out all injured the way she was, and later, Veil felt like she had needed to be there for Cyclone. Like there was a connection between them.

"Eh, you just need to be there for him," Veil said after a moment of reflection on the last six years of her life. "He's your friend right? I'm sure he knows that you're worried, he just might want some time to think things out." Fang raised an eyebrow towards Veil, surprised that she was being more open with her thoughts than usual. "Just be there for him when he needs a shoulder to lean on. Because he's gonna need it."

Fang laughed as he closed his eyes, laying his head on the backrest of the couch with another sigh. "Thanks, and I will. He's helped me more times than I can count." Fang's hold around Night tightened slightly as he thought about all the times Spirit was there for him. "That reminds me, have you told Spike yet?"

Veil's body visibly flinched before she calmed herself down with a sigh as she moved her bangs out of her eyes. "If you're talking about coming hunting with us, then yeah."

"That's not what I'm talking about Veil, and you know it," Fang said firmly, while Veil's eyes stayed looking down at the stone ground, her hands clenching together. "Veil you gotta tell him at some point, might as well get it over with."

Veil was unresponsive for a moment as her hands continued to grip the other to the point where her claws almost unsheathed. However, she was able to calm herself with a small intake of breath. "Fang," she breath out, "I'll tell him when I'm ready. There's still one more thing I need to see from Spike before I give myself to him."

Fang started to laugh a bit for Spike's sake. "You make that drake work, you know that? I mean, after all he's done, beaten me and Spirit twice, even when we teamed up on him. Not to mention that incredible power of his. You still need to experience it first-hand, huh?"

"It doesn't matter what's he done until I've seen it with my own eyes, Fang," Veil said, relaxing her posture just slightly as she closed her eyes. "I need to do this. I'm sure you can understand, right?"

"I shouldn't, but I do," Fang nodded his head, knowing that Veil was making sure she had chosen the right mate to spend her life with. "Here's what you can do. When we're out hunting, you can see for yourself if Spike can keep up. If he does, then you have to tell him."

Veil cracked a smile, a little surprised. "That's if he keeps up. Alpha isn't the only one that wants to see how the twins hold up." Veil stood up from her seat with a small huff, placing a hand on her hip. "Well I better go grab those snacks that I promised for those two. Speaking of which, I need to see if I can get Spike to head out and get some more. Ain't we running out of stuff anyway?"

"Yeah, but I don't know why," Fang shrugged as he has only been eating when he went out hunting with the other dogs. He didn't want to say that it was Cyclone, for there was someone that was bigger prime suspect. "Nightie, you wouldn't know who's been eating extra food here, would you?"

All Fang got back in response was a loud hiss from the mare as she turned her face into his fur chest, gripping at the tufts of thick pale-brown fur. Fang laughed at the mare, holding the back of her head while she moved other hand down to the back of her thigh. "Guess we have our answer."

"Well that's just great," Veil huffed, knowing that there was little they could do about the bat-pony going for midnight snacks. "Whatever I guess, as long as we don't run out of money it shouldn't be too much of a problem." Veil sighed as she started to move towards the door on the left side that would lead down the hallway where she'd find the kitchen.

Yet before she could open the door, Fang stopped her. "Tomorrow is going to be interesting, isn't it, Veil?" he asked in his native diamond dog tongue, despite knowing that Veil wasn't entirely fluent in it.

But she could understand every word he spoke, simply replying, "Yeah." She stepped through the door, mind strictly on what she had to do before she fully accepted Spike as her mate. "I really hope that he can do it."

/ Ch. 55: Path to Winter part 3; The Hunt pt 2/-/

The Hunt

Wolf led the hunting pack out of High Moon, eager to get some meat in his empty stomach. He had explained how the feeding order went to Spike, starting with Wolf and down from there, strongest to weakest. He was surprised, however, to hear that Quill had found out about it earlier. Spike had simply nodded his head, saying that it made sense. After the twins got their winter clothing on, Wolf called the other diamond dogs over and said they were going out for food. He was eager to see how the twins held up after their growth-spurts, and how much stronger they had gotten.

As they left High Moon out through the mansion and city, Quill took to the air, saying she'd keep an eye out for any big bucks or a pack of boars for the group. The rest of the group took off in the same direction she had flown, already on the lookout for any signs of wildlife.

After half an hour of trudging through the four inches of snow layering the ground, Quill returned to the group, a smirk on her face, only marred somewhat by the blood on it. Chuckling, she said, "Found a buck up ahead, already killed it. Follow me."

Shaking his head, Wolf smiled. He should have figured Quill wouldn't wait for the pack. Motioning for the rest of the group to follow, Wolf began loping behind Quill to find the kill.

A few minutes later, they found the still-bleeding buck, a large chunk of flesh missing from the side of its neck. The group congratulated Quill for finding such a big deer, especially since they hadn't seen any signs of it. She was just glad to be able to eat - after Wolf had his fill, of course. Wolf went over to the deer and dug in. The winter hadn't been particularly bad in terms of food, but whenever winter came around, he always felt hungrier.

The minutes passed as Wolf ate, while the rest of the group talked among themselves. Spirit and Fang were curious about the twins' growth, wondering how much had actually changed for the two. Veil already knew most of what had changed for Spike, and she liked what she'd seen, not that she'd admit it to anyone. Quill said that she felt stronger, with Spike nodding his head in agreement. Neither twin had had a chance to put that to the test yet, though. Spike had a feeling that Wolf was not going to have such an easy time sparring with them whenever they next fought. He knew he was looking forward to sparring with the diamond dog, as he was starting to enjoy these chances to show how strong he'd grown.

Wolf got up from the kill, looking it over. With a deer as big as this, assuming the other dogs ate as much as they usually did, even adding the twins in, the odds were they would have more than enough to take back to High Moon. He got up and walked over to the group, saying that whoever was next was free to go. While normally Veil went before the two male betas, he figured that it would be Spike or Quill now that they were awake, but didn't want to assume anything just yet.

Quill and Spike looked at one another, before turning to the beta dogs. Spirit and Fang gestured to the twins, indicating for them to go ahead. Both dogs knew they didn't stand much of a chance against the younger dragons. Veil had turned away, not acknowledging the twins as she stood apart from the group, fists clenched at her sides.

Spike cocked his head, not sure what she was doing. She had been quieter than normal, even for her, since Wolf had said they were going hunting. "Veil, are you ok?" Spike asked, moving forward and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Is there something wro-"

"I don't care if Quill goes ahead of me, Spike, but you're not doing it without fighting me." Veil's voice was devoid of any emotion, and when she shrugged off Spike's hand to turn around and face him, her eyes were hard.

"Wha… Fight you? Veil, why would I ever want to do that?" Spike asked, confused as to why she would start a fight over this. "And why don't you mind if Quill goes ahead, if you're so set with fighting me on this?"

"I've seen her train, Spike. I know she's faster and stronger than me. All I've seen you do is train Cyclone on her magic, and get tossed around by Alpha. Besides, we need to do this," Veil started, rolling her shoulders as she unsheathed her claws.

Spikes eye-ridges raised. "You're really serious about this, Veily."

A light blush came to Veil's cheeks, and she snarled softly at him, "Not out in public, jerk."

Spike chuckled softly, before looking back at the group. Quill had already started eating, and when he looked over at her, she just laughed before giving him a thumbs-up, saying, "Have fun with your lover's spat, Spikey." More blood splattered her chin as she grinned at him.

"Yeah, good luck man," Fang said as he and Spirit backed away to give the two as much room as they might need. "You're gonna need it. Word of advice, watch out for her legs."

Spike quickly snapped his head over to Wolf, looking for some reason why everyone was acting like it was okay for him to fight Veil. "Wolf, help?"

Wolf only looked at Spike expectantly, nodding his head back toward Veil. "I'm just surprised she waited this long, Spike. Get to it," he said, knowing that as a beta, Veil would want to be sure that a potential mate could handle himself in a fight. It would be his job to protect their family, if Veil chose to stay with him. Wolf assumed that Veil had waited this long to see what Spike's growth-spurt would bring.

Spike looked back at Veil, still not enjoying what was going to happen. "I don't like this, Veil." Spike held up his hands while backing away slowly from Veil, who only advanced. "I don't want to fight you. The last thing I want to do is hurt you," he said softly, still hoping she wouldn't press this.

Veil huffed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you hurt me. That'll happen. You don't get to use any magic, or your Element, either. I want to see what YOU can do. And this has to happen, Spike. I need to know you're strong enough for Cy and me."

Spike's face scrunched a bit as he replied, "Is that what this is about? Veil, I was in the second invasion of Canterlot. I'm a knight now, too. Don't you think that makes me-"

Veil cut him off by taking a swipe at his chest, telling him, "Stop stalling, Spike! If you don't fight back then you're just going to get hurt!"

Spike barely dodged her first swipe, though it did leave a small tear on the front of his jacket. He hadn't expected her to cut him off by starting to attack. She followed the initial swipe up with another, this time aimed at his head, but now that she was attacking, Spike was ready for it. He easily stepped aside, still not sure why she would be so insistent about this. 'I don't want to hurt her, but…' he thought to himself, not sure how he was going to end this without harming her.

Veil, for her part, didn't want to do this either, but it was something she had to do. She needed to know that Spike was at least stronger than her, as she was the closest to Wolf in terms of fighting when it came to the diamond dogs. He'd been training her separate from the dragons, and while she wasn't near his level, she'd gotten to be quite competent during her short time at High Moon.

'Now if Spike would just actually FIGHT me,' she growled to herself. So far, she hadn't landed a single hit, every blow and swipe being blocked or avoided. "Damnit Spike, will you actually fight back?!" she growled, his reluctance just making her angrier.

Spike sighed, still just blocking the majority of her attacks. Veil had started adding kicks in, and she had some surprising strength in her legs. Veil threw kick for his face, and Spike blocked it - regretting it immediately when his forearm went numb for a second. He knew he wasn't going to do that again. The next time she threw a kick out at him - for his midsection - Spike danced back, out of her reach. He knew he wasn't the best fighter around, but he could tell that he was easily more than a match for Veil. So long as he didn't get kicked by her. All he had to do was just figure out how to end this without harming her. An idea formed when she aimed another kick for his head.

"Veil," Spike began, avoiding another swipe from her claws she aimed for his stomach, "Sorry about this."

Veil growled again, getting more agitated as he still refused to fight her. She aimed another kick for his chest, asking, "Sorry about whaAAUGH!" Veil let out a yelp as Spike grabbed her leg before his tail wrapped around her other leg still on the ground, forcing her back down onto the snow. In a flash, Spike was on top of her, having pinned her arms above her head and putting his jaws on her throat. It took Veil a second to realize what happened, and then a heavy blush took over her face as she realized the position she and Spike were in.

Spike, for his part, was hoping this would be enough to get her to stop the fight. He held his position a moment longer, feeling her tail wrap around his leg, and a small whine come from Veil's throat. Spike could feel her pulse speeding up, and he slowly took his jaws off her throat as he looked down at her eyes. They were wide, and her breath was short and hot, if the small clouds coming from her slightly gaping mouth was any indication. After meeting his gaze for a second, she looked away, softly saying, "Ok, you win. Now get off me."

Spike didn't say anything as he got up, putting a hand down for Veil to pull herself up. She took it, still not looking at him. After she was on her feet, she squeezed his hand for a moment before moving back to stand apart from the other betas. Spike looked at her, still worried. He motioned to the pair of betas dogs, saying, "I'm not really hungry, you guys go ahead."

Spirit and Fang looked at him, unsure of going ahead of Veil as well. After they hadn't moved for a few moments, Veil made a noncommittal gesture towards the deer as well, adding, "Me either. Knock yourselves out."

Spirit and Fang looked at each other before shrugging, moving over to the deer. The minutes passed in silence, only broken by the sounds of the two eating. Quill eventually moved to stand by Spike, silently motioning her head towards Veil. Spike shrugged, unsure of how to approach the hound. She'd been prickly from time to time since Cyclone had convinced him that she wanted to join the two of them in a pack, but Spike had put it off as her just getting to know him. Cyclone had reassured him time and again that that's how she was - prickly until she let down her walls, and for Spike, the walls had come down from time to time. And the times they had come down, well...

'No idea what I'll tell Cy now,' he thought wryly. ''Hey, your best friend just challenged me to a fight, and I took her down without hesitation.' Yeah, this'll go over great.' He started to move towards Veil, but a quick glance and shake of the head from her stopped him in his tracks. He sighed. This was going to be trouble.

Wolf just watched the group, having an idea of what Veil was doing. He'd only know for sure later, after they got back to High Moon. After he noticed Spirit and Fang getting up from the deer, he said, "Alright, folks, let's clean what's left of the deer and get going back home. I want out of this cold."

After the few minutes it took for Wolf to clean the deer and hand out strips of meat for everyone to carry back, Quill took off in the air again, leading the way back for the rest of the pack. The group was quiet on the way back, most of them easily able to see that Spike and Veil weren't in much of a talking mood, and not really finding much else to talk about on the way back.

As the pack came up on the doors leading into the mansion proper, Veil started to slowly move up behind Spike. With the help of Isis and Blaze, the mansion was now fitted with a set of wooden doors that acted just like the arcane doors in the temple, keeping the heat in for the dragons and general comfort of everyone else. As Wolf went up to the door to open them with his fire-stone collar, Veil grabbed at the sleeve of Spike's jacket, getting his attention. Nodding away from the group with her head, she moved off to stand alone.

Spike turned over to Wolf and the rest of the group, saying, "We'll be in in a bit." Seeing Wolf just nod in reply, and ignoring Quill's suggestive wagging of her eye-ridges, Spike handed off the meat he was holding to Fang, and moved over away from the door to see what Veil wanted.

Veil still wasn't facing him, rubbing an arm as she looked off at nowhere in particular. She wasn't entirely sure what she was going to say to Spike, but she knew she needed to explain her actions.

Seeing that the two were finally alone, she decided to begin. "Spike… how much has Cy told you about the pack I came from before I lived in White Tail?" Veil asked, thinking it was probably best to start from the beginning.

Spike cocked his head, not sure where the hound was going with this line of questioning. "Not really anything, just that it wasn't a good pack. That much at least I've figured out from overhearing you talk about it, as well. No details, though. Why?"

Veil sighed to herself, before finally turning to look up at Spike through her hair. "It was a bad pack, yeah. The alphas lorded their power over the betas, and the betas had no real say in how the pack worked. The alphas abused their power, and… us. I ran away from that because I couldn't handle it, because that's not how a healthy pack runs."

Spike chose to say nothing, letting the hound continue. "A healthy pack has a strong alpha or alphas, yes, but that's just part of it. They also need to know what to do with that strength. How to help their pack grow. Both in individual strength, and together as an extended family." A long sigh came before she went on, "You're a wonderful drake, Spike. You've been nothing but patient and calm with me, in spite of how I've been acting for the past month and a half. In spite of how much I've pushed you and been… Ugh. I know it can't have been easy, but… thank you."

Spike moved forward, wrapping Veil in a tight embrace. "Veil, I-"

She nudged him in the stomach, hard enough to make him grunt. "I wasn't done." She leaned into the hug, nuzzling against his chest, enjoying the fabric of his jacket against her cheek. "The whole reason I've been treating you like this is to see if I could get some reaction out of you, something to prove you had the strength to actually take care of me and Cy. Something to prove that you weren't worth Cyclone. I won't ever let her be with a bad alpha, and up until today I wasn't sure if you had what it took to make hard decisions. If someone ever threatened us and I wasn't able to handle it..." She trailed off, afraid to even think of that outcome.

Spike smiled and moved one hand up to stroke his fingers through her hair. Her hair still fascinated him. It was something neither him or Cyclone had, and the sometimes-scruffy texture alone was enough to distract him. "Well, Veil, we both know I'm not perfect. I've made my fair share of mistakes, but I'm trying my hardest to not screw this up. As for me not really reacting to how you've been… I figured that was just how you were until you got used to me. I've seen you with Cyclone, I know how you really are." Spike chuckled a moment, before continuing, "Besides, it's been fun. I've loved our time together, Veily." Spike squeezed her tighter for a moment, nuzzling into her hair and breathing out.

Veil kept quiet, just enjoying Spike's warmth. It was nice not to have to act like the tough one for once. "Well, what you see is what you get, Spike. And… thank you. For giving me a chance. I promise, from here on out, I'll... " Veil choked on the words for a moment, still surprised that she was all-but ready to submit to Spike. "I'll stop fi-"

Spike chuckled and squeezed Veil to him again, interrupting her. "Don't say it, Veily. I've loved how aggressive you are, and I can't imagine you changing it. I know you wouldn't want to, anyways - it's not who you are." Spike stuck his tongue out at her, and she laughed softly.

'Maybe he does know me better than I figured,' Veil thought to herself.

"Besides, Veil, I'm more than glad Cy convinced me. As for something, or someone, threatening you two..." A low growl escaped Spike, unbidden, when he thought of someone or something threatening either of his mates. "I wouldn't be much of an alpha for you if I wasn't around to handle something like that, would I?"

Veil just smiled into his chest, not sure what to say to that. She was glad that she'd taken the risk back at the fishing river, that Cyclone had gone to bat for her to convince Spike to let her join his pack. So far she hadn't regretted it… and she was almost ready to tell him that.

An idea suddenly popped into Spike's head, something he'd noticed when their fight had ended, and a sly grin found its way onto his face. With Veil all but saying that she was going to start treating Spike like her mate, Spike figured he could take a chance. He bent his head down towards her neck, and bit gently, growling into her. Veil's eyes went wide, her tail shooting upwards, and she let out a small squeak, cheeks burning crimson. "Sp-Spike! What are-"

Spike chuckled softly, smiling as he interrupted Veil, "Looks like my pretty little beta hound enjoys being dominated. That's certainly interesting to know, isn't it?" He made a mental note to himself to find a way to get her to squeak again - that was probably the most adorable thing he'd heard out of her yet.

Veil's normally dark-gray face was still a fiery red, and she refused to meet Spike's knowing grin. "Would you just shut up and kiss me already, jerk?"

Spike's grin became wider, and he took his hand out of her hair to turn her chin up so he could kiss her. The moment their lips met, Spike sighed softly and squeezed her tightly against him. Veil, for her part, melted into the kiss, glad to finally feel ok with just giving in to Spike. She gripped his jacket hard, crushing him down to her, wanting to feel as much of him as she could.

She lifted one leg against the side of his, trying to wrap it around him. Spike eventually got the idea and shifted one hand down to grasp the back of her thigh, brushing her rear. Veil moaned into the drake's mouth, leaping up with her other leg to wrap both of them around his waist. Spike grunted before shifting both hands to be able to hold her up, gripping her thighs tightly and feeling her leg muscles flex.

The two of them were so busy enjoying each other that they failed to noticed the sound of the door into the ruins opening. Spike moved Veil over to the wall, sandwiching her between the it and himself. Another moan left Veil's mouth as she felt her breasts get pushed against Spike's hard chest, and from the drake moving his hands back down to her firm hindquarters.

Spike broke the kiss and moved back down to her neck, giving it a lick before he bit down, hard. Veil shuddered, her hot breath causing thick clouds of fog. Gripping Spike tightly with her legs, Veil felt a quickly growing bulge in Spike's long denim jeans pressing against her. "Spike… Bedroom. Now," she growled low, gripping the back of Spike's jacket so hard she was surprised she didn't tear it.

Spike chuckled against her neck, his hot breath cascading along her thick winter fur. She writhed against him, her sensitive neck seeming to be on fire. She hadn't realized it was that much of a hotspot for her. "Anything you want, Veily." Spike let her slide down against him, steadying her once she got her feet on the ground. He captured her lips in another aggressive kiss, tongue sliding in to wrap itself around hers. She let out a long, shuddering moan, knees feeling weak. 'How did he get so good at this so fast?' Veil wondered to herself. Eventually, Spike pulled back from the kiss, and they both turned towards the door, before stopping with matching blushes.

"And here I was worried you two were going to be fighting," a smug Cyclone said, happy to see they had worked out whatever their problem was. "Now, mind telling me what this fight you two had was all about?"

Spike looked down at Veil, but she just grabbed his arm, dragging him along to the door. When she passed by Cyclone, she grabbed the white dragoness' sleeve as well, growling, "Later. Right now, Spike and I have a date in the bedroom. You're coming too."

Spike caught Cyclone's eye and shrugged, grinning. She returned the smile, blushing at Veil's aggressive side coming out. Veil reached the door, waving the stone on her arm-band in front of it, and the door opened slowly. She reached behind her and pushed her pair of mates ahead of her, not wanting them to see the blush on her face until she got it under control.

When they finally reached the bedroom, Veil quickly shoved Spike down onto the bed before jumping on top of him. Their lips sealed together again as she began grinding her hips into Spike's, reaching a hand down between them to grope Spike's balls through his jeans.

A deep growl came from Spike at Veil's aggressiveness. His arms wrapped around her back before a hand locked itself in Veil's shaggy black and white hair. Veil was furious in the kiss, her lips already parting to push her wide tongue in Spike's mouth. Spike grunted from the vastly different texture of Veil's flat, rough, tongue. It was a constant shock how it was almost an exact opposite to Cyclone's thin, smooth, serpent tongue.

After a few more moments of pressing herself down against Spike, Veil finally pulled back. She sat up in Spike's lap, both of them breathing heavily. They looked at each other, lust for the other in their eyes. Spike undid the clasp on his jacket, and tossed it off to one side of his bed. Veil's eyes roamed down his body, nails trailing down his chest to his stomach. One hand slid up under his shirt to feel his abdominal muscles as he breathed, and Veil chuckled before meeting his eyes.

Spike could have sworn he heard a purr come from Veil as her nails tracked along his stomach. He moved one hand up along her arm, and another along her side - and she didn't stop him when his hand caressed her shirt-covered breast. If anything, she leaned into his hand, growling as she licked her lips.

"Spike," Veil growled low, eyes half-lidded. Her gaze slowly trailed back up until she met his emerald eyes. She picked at his collar with one hand before asking, "How much do you like this shirt?" She had a sly grin on her face, somehow unreadable to Spike.

Spike blinked up at her for a moment, somewhat distracted by her hands and confused by the question. "Uh, it's just a shirt Veil, so-" Spike was interrupted by a loud shredding noise. Veil had unsheathed her larger claws and torn through Spike's shirt with one hand.

Chuckling to herself, she resheathed her claws and leaned down. She slowly began licking from Spike's stomach up to his muscular chest, enjoying the soft groans she earned from her drake. Grinning, she pressed her lips against Spike's neck and nipped softly at it. "Whoops, slipped. So sorry, big guy," she mockingly used Cyclone's nickname for him. She then moved back up to seal Spike's lips in a lust-driven kiss.

Spike tried to fight back, but Veil was wild, untamed. Her larger tongue gave her the advantage and forced him to think on his toes. When she stuck her tongue into his mouth again, Spike darted his own to circle around Veil's thick muscle, causing her to moan loudly as her eyes opened wide.

Veil looked down into Spike's green eyes, feeling the slyness coming from them. She playfully growled back at the drake before closing her eyes. Suddenly, Spike found his tongue being dragged back in Veil's mouth, catching him off-guard before he regained control.

Veil wasn't going to give herself to Spike so easily, apparently. It seemed that he still needed to prove that he was a suitable mate in a sexual manner, as well. Another idea found its way into Spike's head, prompting him to slide a hand down to Veil's bushy tail, taking hold of it and tugging on it softly.

The result was a squeal from Veil, telling Spike that he was going in the right direction. He slowly began to tug and pull at the hound's tail harder, earning more approving noises from her.

While the two had been busy 'acquainting' themselves with one another, Cyclone had already stripped out of her clothing and climbed on the bed behind Veil. A wide smile slipped onto her lips as she got closer to Veil's shapely rear. It wasn't as big as her own, but Cyclone had to admit that she was very attracted to the fit body Veil had.

While the hound was busy dealing with Spike, Cyclone slipped her hands into the hemline of her black jeans, quickly slipping them down. Veil still seemed to not have noticed her, so Cyclone took hold of either side of the firm ass, and lifted it up so she could move her muzzle closer to Veil's slightly damp flower.

Veil's eyes shot open, and she suddenly broke the kiss with a sharp gasp. She looked over her shoulder to see Cyclone's face behind her ass, looking back at the hound with a smirk on her face. "C-Cyclone, wh-what are you doing back there?"

"Oh, so you liked that, huh?" Cyclone teased as she met Veil's gaze, seeing the bright blush on the hound's face, her eyes screaming with need. "Well if that's the case then…" Cyclone's tongue again slithered out, mouth salivating at Veil's heavy scent before moving to her dripping slit to take another curious lick.

Veil's body quivered from the feeling of Cyclone's serpent tongue dancing over her outer walls, causing her to moan and tilt her head back. This left her exposed for Spike to move up and start biting and kissing her neck again. Veil writhed in pleasure from both of her mates' motions, which caused her to wiggle her backside out of Cyclone's grip.

"Veil, hold still, will ya?" Cyclone whined while Veil looked back at the dragoness through her hair. The hound was already heavily panting, and her flower was beginning to drench Cyclone's muzzle with its juices. However, Cyclone stuck out her bottom lip as she continued to pout about it. "Spikey, do something."

Spike opened his eyes a bit to see Cyclone's pout, chuckling, "I think I can do that." He took his hands from Veil's shoulders, trailing them down through her fur to her firm ass cheeks, and spread them open for Cyclone.

Veil bit her bottom lip to keep it from quivering, her body shaking from Spike's scaled hands stretching her ass cheeks apart. As Spike kept his hands on the two mounds, Veil put her hands on his chest and pushed him to lay down before looking him in the eyes. Spike smirked at the look in Veil's gray eyes, her ears pointed downward. She had never looked so cute before. When he told her how cute she looked, she just blushed before looking away, muttering, "Hate you… hate you both." Spike chuckled before he started kissing his way from her cheek back down to her neck.

Cyclone's attention, however, was entirely on Veil's drooling flower, tempting her to move her hand towards it to rub at the outer walls. Her fingers were quickly coated in the slick juices coming out of Veil, causing Cyclone to giggle. "Wow, Veil must really be loving this, look at how wet she's getting."

Both mates looked back towards Cyclone's hand, seeing the clear juices sticking to her fingers. Veil quickly turned her eyes away while Spike continued to grin at her. "Guess we shouldn't keep her waiting then," Spike said before he moved his mouth back to Veil's neck, getting her to whine while Cyclone moved her muzzle back to her leaking flower.

Veil's eyes almost rolled up into her skull from the teasing she was getting, wishing Spike would just roll her over and pin her down as her tongue rolled out of her gasping mouth. Her tail wrapped around the back of Cyclone's head to keep the dragoness in between her legs.

Spike started rolling his hands on Veil's firm cheeks, pushing and pulling them together while Cyclone's tongue prodded at the entrance to Veil's unpicked cherry. Veil's breath started to come heavier, drool flowing down the tip of her tongue.

"Dr-Spike! Qu-quit playing a-around already," Veil whined, her body trembling from Cyclone's tongue slipping in and out of her slit. She was already fighting to hold off her climax.

Spike took one of his hands off of Veil's ass, nudging it against Cyclone's cheek. Cyclone got the hint, and after one last long, savoury lick of Veil's entire slit, she moved away from Spike's legs. The moment he felt that Cyclone was out of the way, Spike rolled Veil over to her back, surprising her and making her gasp.

Veil snapped her jaw shut to cut her gasp short as she turned it into a low growl. Her black jeans had slid further off her lower half, but still hung on, while Spike's pants were left undone. "P-pants off… Spike," she said with a light pant through her words.

Spike chuckled at Veil, placing his hands on either side of her head, looming over her. When he saw Veil give a small shudder, Spike blew out a small puff of gray smoke through his nose. Veil's body shuddered again as she flashed a toothy smile. "Now, Drake."

"As my beta wishes," Spike said as he reached for the hemline of Veil's jeans around her powerful thighs, pulling them straight off her legs with one tug. Veil giggled, which was a rare thing in its own right, as she 'accidentally' let her feet fall on Spike's face and upper chest. "Someone is being frisky. Guess I better not keep her waiting," Spike chuckled as Veil rubbed her feet on his chest and cheek. After rolling his eyes, Spike took hold of her ankles.

Veil's response was to stick out her wide, flat, tongue at Spike before she sat up against the head of the bed, reaching for the hem of her shirt to pull it off her body. Spike smiled as he took a moment to admire Veil's trim body and how well it fit her modest breasts. Between her breasts lay the necklace she'd gotten from Cyclone, cool and glinting in the dim light of their room. Spike reached out a hand to touch it gently, and it felt hot to the touch. Smiling, he kissed one of Veil's ankles, and turned it into a trail of kisses down her leg. When he reached her flower, he took in a deep breath through his nose, his lungs filling with Veil's musk. A growl escaped from deep in Spike's throat, and he roughly pulled Veil towards him by her legs, forcing his muzzle up against her flower.

Veil yelped as he pulled her down, surprised at how forceful he was suddenly being. She blushed and covered her mouth with her hands, embarrassed that he'd gotten her to react like that. She let out a gasp when she felt his tongue prodding at her flower, and her hips bucked to grind against his face.

Spike looked up to meet her eyes, and place his hands on her hips to keep her in place. He slowly began kissing his way up her body, starting with her lower hips and moving on to her stomach. He could feel the muscles moving under her skin, and lightly nipped at her, getting an encouraging coo from the hound. He went back to making kisses along her skin, enjoying the feeling of her fur against his face.

When Spike reached the space between Veil's breasts, her fingers moved down to scratch the back of his head, enjoying his attention too much to really guide him. He softly kissed Veil's necklace, wondering how Veil wore it all the time if it always felt this hot. Spike moved to capture one of her breasts in his mouth, and she moaned in pleasure as she dug her nails into the scales on the back of his neck. She knew his scales were too tough to pierce unless she was using her larger claws, so she wasn't worried about hurting him.

Spike bit down softly on the nipple he was over, tugging slightly and getting Veil to hiss. He let go and kissed it before moving to the other breast to suck on it. Her breasts weren't nearly as large as Cyclone's - but they were Veil's, so they were perfect. Spike opened his eyes and looked up at Veil. Her own eyes were half lidded, nearly drunk with pleasure and lust, and she licked her lips when she met his eyes.

Spike grinned before rushing up to seal his lips against Veil's, grinding his still-clothed hips against her. He barely noticed that he was smearing her juices on his pants. Veil, on the other hand, did.

"Pants off, Drake," she growl against his lips, hooking her fingers in his waistband and trying to tug them down.

Moving his lips back to her neck, Spike let out a low moan as Veil's nails scratched their way up his back, and she pushed him off her. As Spike stood back up, he failed to notice Cyclone moving in behind him, reaching for the hem of his pants before yanking them down. Spike gave a yelp of surprise as his member suddenly erupted from its prison.

Cyclone giggled at the blush on Spike's face, as his throbbing member leaked clear juices from the tip and onto Veil's nether regions. Veil sucked air in through her teeth, hissing under her breath, "H-hot…" as Spike's shaft continued to throb against her clenching flower.

"You didn't forget about little old me, now did you Spikey?" Cyclone teased before kissing the side of Spike's neck. One of her hands moved down to Spike's groin, grasping his dick and pumping it against Veil's pussy. She loved feeling the barbs along the sides, and the thick ridges on the bottom. She also loved how wet Veil was - she knew the hound was going to enjoy herself… and it let her lube Spike up for her pack-sister.

Spike chuckled as he tilted his head to the side to give Cyclone more room to kiss and lick his neck, slowly moving his hips against Veil and through Cyclone's hand. "Heh, no, but you did catch me by surprise there," Spike admitted as he began moving his hips faster when Veil started to buck hers back with need. "Ready Veil?"

"Y-yeah, j-just not too fast," Veil stammered, remembering back to this morning, and how Cyclone had a tough time getting out of the bed from the soreness. She wasn't sure what she would do if she had to go hunting like that.

Spike gave a small nod before Cyclone let go of him and moved her hands up to feel Spike's chest, pressing herself against his back and humming against his neck. Spike pulled his hips back to line up the tip of his shaft with Veil's entrance. He gripped her hips, claws brushing up through the fur along her thighs, and pushed forward, managing to get the head of his cock into the hound's inviting pussy. Veil's back arched from the immense heat coming off Spike's shaft, gritting her teeth as she braced herself to take Spike's full girth.

Every slow, agonizing inch was just as hot as the last, and Spike's shaft only grew thicker as the smooth barbs started sliding in. Veil's hands shot down to grasp Spike's wrists, bucking her hips to try and take more of him into her.

Spike was holding up about as well as Veil. Somehow, Veil felt tighter than Cyclone did, and the feeling was causing him to grit his teeth while thin lines of faded-gray smoke left his nostrils. Spike guessed that it was the difference in body types between Cyclone and Veil; Cyclone's curvy, feminine body versus Veil's lean and muscular one.

His claws tightened on Veil's slender waist when he felt the thin seal lining Veil's tight walls. "Are you ready Veil?" Spike asked with a small huff in his voice, as it was hard to hold himself back with how tight Veil was.

The hound couldn't answer verbally as her mouth shuttered open and closed before she kept it shut with her eyes clenching, tears at the corners. Veil shook them off, opening her eyes to meet Spike's and nodding her head.

Spike returned the nod before pulling his hips back a bit, which was difficult due to Veil's walls clamping down around him suddenly. Groaning in pleasure, Spike pushed forward, breaking Veil's hymen in one single fluid motion. Veil's back arched up, eyes shooting open wide as her mouth opened with no sound coming out.

The feeling was… incredible! Immensely hot and painful, but for some reason, Veil absolutely loved it as a smile came onto her lips, her tongue wetting her lips. Spike remained still for a moment as Veil's body trembled around him, her folds squeezing around his barbed member.

Once Veil had finally calmed down, Spike began to slowly move out of her, causing her to let out small howls as her ears furiously twitched about. However, Spike could tell that Veil wanted him to continue as he began to gently roll his hips into her with a grunt of effort.

"C-c'mon Spike…" Veil beggingly moaned as her legs pressed firmly against the bedsheets, her clawed toes digging into the fabric. Spike did what she wanted and started to pick up the pace of his thrusting, pushing more of his shaft into Veil each time.

Soon Veil's tight constricting walls started to stretch to accommodate Spike's girth, allowing him to push even further into the hound's depths. Veil's hands moved up to her slightly bouncing breasts, taking hold of her firm mounds to pinch her hardened nipples in between her claws.

Each push and pull of Spike's enormous shaft pushed Veil closer to the edge thanks to the ridged bottom and barbed sides. Veil tried to flex and tighten her legs to try and stave off the building pressure inside of her, somewhat afraid of what would happen if she let it burst. It felt as though she was going to explode.

One of her legs moved off of the bed to weakly kick at Spike's chest. However, the drake simply took hold of the back of her thigh with his hand while the other moved to keep down Veil's other leg. Spike moved down slightly to kiss the back of her calf, and give her a sly grin, feeling how weak her legs were at the moment.

That was it. The ease of which Spike was able to take control of her, and know it, was the last straw. Veil's entire body shook as she let out a loud howl that turned into a small roar, her walls clamping down on Spike's shaft, gushing streams of her juices out around the drake and herself.

Spike let out a snort of gray smoke from his nose, gritting his teeth as Veil's silky walls started milking his shaft for all it was worth. Bucking his hips into Veil one last time, Spike felt his balls clenching before they emptied themselves into Veil. He let a low groan out as his release hit, occasionally managing to say Veil's name as he poured himself into her.

"Aah! S-so hot!" Veil writhed from the sudden surge of heat flooding her core, causing her to let out smaller howls as her body moved about, hips bucking of their own accord. Eventually, Spike's shaft had given all that it could, finally allowing Veil to rest back down on the bed, while the excess of Spike's massive load leaked out of her still-twitching flower.

Both were panting heavily for breath as they continued to come down from their orgasms. Spike let Veil's legs go limp on the bed as he began moving down towards her, with Cyclone taking up the right side. He placed a hand on the headrest above Veil's head, locking half-lidded eyes with each other. Spike trailed one claw along Veil's jaw, enjoying the look in Veil's eyes.

Veil smiled, "Th-thanks Spike... "

Spike took a moment to simply look down at Veil's tired form. Fur and hair were both matted down by sweat and their mixed orgasmic juices, her ears tilted down sideways with a blush across her gray cheeks. "Thanks for what?" he soon asked through low, drawn-out breaths.

Cyclone and Veil looked and smiled at each other, before turning to look at Spike. Cyclone's tail wrapped around Spike's, answering, "For being you. For agreeing to take care of us, Spike. For being the drake, and alpha, the both of us dreamed about for so long."

A smile grew on Spike's face as he let out a small chuckle before he laid down in between his two mates, holding the both of them in his strong arms. "Girls, you know I love the both of you. I'll always protect you. Truth be told, you two may have saved me from myself. So if anyone has to say thank you, it should be me."

Both Veil and Cyclone wrapped an arm around Spike's neck while they intertwined their fingers underneath him. Veil reached down and grabbed their blankets, pulling them up over the trio, and they all closed their eyes as they began drifting off to sleep. However, their nap was prematurely cut off when the roaring growls of Spike and Veil's stomachs forced the three to open their eyes.

"Uh, guys, you did eat today right?" Cyclone questioned as she looked between the two. When she got nothing but blushes from both of her mates, Cyclone giggled before wiggling out of Spike's grasp. "I'll go get you guys something out of the kitchen," she said after getting dressed in one of Spike's dark-blue shirts and a pair of her pants before stepping out of the room with a small kick in her step.

Spike chuckled as he filled in the empty space left behind by Cyclone. Veil quickly moved to rest her head on top of Spike's chest, her arms wrapping themselves around his neck. "Comfortable?" Spike asked, draping an arm around Veil's back to hold her closer. His other hand went up to her hair, and he started to lose himself in the scruffy texture.

Veil nuzzled against Spike's chest before letting out a small sigh, enjoying his claws in her hair. "Yeah, thanks Spike. It really means a lot for you to promise to take care of me and Cy. I know we're asking a lot but it's… it's comforting just to know."

Enjoying the peaceful atmosphere, Spike rested his chin on top of Veil's head, closing his eyes just to feel the warmth of Veil's thick winter fur against his scales. "Well, like I said, you two helped save me from myself. I might not have had the will to fight my ghost-heart if it hadn't been for Cy, and then you. Besides, this feels right, you know?" Veil simply laid on top of Spike, closing her eyes as she thought back to yesterday.

"Spike… Can I ask you something?"

With eyebrows raised, Spike responded, "Yeah, you can always ask me anything, Veily."

"What you asked me yesterday, I want to know your answer." Spike was confused for a moment, before he realized what she was talking about. He sighed as his grip on Veil tightened for a moment, staying quiet to order his thoughts. "Spike, I want to hear your answer." Veil rose from the bed, looking down at Spike as her shoulder-length hair fell over her shoulders, brushing against Spike's chest. Her necklace hung between them on its thin chain, dangling.

Spike turned his eyes away from Veil's for a moment, but he could still feel her demand for an answer from him; he knew she wasn't going to give up. "Fine," Spike sighed. He turned to look Veil in the eyes, noticing a faint red glow coming from them. 'Must have something to do with being a canine.' Spike spared this thought for later as he took in a deep breath to answer Veil's question.

"Honestly, and I know this is going to sound backwards, but… I don't think I would be able to control myself if they tried to do anything to Cyclone." A small pause stopped the drake as he took in a slow, drawn, breath. "Cyclone said that she's okay, but I know that she's just saying that to stop us from ever wanting to take revenge for her. What happened to her wasn't right, and it burns me to know that there's nearly nothing we can do about it. The things I would do though..." Spike closed his eyes as he tried to calm himself down.

"So you're just gonna forget it? Let them get away with hurting our Cyclone?" Spike sighed from Veil's upset and angry tone of voice. He opened his eyes and met hers, and she was shocked at how hard his eyes had gone.

"I'll protect the both of you. Nobody will ever hurt her, or you, ever again. Not while I can stop them." Spike wrapped his arms around Veil's back, holding her tightly as she shivered slightly; her mind was on how helpless she would be against the fury of dragons that had hurt Cyclone. Veil was a strong fighter, especially for a beta diamond dog, but against those dragons... "I'll fight for the both of you, and I will find a way to come back to you; victorious or not. This is my vow as your knight, Veil." Spike had made the same promise to Cyclone, and he knew he would fight just as hard for Veil. They were what mattered to him most, now. He'd do whatever it took to protect them.

Drawing a slow breath, Veil placed her head down against Spike's throat, giving herself in to his warmth yet again. Spike had proven himself more than to be fit their mate, in her mind. If there was anyone that she wanted to father her cubs, it was Spike.

"Thank you Spike, I love you." She kissed his throat, before nipping at it softly. She let out a low chuckle when she felt something throb against her waist. Putting her lips against his throat again, she slid a hand down his scaled chest and further down, softly grabbing him where he had began to harden again. "Someone's excited here, huh?"

Spike placed a kiss on her forehead before answering. "Not like I can help it, but aren't you sore?"

Veil growled softly against his throat, murmuring, "You might be able to beat me in a fight, but you're in trouble if you think I'm going to let you off so easily." She dragged her nails up along his shaft, revelling in feeling Spike's body shudder under her.

"Well, if that's how you feel Veil, then-" Spike was attempting to get up to roll Veil over again, when she shoved him back down, growling loudly at him. When he looked up at her, surprised, the smirk on her face was only made more alluring due to the light blush on her cheeks.

"Nope, big guy. This time," Veil stopped to lean down to Spike's ear-frill, nipping it as she breathed hotly against it. Her hair tickled his face, and she heard Spike breathe in deeply to get a strong whiff of her scent. "This time, I'm on top." She sat back up in Spike's lap and gave him a wicked grin. "This time, I ride you." She emphasized the final word by grinding herself against Spike, trying to muffle the moan from the feeling of his length growing against her flower.

"Oh?" Spike asked, returning the smile, his face flushed from excitement and arousal. "Is that how we're going to do this?" Spike's hands trailed up her legs until he got to her waist, and started kneading the furred flesh there. For some reason, he found his eyes drawn once more to the hound's necklace, and an idea began to form in his mind… something he'd have to remember for later. Right now, there was Veil in his lap, demanding his attention.

Veil flexed one hand, and her larger set of claws came out. Gently, she trailed them down her scaled lover's chest. "Mmmmmhm… and maybe we'll let Cyclone join in when she gets back."

Spike's grin just got wider, and he pulled Veil's unsheathed claws up to his lips, gently kissing each sharp claw. "Then let's see what you have, my little puppy." /-/  
/ Ch. 56: The Conequences of Our Actions/-/

High Moon Ch. 56:  
The Consequences of Our Actions

A few days had passed since the twins had woken up from their growth spurts. They still hadn't had a real chance to see what they could do, due to not being able to train safely during the winter. They tried to keep as active as they could though, going out with Wolf and the other diamond dogs, hunting anything they could get their claws on.

One thing that they had noticed was that using their magic was easier to do than it was before. It felt as though their magic was more developed now; it might have been connected with the departure of their ancestors. Along with their magic and normal fire-breathing becoming more mature, Spike's strength and agility had nearly doubled what it once was; he now came second only to Wolf. Quill found it amusing that her magic had exceeded Spike's and still seemed to be growing at a rapid pace with each passing day, and things seemed clearer for her.

Before their week-long sleep, most of Quill's judgements had been based on her emotions, which led to her regretting some of the things she said and how she said them. Now, it was different. She didn't rush herself to get an answer out, actually taking a minute or two to think about things. Still though, Quill had moments where she would catch herself blurting out the first thing that came to mind.

Their sudden growth gave both of the twins a high spot when hunting. Wolf trusted Quill to scout out ahead, not having to worry about her trying something she shouldn't. Both twins earned a ranking ahead of the rest of the diamond dogs when it came to feeding, though Spike often let Quill go first. He had tried to have Veil go ahead of him, but she'd been adamant when she told him that she'd eat after he did.

Food wasn't hard to come across, thankfully. The trouble was that there was a limit on how long they could stay outside before the cold started getting to Quill's wings; the last thing the pack needed was a sick dragoness sneezing out fire. Quill tried use her winter coat as a cloak for her to keep the heat in her wings, but this left her grounded with the others.

During one of their hunts, she learned an easy way to keep the balance between her body heat and the cold air around her by using her normal dragon fire, which took less of her energy than her dragon-magic did. Spike adapted this idea for himself and the other betas when they needed some extra heat.

"Thanks, Dr- Spike," Fang said as he and the other betas had gathered around a quick fire Spike made while they waited for Quill to come back from her scouting. He and Spirit stood next to each other while Veil shamelessly nestled against Spike for the warmth that his dragon's soul carried. Normally Veil didn't like to show much affection for Spike in public, but times like this, when she was tired or just cold, she'd forego her normal reluctance and burrow herself against him.

Wolf wasn't far away from the group, but he kept his distance as he paced around on all fours, waiting for Quill to return from her scouting. After a few more moments, he stood up from the ground and walked over to the others to stand in front of the small fire. They had already been out hunting for an hour, and that was not counting the twenty minutes they had wasted waiting for the dragoness to return.

He growled, "Drake, where is your sister?"

Spike had noticed that the dogs, Wolf especially, adopted a simplistic speaking pattern the longer they went without food or had been in the cold for too long; he thought it had something to do with winter or was just way to save energy. Spike had noticed that idle chitchat was a hard thing to get out of any of the dogs when they were like this. Their fur had taken on a much lighter hue for the winter. Wolf more than the others, as his fur was now a pale-white, and their eyes were now tinted with a slight red to absorb what little sunlight there was.

"I wish I knew. Quill knows not to go too far ahead, so she must've found something," Spike answered as he turned his head up to the bleak blanket above their heads to try, and fail, to see through the cloud layer for his sister.

"Yeah, she'd better have," Wolf replied, blowing out a cloud of fog through his hands. Looking around, Wolf could see why Blaze always wanted to find some reason to go outside. Despite the freezing temperature, it was beautiful out in the Everfree. Snow covered the ground in a cold blanket while the pale light of the sun reflected off of it, making it shimmer slightly. The pure serenity of it was able to calm anyone.

At night, it was even more magical. But to step out then would be foolish unless you knew exactly what you were going to do. Wolf had never paid it any attention before meeting Blaze, but the very first winter he spent with her, she was able to reach out to him and show him the allure the winter had; which had led to her catching a cold the day after.

"Hey Fang, when is Night supposed to be finished with those leg-greaves for us?" Veil asked, looking over her shoulder at the pale-brown dog.

"Soon," Fang answered, "she's been working as hard as she can. We have all that money Quill earned to thank too. But why do you want leg-greaves if you're wearing boots?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, looking down at the gray boots that came to mid-calf on Veil. She wasn't the only one that was wearing something for their feet as the entire pack had some kind of footwear to keep their toes warm.

"No reason really," Veil answered back, shaking her head as she turned it around to rest it against Spike's jacket, closing her eyes. "I was just wondering how she's been doing with her being all night-pony now."

"You mean nocturnal?" Spike asked, even though it was more of a statement than a question.

Veil shrugged her shoulders with a small sigh. "Whatever the word is."

Spike chuckled a little at the flat tone in his beta hound's voice, having a feeling that she was tired of the cold and from standing around. An idea poked around in his head before he took in a slow, deep breath, adding to the fuel in his dragon's soul, making it burn a bit hotter. Veil let out a content sigh as the heat was shared with her for a moment before Spike expelled most of it through his nose in a large cloud of steam.

The hot cloud of steam washed over Veil's entire body, causing her to shiver as she suppressed a moan. Some of the snow melted underneath the pair's feet from the burst of heat from his body, which reached the other dogs momentarily before fading away in the slight wind.

"Thanks Spike," Veil softly said as she moved her hand down his chest. Spike opened up his mouth to respond, only to be cut off by a grunt when Veil nudged her hand against Spike's stomach, hard. "Now don't do that again. Alpha-Mother told me what happens when you or Cyclone use too much of that internal fire thing in you. The last thing I want right now is to feel guilty for you catching a cold because of me."

Spike laughed a bit before he started to gently rock where he stood. "Heh, okay Veil," he said softly with a thick fog leaving his mouth from what was left over from his increased internal heat.

The male dogs didn't say anything about the two's display of affection, already knowing that Veil had taken Spike as her mate from the bout they had a few days ago. However, looking at the two forced a long sigh out of Spirit as he was starting to long for the touch of his own mate.

Fang picked up on this. "Hey man, she's going to be alright," he quietly said, placing a firm hand on Spirit's shoulders to shake him out of his stupor.

"I dunno, Fang," Spirit sighed in response, casting his gaze down to the dead grass at Spike and Veil's feet. "Her mane and fur are almost pitch black, there's no heat coming from her, and she keeps trembling in her sleep... even though there are heat-stones lining her room."

"C'mon, man." Fang again shook Spirit's shoulder to get him to look up from the ground, and at him. "Alpha-Mother already told us there've been worse winters than this. Lily will make it through. Everything's alright."

Spirit simply sighed as he slowly looked back at the ground, nodding his head, half-heartedly as it was. Fang looked at his friend with mild discontent. He and Spirit had known each other since they were cubs. They were practically brothers, and seeing Spirit like this saddened Fang's heart.

A few more quiet minutes passed before Quill finally returned. She landed on the ground, quickly walking over towards the others as she hurried to get her jacket over her wings. "Guys, you won't believe what I've found," she quickly opened up before anyone could question where she had been for the last twenty-odd minutes.

"Well? Start leading the way already, and someone put out that fire," Wolf commanded as he started to follow Quill over to what she had to show him.

"I got it guys, you go on ahead," Spirit answered, clenching his fists before striking the gems circling his wrists on his gloves together to spark the kinetic magic within. They responded by glowing with a faint blue light, charging from the sudden movement of their owner. Spike and Veil started to leave, Fang shortly following when Spirit nodded his head over towards the others.

Once they were out of earshot, Spirit let out another sigh, muttering, "Nothing will be alright until I see her eyes open again." He then put his right hand up in front of him, a small ethereal blue ball gathered from the kinetic magic of the gems. The moment it had grown to take up most of the space in his palm, Spirit flicked his hand towards the small fire, sending the ball right at it.

A small shockwave blew apart the fire, ending its life with excessive force. Spirit let out another sigh before he started to run on all fours in the direction the others had left. It was a full five minutes of ripping through the snow before he came to a halt when he spotted the others huddled behind some snow-covered brush.

Smelling something off, Spirit continued stealthily forward on all fours. Wolf and Quill spoke quietly together, Fang was pacing on all fours with drool at his lips, while Veil and Spike remained standing but seem to be drooling just as much as Fang was. "What's going on?"

"The motherload, literally," Fang answered, stopping his pacing just long enough to answer before starting again. Spirit knew something had to have been up for Fang to be acting like this. Fang's stomach let out a loud rumbling sound which was followed by Veil and Spike's, and Fang began snarling. "Alpha, please tell me that we're gonna go for it? Think how long we could feed the pack if we slaughtered them all."

"Quiet, Fang," Wolf snarled back, getting Fang to calm down from his constant panting. After winning the stare-down, Wolf turn his attention back to the 'motherload' Fang was talking about. As right as Fang was, and as easily they might take in this catch, they didn't have the energy to do so. The twins wouldn't be able to stay out for much longer, and the way Fang was acting, neither could the dogs.

"Listen up, everybody." The group quickly killed all unnecessary sounds as the Alpha began handing out their assignments. "Fang, Spirit, you two take the left side. Spike, Veil, the right. Quill, get in that tree. We're moving on your mark, however you want to do it. Just be sure whatever it is blinds the mother long enough for the others to grab what they can. I'll hold her off."

"Wait, what mother?" Spirit asked before following Fang, who had already taken off towards the direction Wolf was talking about. Their claws ripped through the snow like a blow-torch through warm butter, smashing any wood underneath their hands and feet. Spirit continued to follow Fang as he suddenly took a hard right into a few bushes, breathing heavily. But this breath was for the building apprehension.

"Fang, dude, what's gotten into you?" Spirit again questioned, only for a growling pant to be his answer as Fang's eyes were trained on the clearing ahead of them. Knowing that he wasn't going to get an answer out of Fang like this, Spirit peered out at the clearing; what he saw quickly forced him to start drooling as well.

Geologically speaking, it was more or less a field with a steeply sloped hill on the other side. But the hunters' eyes weren't on the hill, they were on what was in the field. A massive horde of mountain boars, which were twice as big as the normal forest boars everyone had gotten used to feeding on. These boars' hides were thick, yet the meat underneath was so tender and juicy that cooking it would just take away from the experience as opposed to eating one raw. Just as their name suggested, mountain boars lived high in the mountains summits, rarely ever coming down unless in search of food.

That must be the exact thing that had happened with this herd of twenty, thirty, fifty walking sacks of meat. Mountain boars were known for many things: one, their hide was thick and tough. Two, they had stronger bone structure and horns, and in some cases, bone armor would protrude out of their body for defence and offence. Three, attacking them in a herd was dangerous. Four, they lived far longer than any other boar known, some able to live up to a full century.

And finally, five, the mother was always the most dangerous. Growing to be over six hundred pounds of raw muscle and bone, the mother was the least desirable kill of them all, but the most important one. If eyes were not kept on the mother or other adult boars, their tusks and horns would easily ram straight through your body, and that's if she wasn't stomping on you.

The way the herd rested was also something to watch out for. The youngest, and juiciest boars would sit around the mother in a tight circle, and the elder mountain boars formed a protective circle around them. That was where the trouble would start. To get to the good meat, the hunters would have to go through the tougher ones, and by then, the mother would've surely awoken.

"No way… Mountain boars, look at them all," Spirit said, almost breathless. He had a hard time picking which ones to look at. They all looked way too juicy and fat to just pick one; they must've just finished eating not long ago. Spirit shook his head to pull his focus back onto what was about to happen. He quickly started striking his wrists together to charge the kinetic magic of his gems, building them up to the point that they started to shimmer a bright azure color.

His hands began glowing in that same color, telling Spirit that he was good for a couple of bursts before they needed recharging. Just to add to it, he also unsheathed his claws at the same time Fang did, though Fang's were about an inch longer and twice as dense. "Ready Fang?"

"All we have to do is wait for Dragoness' mark," Fang answered back, not really paying Spirit any mind as he was planning on how to reach the younglings of the herd.

On the right side of the clearing, Spike and Veil were getting ready to raid the herd as well. Veil unsheathed her claws to rip through the tough hide of the boars. Spike opted to use his Element rather than generate a pressure blade. When he summoned his weapons, Spike noticed that something about them had matured. The appearance was the same, yet the feel was something that seemed unreal to him.

"Spike," Veil started, taking Spike's attention away from his twin scythes. When he looked towards Veil, the hound turned her head away from him for a moment before she took in a deep breath and met his eyes again. "Before your sister starts this off, I need to tell you something. Don't you even think about getting yourself hurt out there, okay? These mountain boars… they're no joke."

"Yeah, I figured that Veil," Spike answered back, moving his scythes around to hold them backwards in both hands. "But I have to say the same thing to you. So we're watching out for each other, and the others, got it?" He bumped his shoulder against Veil's, grinning at the hound.

Veil smiled up at him before she nodded her head and crouched down to the ground to wait patiently for Quill to make her mark known.

At the center, Wolf was already gathering in as much magic as he could through the bracers on his wrists. Over the months after the dragons' test, Wolf had become more acquainted with his ancestral past, mastering several 'techniques,' as Isis called them. He hadn't used his powers for anything besides larger tasks, and this was certainly a larger task.

'Now, let's just see how much the twins have really grown.'

Sitting in the tree above Wolf, her swords at her sides, and fire-balls growing around her with each slowly drawn breath, Quill got ready to let the others know when to strike.

Her attack would be the first. It had to be the fastest and serve its purpose to incapacitate the mother long enough for the others to take in a few boars. She couldn't afford to mess up now, as how the rest of winter passed for the pack might depend on this.

Snapping her eyes open, Quill slowly raised a blade to get ready to signal the strike on the herd. Yet as she was going to give the command, her body froze when she spotted a black shade on the hill stumbling through the snow on all fours.

Wolf looked up and saw that something was bothering her, so he followed her gaze to the black shade. The others were also able to see the creature noisily stumbling about, getting up only to fall right back down before rolling the rest of the way down the hill. It must have hit a rock or something because the shadowy creature was knocked up into the air before coming to a hard stop on its side.

Right in front of the waking mother mountain boar.

"Ah shit, Wolf, what do I do?" Quill asked with her blade still raised, trembling slightly as she was quickly trying to figure out the next move to make. As the figure got up, it was easy for everyone to tell that it was a canine of some sort, and was injured as it stumbled back from the slowly approaching mother. "Wolf?!"

"Attack! Grab what you can and save that hound!" Wolf roared, his command reaching the ears of the other hunters with ease. As they all began to move towards the herd, Quill's fireballs blazed out in front of them.

The flurry of fireballs slammed into the mother's side, knocking her over but not doing much real damage. Everyone began carving a path through the herd. Spirit used his gems to knock boars over for Fang and Veil to rip right through them, while the twins used their elements to slash at every boar in their path. Wolf tore through the snow to charge straight for the mother boar.

Wolf kicked off of the ground, latching onto the mother's thick hide with his claws. He ripped and shredded through the boar's hide. As the mother roared in anger more than pain, the others were effectively taking down as many boars as they could. Veil rushed over towards the injured hound, looping the hound's arm around her neck while she lifted her up from the ground.

"Rah, come on! Alpha! I got the hound!" she shouted to Wolf, who was using his magic to aid in slamming his fist into the mother's bleeding hide, crystallizing the boar's blood. Shards of blood-red crystals began jutting through the thick armor of the mother boar's body with each punch, leaving it riddled with shards of crimson.

Rage filled the boar's mind as it started kicking and shaking around to knock Wolf off her body. Seeing Veil carrying the hound out of the clearing, along with the others dragging off their kills, Wolf leapt away from the boar, landing on the ground with a howl.

He turned to leave the clearing on all fours, smacking away any of the boars that came after him. The remaining boars were going to give chase, when the mother let out a blood-curdling cry of help to rally her many offspring to her, which gave the hunters the chance they needed to to escape with their kills.

Wolf quickly regrouped with the others, running past them and growling, "Mansion! Now!" The others didn't have to be told twice as they hurried to get their fresh kills back to High Moon, along with the injured hound.

Veil did her best to keep up with Wolf and the others, but the semi-conscious hound around her shoulders was starting to become heavier by the minute. Glancing back at her, Spike handed off some of his extra boars to Spirit, who had gotten away with the least, before falling back to assist Veil in carrying the hound. With both of them carrying her, they caught back up to the rest of the pack. Nobody in the pack knew what condition the hound was truly in, or why was she had been running full charge like that. However, none of them could leave her out there in the snow to die, so all had instantly changed the plan from getting food to saving her - now, the food was just a bonus.

The question on everyone's minds was… What was she doing out there by herself?

"P-Princess F-Frost…"

High Moon Valley, City ruins, Mansion

"My goodness, the poor dear has a fever too," Blaze noted. She, Frost, and Isis had all came at the first sound of the hunters returning, only to find a stray hound on the brink of collapse. It was a good thing that they found her, as well. The hound, identified an abutiu by Frost, had cuts along her arms, legs, and the left side of her midsection. They found a small gash underneath the hound's snow-white hair, which was quickly and carefully taken care of by Frost. Once that was taken care of, the only injury that was a cause for worry was the one on her midsection. Again, Frost was the first to move to treat the injury, leaving Spike and Cyclone to take care of her more minor injuries.

After noting the change in Frost's behavior, Blaze had sent Isis back to the temple to retrieve bandages and medicine Quill had gotten several months ago. The cause of the fever was blamed on the fact that what she called clothing was nothing more than dirty-white pieces of cloth wrapped around the thick dark-gray fur of her chest and nether regions. This left her body almost completely exposed, revealing a colorless gem the size of a softball embedded just above her breasts. On top of that, nobody knew how long ago the hound had eaten.

Isis quickly returned with the items Blaze had requested. While they quickly went to work dressing up the hound's wounds, Wolf had the dogs and Quill go place the boars, all eighteen they had gathered, in the smokehouse inside the kitchen. They all did what they were told, and Night and Kiri met them in the kitchen, awoken by the sudden ruckus.

"Spike," Blaze called out to the drake, holding a small lime-green vial in her hands towards him. "See to it that this enters her bloodstream. It won't help with the fever, but it will numb her pain. We can at least make her recovery that much easier so her body can focus on dealing with the fever."

Spike nodded his head as he reached for the vial, undoing the cap. He then started to use his water-magic to blend the liquified herbs inside. It was a small struggle due to the fact that the liquid inside was only partly water, but Spike was soon able to get it to flow into a small cut on the abutiu's arm before Cyclone tightly wrapped it up. "Pff, that's done. You really think she's going to be okay, Blaze?"

"She's too strong-hearted to be beaten," Frost answered, moving over to the hound's head to rub her hand through the snow-white hair, revealing a second blank-colored gem in the center of the markings on her forehead. "She's always been like this. Clumsy, hyperactive, enthusiastic, but she's loyal, and that's what counts the most."

"I take it that you know her Frost?" Blaze asked, now growing worried when Frost's body started trembling.

Frost took a moment as she closed her eyes, inhaling a deep breath. "I do," she breathed out, moving her hand down from the hound's head to the side of her cheek. Frost smiled softly as a tear started to grow at the corner of her eye. "Nova. An old scout of mine, and my dearest friend."

Blaze reached a hand over to Frost's arm, taking hold of it gently. Frost jumped, her wings flexing out before they quickly moved back into place at her back. "Frost, are you going to be alright? We're all here for you if you need us."

"Yes, I'll be alright," Frost answered, wiping her eyes clear of her tears. Now wasn't the time for them. This was a moment of reunion, and tears of sadness weren't welcome right now. Even if she had been worried for Nova ever since she realized that it was her. "I'll be alright…"

"Okay Frost, if you really think so. But know that we're always here for you. I'm sure that Nova will pull through this," Blaze responded. After a few more moments, Blaze got up with Wolf taking her hand to help her out of the chair.

Wolf looked towards Quill as she returned from the kitchen, and the dragoness told Wolf that the other diamond dogs were making sure the meat was all stored properly. He then nodded his head towards Spike. "Drake, I'm leaving you in charge. Understand me?"

"I understand Wolf," Spike answered back, knowing that Wolf was entrusting him to not allow anything else happen to the pack until his approval was given. Yet, there was no way of knowing what the meaning of Frost's old scout showing up randomly like this. It could be nothing but random chance, but Spike knew it was more likely a link to Frost's past.

Whatever it was though, Spike had to be sure no decisions were made without Wolf's consent. "Good, I leave this to you then," Wolf said as he began escorting Blaze and Isis out of the upper story room. Isis teleported them back to the temple so Wolf could rest and think up on whatever was going on.

The moment Blaze left the room, Frost sat down in the chair next to Nova's bed, watching her breath slowly. This wasn't the first time Frost had to watch Nova fight off a fever or injuries, but it was the first time she seen the hound in over three long years. Frost reached over to Nova's head, rubbing her hand on unconscious hound's forehead. "She hasn't changed at all."

Her dark scruffy fur, hiding scars from battles and fights she'd been in. Long and unkempt white hair that would reach down to the middle of her back if she stood up. Frost knew that the hair covered light-gray markings and set of black horns on her head. Her two long saber-like teeth looked the same, and her claws felt much as they had three years ago. Toned and well-defined muscles on her arms, abdomen, and legs. Nova was certainly taller than she had been before, and was now most likely the same height as Fang or Spirit, but she still had her distinctly feminine attributes underneath the tough exterior.

"You're still the same clumsy abutiu I remember, aren't you Nova?" Frost asked the sleeping hound before quietly laughing to herself. She moved Nova's bangs away from the jewel on Nova's head, seeing it spark lightly with a pale-blue light.

Nova started mumbling something with a pained look on her face. "P-Princess F-Frost...y-your…" Yet Frost simply hushed the hound by placing a finger over her lips before going back to gently moving her fingers through the hound's snowy hair. She and Quill had a feeling regarding what Nova was going to say, but now didn't seem to be the time to try getting answers out of her.

Quill started to move towards Frost, when she was suddenly stopped by her brother placing a hand against her abdomen. She opened her mouth to question Spike, but was cut off with him whispering, "We're gonna go to the lounge area downstairs with the others. Don't promise anything Quill, not until we figure all of this out."

"Fine, I wasn't going to anyway Spike," Quill answered back before Spike left the room with Cyclone close behind him. She felt proud of Spike for doing what Wolf said about taking charge, but that didn't stop her from letting out a small groan once the door was closed. "Coulda picked a better time for that Spike," she muttered under her breath before walking over towards Frost to place her hands on her mare's shoulders. "Frost you-"

Suddenly, Quill was stopped by Frost turning around and wrapping her arms around Quill's midsection. When the light sobs reached Quill's ears, she knelt down and moved her arms around Frost's neck to hold her close while continued to sob. "It's going to be okay Frost. You said it yourself, she'll pull through."

Frost choked and sobbed into Quill's jacket, staining it with her tears. A few more moments passed before Frost was able to answer. "Th-that's not what I'm worried about Quill," she muttered through her sobs as she pulled on Quill's black jacket. Eventually, the tears stopped as Frost removed herself from Quill, a few final tears falling down her face while taking a look over her unconscious scout. "I'm worried for her, Quill. She may not be the most skilled or intelligent scout I had, but she knows how to take care of herself. I've only seen her like this twice before. There has to be a reason she'd come out this way."

Quill knelt down, taking hold of Frost's cheeks to get the mare to look her in the eyes. "And we'll have that reason when she wakes up. For now at least, stop crying okay? Cyclone, my brother, and you all did the best job you could patching her up. We already know her life isn't in danger any more, so don't cry."

"Okay Quill, thank you," Frost said after a few moments of looking into Quill's eyes. She slowly took hold of Quill's hand, rubbing her cheek against it for a moment before removing it. "Go on. I'll stay right here. I have sins to atone for…"

"Frost I'm not leaving your side." Quill moved her hand into Frost's lap, taking hold of her thigh to give it a firm squeeze. A quick gasp came from Frost's lips before it calmed down to a shuddering sigh. From Quill's emotions, Frost knew how strongly Quill felt about this. She really believed that Nova would be fine, and that she wouldn't leave Frost. "We're in this together. No matter what Frost, I'll be by your side."

Frost simply closed her eyes as she laid her head against Quill's to take in the devotion the dragoness had for her. As the two continued to embrace each other, Nova again began mumbling in her sleep, while the jewels in her forehead and chest started glowing a brighter tint of blue.

"My lady F-Frost...your sis-sister...she needs you."

Back downstairs, Spike and Cyclone were making their way to the lounge area when they spotted Spirit standing in front of Lily's bedroom door, his hand trembling inches away from the handle. Cyclone looked up at Spike as he started walking over towards the diamond dog.

Despite his heavy footsteps, Spirit still didn't notice Spike until the drake placed his hand on Spirit's shoulder, pulling the dog back into reality. "Spirit. Are you alright?" Spike asked. Spirit let out a small sigh and turned his head down to the ground. "I know it has to be hard for you, but you heard what Blaze said; she's going to make it through."

"Easy for you to say," Spirit gruffly replied, shaking Spike's hand off his shoulder. "I'll give you that you and your sister have been here longer than we have, but that doesn't change anything." His fists started to tighten at his sides, teeth grinding. A few short moments passed before Spirit let all of his anger go with a heavy sigh, his hands slowly unclenching afterwards. "She's getting worse everyday, Spike. I don't know how much longer I can stand to see her like this. And to top it all off… I can't even do anything about it."

"Spirit, you have to have faith in Lily." Spirit lifted his head from the ground to look at Spike with an expression of pure loss. Spike again took hold of Spirit's shoulders, shaking them forcefully to get him to snap out of his daze. "This is a part of her race of equines right? She's been like this before, and she will be again after this winter. I know it's hard to actually have to see her like this, but she'll pull through. Okay, man?"

Spirit pushed out of Spike's grip with a small and sad smile on his face, nodding his head weakly. "Okay, I'll try. It still hurts to see her like this. It's like she's in pain, but I'll try. Tell the others that I'm going to bed." Without waiting for Spike's response, Spirit began slowly moving towards the stairs, moving past Cyclone without really noticing her, before he began climbing up to the second level.

Spike's eyes followed Spirit until he reached the upper floors of the right wing of the mansion. His attention was soon drawn back to Lily's door. Due to having just woke up a few days ago, Spike had no real idea why Spirit was acting the way he was. He had always been curious about Lily's condition, but hadn't gotten a chance to actually look into the mare's room. Until now.

"You're worried about her aren't you?" Cyclone asked, suddenly coming up behind Spike, and wrapping her arms around his lower body. She rested the side of her head against Spike's back, next to his spinal spikes, and she closed her eyes, slowly rocking. "I haven't been able to look in myself. The way Clan-Mother described it made it sound like Lily was sick, and then Spirit started acting like this when he thinks about her… It scares me, Spike."

"That bad, huh?" Spike asked rhetorically, taking hold of the doorknob. He noticed the heat coming off from the knob, piquing his curiosity even further. It didn't make much sense for that to be the case with it being in the middle of winter. Spike started to turn the doorknob, but was stopped when Cyclone's grip tightened around him suddenly.

Spike looked over his shoulder down at Cyclone, but she didn't meet his gaze. The look on Cyclone's face had Spike worried for a bit, causing him to loosen his grip on the doorknob. "Cy, what is it?" he asked when Cyclone hadn't made a single move as of yet.

It was a few more moments before Cyclone turned her head to look at Spike, her eyes full of fright and worry. "Don't open that door Spike, please don't. I don't want you worried like Spirit." Cyclone moved her head down to Spike's jacket, shutting her eyes tight at the thought of seeing Spike sad. "Please don't. Clan-Mother said she'll wake up when she's ready. She'll be fine. Clan-Mother is never wrong, she's always right. Lily...Lily will be fine."

"Okay, Cyclone, I won't open the door," Spike said as his hand returned to his side. He still wanted to see what kind of state Lily was in that had Spirit so worried. But he decided that it was best for him not to look. Reluctantly turning away from the door, Spike turned and wrapped his arms around Cyclone. Sighing into his chest, Cyclone smiled and gripped Spike's jacket lightly. Spike leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Come on Cy, let's go meet up with everyone else and relax for a bit, ok?"

She nodded once before turning her face up to steal a kiss from Spike. She then took his hand and the two left for the lounging area near the kitchen in the manor. As they walked, Spike couldn't help but be worried about Lily and Nova. Thinking back to the hound, Spike wondered what the reason for her showing up out of the blue was. While treating her, he thought that she had muttered Frost and Chrysalis' names several times.

'I hope Quill knows what she's getting herself into. I don't think that she'll let me help if she thinks it could be too dangerous. Stubborn girl.' Spike opened up the door to the lounge area to find Kiri curled up sleeping in front of the open fire, while Fang was holding Night in his arms. The pair were sitting on the floor against the couch, and the batpony appeared to be asleep. Veil on the couch, staring at the ceiling.

Spike quietly walked in the room after Cyclone, and shut the door with his tail. As they made their way over to the couch, Cyclone moved in front of Spike so she could sit in his lap. She nestled against him for a moment to find a comfortable spot against his strong chest, placing her face on Spike's shoulder towards Veil before closing her eyes.

Spike got comfortable with Cyclone in his lap, placing a hand on her hip. Lightly massaging it, he looked at Fang on the ground before greeting him. "Hey Fang, Night doing alright?"

"Yeah," Fang said quietly, trying not to disturb Night's sleep. "She and Kiri just got a bit curious about what was going on. Said that the smell of blood woke them up. Must've thought it was one of us, instead. Kiri probably got hungry from it, too."

Spike tilted his head at the dog before asking, "So she can hunt by blood?"

"Nah… well, not exactly," Fang started, looking back to Spike while he rubbed his hands on Night's slender shoulder. "Remember? Kiri is a demon-fox, so she literally can feed off of blood. Apparently it makes her stronger."

"Oh, well let's be glad that it wasn't one of us she was smelling then," Spike lightly chuckled. He too was still a little surprised that one of the hunters, or himself, hadn't been injured from those vicious boars. He'd never heard of something like them, they seemed like something from a nightmare. "Heh, yeah. For a second there I thought that one of us would-" Spike was interrupted by Veil lightly punching him on the shoulder, causing him to look over at her.

He saw that she was looking at his chest, and he quickly followed her eyes down to see that Cyclone was gripping his jacket and biting her lip slightly. She soon realized that Spike had stopped talking, and let up her grip while ceasing her lip biting. Spike restrained a sigh, put his other hand down on Cyclone's back, scratching it for her in what he hoped was a calming manner. He smiled when he felt her back press against his claws. Cyclone had apparently gotten over her worry about the scars on her back, at least when it came to Veil and him. He leaned down to place a soft kiss against her cranial spines, and he felt her relax again. Spike then mentally smacked himself for worrying Cyclone like that.

"Uh, yeah… she's alright, by the way." Spike finally said. Fang raised an eyebrow at him, initially having no idea who he was talking about. "Nova, the hound we saved. A few scratches here and there, and a high fever, but she's going to be fine."

"Oh, well that's good to know," Fang said with a small smile. "Would've sucked if she died after that work we put in to save her."

Spike nodded his head before his face perked up at remembering something else about Nova. "And get this, Frost apparently knows her."

"Really?"

"Yeah, from way back when Frost used to be a princess over her own hive. I don't know the details, but they used to be good friends from the sounds of it."

Fang blinked back a couple of times, surprised to not only hear that Frost used to be a changeling princess, but also that the hound was also an old friend of mare. "Well that just raises a lot more questions, doesn't it?"

"You can say that again, but she probably won't wake up until tomorrow," Spike said with a sigh directed upwards. He puffed out a cloud of light-gray smoke. At this point, Spike wasn't really worried about Nova's health. He was more worried what her showing up meant. "I'm just worried about what this could mean."

"How's that Spike?"

Spike let out another huff of air through his nose, his eyes closing to think about how to answer Fang's question without giving away any of Frost's personal business. "There's some stuff in Frost's past that Quill wants to help fix. I have this odd feeling that Nova is going to jump-start that."

"And that's a bad thing?" Spike turned his head over to Fang, looking the dog in his curious red-tinted green eyes. "Cus it sounds to me like Quill is going above and beyond what any other normal mate would do."

Closing his eyes again, Spike turned his head up to the stone and wooden ceiling of the lounging area, blowing out a shot of smoke from his mouth. "I don't really know Fang. To be honest, I have faith in Quill to do the right thing. We'll just have to wait and see what happens."

A few hours passed and everyone started to turn in for the night, nobody eating any of the boars yet until Wolf could get his hands on them for him and his mates. Instead, they kept to the scraps of snacks and other canned goods on hand in the kitchen before heading off for the night.

In spite of the protests from his mates, Spike stayed away from bed just a little while longer to go check up on his sister and Frost, as they had stayed in Nova's room all day. Carrying two bowls of hot noodle soup, Spike pushed open the door with his shoulder to find that the two were resting in the same chair together, and Nova was still was asleep.

Chuckling, Spike brought the two bowls over to the nightstand behind them before placing a hand on Quill's shoulder. Quill jolted awake. "I'm awake, Twi. I'm awake," she blurted out before her eyes opened up to find that she was merely having a dream. Quill groaned as she started to rub her forehead while Frost was woke up from the sudden noise. "Grh, dammit Spike."

"Hey, I just came to give my dearest sister and her mate some warm dinner that I slaved over," Spike laughed while Frost gave a good stretch of her wings. "Don't blame me for waking you up from your dream."

"Oh, well then, thanks Spike," Quill said with a yawn, her eyes clenching shut before she wiped away the sleep from them. Frost soon got off of Quill's lap to sit on Nova's bed, still watching her chest slowly rise and fall. "Had completely forgotten about eating."

Spike laughed again. "Of course you did."

"What'd you make anyway?" Quill sniffed the delicious aroma that was filling the room, moving her tongue out to steal a better sense of it. A smile came to her lips as she started to stretch out her slightly stiff wings. Winter was doing a good number on them, as often as she was out in the cold air. Before she came to High Moon, her and Spike has spent most of their time in the Golden Oaks Library, staying warm by the hearthfire. "Noodle soup, smells great Spike. Thanks."

"Yes Spike, thank you. I must say that the fault for not leaving Nova's side is mine," Frost said with a small sad sigh leaving her lips.

"Frost," Quill started as she got up from her chair to walk to Frost, wrapping her arms around the mare. "I've already told you that I was gonna stay by your side. I was the stubborn one here."

Spike watched as the two embraced each other, thinking back to earlier today. He shook his head. "No. The both of you were stubborn," he said, breaking the two females' quiet moment. Quill looked back and raised an eyebrow at Spike, obviously questioning what he was talking about. "I mean, really? You two stayed up here all day, without eating, when we knew Nova wouldn't wake up until tomorrow morning at the earliest. Quill, I know this had to drive you just a little bit crazy waiting."

"My mind-reading twin," Quill joked as she let Frost sit down next to her. Frost's tail quickly wrapped around Quill's the moment she sat down, going half unnoticed by her mate. "Okay, you got me. I was a bit bored sitting here most of the day."

"I told you that you would be, Quill," Frost giggled. She dropped her head with a small sigh, causing her icy-blue mane to fall over her face before she fixed it back over ear. "Nova's not going to wake up soon. Or at least not until the morning, Spike is right on that. I guess it was foolish to hope for anything else."

Frost turned her head towards Nova, slowly reaching a hand to Nova's cheek, rubbing her fingers into the thick white fur on Nova's face. Sharply, Quill turned to leer at Spike, who had reeled his head back from the sadness laced in Frost's voice.

However, before Spike could say anything, Frost caught the twins' rapid change in emotions. "It's alright you two," she softly spoke, not turning to look at them. "I meant what I said. Wasting a day here was foolish. I allowed my emotions to control my actions. Something like that can be costly."

"Y-yeah… but I didn't mean it like that Frost," Spike replied when Quill's expression didn't change. "I understand that Nova's your friend, and you were worried about her. It isn't foolish that you let your emotions take control, it just shows that you really care about her."

"I do Spike, I really do," Frost said as she continued to rub Nova's cheek, sliding her hand down to Nova's collarbone and shoulder. "She wasn't the best scout I had, but she was the closest one I had the pleasure to know. Nova kept me company when I needed it, she made me laugh whenever I broke down. She got hurt because of me, several times."

Quill sighed before moved her hand to Frost's shoulder. "Frost, if Nova is as tough as you're making her sound, then she's going to be alright. C'mon, let's go down the hall and eat. We'll sleep here for the night."

"Very well Quill, thank you," Frost said before she moved the blanket further up Nova's body, covering the gem in her chest. She then turned towards Spike to give him a small nod. "And thank you too, Spike. You're right, Nova is a dear friend of mine. I just hope Wolf allows her to stay in High Moon."

"Anytime Frost, and I'm sure he will," Spike respond. He turned to leave, but stopped himself when he remembered something. "And guys… whatever happens. Whatever reason Nova has for showing up like this I-"

"In the morning Spike," Quill said, standing up from the bed. She took a few steps towards Spike, just to whisper, "And no. If it is something big, you're not coming. That's final. We'll talk about it later in the morning."

Spike closed his mouth and frowned, he knew that Quill was looking out for him, but he couldn't just abandon his sister so easily. "Fine, we will talk about this," Spike whispered back with a huff, turning back to the doorway, once again stopping. "Goodnight you two. Don't stay up too long." 'Because I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day.'

"Night bro, I hope everything works out nice and easy," Quill said, a sigh leaving her lips afterwards.

"Quill, you know as well as I do, it never does," Spike said before he walked off to the stairs. Quill's gaze followed her brother down the stairs until he came upon Cyclone and Veil. The pair each wrapped an arm around his waist and led him off to their room.

She turned away. Spike had grown. As much as she loved her brother, and would do anything for him, he didn't need Quill's help any more, and she didn't need his. She needed to let him grow on his own, and he her. They had their own lives to start living. /-/  
/ Ch. 57: The Consequences of Past Actions/-/

High Moon Ch. 57: The Consequences of Past Actions

Nova awoke with a painful groan. Every inch of her body felt like it had caved in on itself, some places worse than others. Not to mention the pain in her head, which felt as though someone had tried cracking it open with a large slab of limestone. She moved her arm over her head with great effort, trying to block out the early brightness from the light of the sun reflecting off the gray clouds into her window. Wait a minute… how am I inside? she thought to herself, groggily, and with difficulty.

'Think Nova, think.' Nova laid in the soft, warm bed for a moment as she did her best to remember the last few things she could before everything just went dark. Yet the only thing she could fully remember was leaving the castaway hive's catacombs. But the bed alone was enough to tell her that she had made it somewhere. So where was she?

Nova's nerves started to run high, causing the gem in her chest and forehead to change from a calm bluish color to a more bright and frantic orange; the most obvious manifestation of her changeling blood, the mood-stones gave any viewers a general idea of how she was feeling. Nova got up from the bed, opening her golden eyes to take in her surroundings as quickly as she could. 'A bedroom. That's a start. But where am I?' she continued to question herself. Nova's head whipped around the room as fast as the pain allowed her to. There wasn't much in the room to actually note. A small table, a pair of chairs by the bed she was in, and a plain window to show the outside was all that the room contained.

As curiosity started to take hold of Nova's mind, her gems again changed color, this time taking on an off-pink tone. Nova started to move when a sudden pain in her injuries stopped her and forced her to audibly hiss. "What the?" She moved the warm sheets off of her body to find that her chest and lower midsection were wrapped in the same white bandages that her arms and legs were. "What happened to me?"

Nova tried to remember again, only resulting in making her headache worse. The sudden pain caused her gems to darken once again to an orangish color. Her face cringed for a moment before she gave up on the seemingly impossible task of remembering the last day or so. "Princess Frost, I need to find her."

"Well, you've just missed them," a deep voice sounded from the doorway, causing Nova's ears to twitch so fast in that direction that she was surprised they didn't pop out of place. Nova eyed the tall, green-and-purple Salamander Drake standing in the doorway, his arms crossed over his gray jacket. The moment she met his eyes, Nova raised an eyebrow at the odd mix of both empathy and warinessapathy the drake seemed to have for her.

"Frost and my sister got up half an hour ago to get you something to wear," Spike said as he started to approach Nova. The moment he towards the bed, however, Nova began growling at him. She got up from the bed, stumbling, taking up a defensive stance facing him. Spike noticed that the gem in Nova's chest had taken on an olive-green color, while her eyes seemed to hold a wide mixture of emotions. Fear, confusion, worry - Spike easily understood why she could feel all those things, however.

Taking the hint from Nova's growls, Spike put up his hands slowly, though the growls still turned into snarling. "Whoa, whoa, no need for that. Especially not after I spent half a day healing ya up." Not to mention how his sister and Frost would react if he hurt the hound.

"Quite. Princess Frost, where is she? I can smell her scent in this place, so where is she?" Nova questioned. She saw more faces show up behind the drake, outside the door, and her growling took on a deeper tone. She looked between the drake and the new faces, now growing worried and fearful that she'd been captured. The gem in her chest turned a pure black, her will now focused on getting away from the growing number of possible hostiles.

"Spike, what's going on?" Cyclone asked from the doorway, looking between Spike and Nova with a growing worry in her eyes. Veil quickly stepped in front of Cyclone to push her back from the door, knowing that the hound might lash out because she felt cornered.

"Just stay back, girls," Spike said, looking over his shoulder to his two mates, himself backing up to the doorway. "She's still just hurt and scared, I can handle this." Cyclone nodded her head as she did what Spike said and let Veil move her away from the room. The two moved back to the stairway where Spirit and Fang were waiting. She trusted Spike to know what he was doing.

"Okay, let's try this again. Hi, my name is Spike Sui Dragul," Spike started, "Like I just said, Frost and my sister left a half hour ago to get you some clothes to wear. They should be on their way back right now, Nova."

"How do you know my name, Drake?" Nova sharply questioned, still holding her defensive stance. Spike took a quick peek down at Nova's still-black gem, thinking that had something to do with her actions. When Nova caught Spike looking at her gem, she quickly used the bed cover behind her to hide it, a blush coming to her gray cheeks. "Didn't anyone tell you not to look at someone's mood-stone, Drake?"

"S-sorry." His eyes darted back up to meet her angry ones. Spike didn't know why, but the blush on Nova's face brought a flush to his cheeks as well. "Listen, Frost told me that you guys are real close friends. I know you're hurt and confused, but you're in a safe place here."

Nova stared deeply into Spike's green eyes, still trying to get a feel for the drake. She started to ease up a bit, her gem changing color to light-green as she let out a small sigh. "You're telling the truth. Princess Frost willingly lives here then? She's not being forced to say here, yes?"

"Of course, no one is forcing anyone to do anything here. Now, just stay calm, alright? Frost should be back soon," Spike said, taking a slow step into the room. He stopped when he saw Nova flinch, and slowly eased himself back. 'Geez, she makes me feel like I'm defusing a bomb.' "Believe me, you're in a safe place. We found you out while we were hunting. You were injured and had a fever, but you should be fine now."

Nova took in slow, deep breath to relax herself. She thought to herself for a moment as she moved to sit back down on the bed. She couldn't run if she wanted to, but thankfully, she didn't have a reason to. Supposedly, yet. "Okay, I guess. But I have to speak with Princess Frost, now. And I would like to speak with her sooner rather than later. I've already wasted too much time as is."

Spike sighed as he shook his head. This hound was turning out to be more stubborn than Quill. Which would, in fact, explain a lot to Spike, given her association with Frost. "Again, they should be-"

"Hey Spike!" Fang's voice called out from the ground floor. "Your sister and Frost are back."

"Okay Fang, tell them to hurry on up here," Spike called back from the doorframe with a sigh of relief. Moments later, he made room for both Frost and Quill as they walked into Nova's room.

Frost slowly walked over to the side of Nova's bed, while the half-breed hound's eyes widened from seeing Frost in the flesh for the first time in years. Her light-green gem darkened in color to an olive tone. The hound couldn't think of what to say to the mare she looked so highly up to. Eventually, Frost sat down on Nova's bed, not breaking eye contact with Nova's golden orbs.

The hound jumped when Frost suddenly wrapped her arms tightly around her neck, but Nova soon gave into the warmth radiating from the scorpio mare. The two continued to quietly embrace each other after the three-year-long absence from the other's company. Nova wrapped her arms around the mare's waist, and began visibly shaking in Frost's grip, prompting the mare to start whispering soothing words into Nova's sensitive ears.

While her mate embraced her old friend in the affectionate hug, Quill tapped her hand against Spike's chest before nodding her head to the door. Spike got the hint and left the room to reassure his mates that everything was fine, and to tell Wolf that the hound had woken.

Nova simply continued to softly sob against Frost's neck, completely at a loss of what to say. Frost was in no rush to get information out of the hound, though. She too had missed the comfort that came with being near her friend, and she tried to keep her composure.

"Pr-Princess Frost...you don't know h-how happy I am to finally see you again," Nova finally sobbed, nuzzling her face into Frost's body, breathing in Frost's distinct aroma: frozen flowers, just how she remembered.

"And I am happy to see you too Nova, my dearest friend," Frost said with eyes half-closed, looking down at Nova. She began running a hand down the long length of Nova's hair, refamiliarizing herself with its rough texture. Nova's tail soon started to wag back and forth when Frost remembered a part on the back of Nova's head that she enjoyed having scratched. "And you should know this by now, I am no changeling princess. Not any longer."

"Bu-but Princess Frost…"

"No buts, Nova. What happened, happened. I've come to accept this," Frost said with a slightly bitter tone. She quickly averted her eyes away from Nova's before letting out a small sigh. Nova's tail dropped the bed as her gem turned a dark shade of orange, trying to catch Frost's gaze, but was rejected for the moment. "Nova, I'm sorry for what happened. I know it must've been hard on you and the others to try and survive after I was removed."

Nova lowered her head, meekly nodding. "I-it was…" she said with a small shiver, thinking back to the weeks of utter chaos and confusion that had broken out. Without a queen or princess, a hive would quickly fall apart into full anarchy. "That doesn't matter right now, though," Nova said, mostly to shake herself free of the horrifying memories of having to lose Frost. The gem on her chest quickly responded to her sudden change in mood, switching from orange to a soft blue color. "Pr- Lady Frost, it's your sister, I come bearing a message from her."

"From Chrysalis? Now what could she possibly want?" Quill questioned in a slight growl. She'd never forget the first invasion of Canterlot. Not after having to defend both Spike and herself from a few of the invading drones. And definitely not after what Chrysalis had done to Cadance and Shining Armor.

"Quill, please," Frost began, cut off as Nova jumped in.

"Who are you to speak of Lady Chrysalis in such away?" Nova questioned, voice rising in anger at Quill, her gem flashing instantly to a defensive light-green. However, when Nova locked eyes with Quill, the anger and power that radiated from the dragoness forced her to back down, while her gem darkened to black once more. There was something in the dragoness' eyes, a fire that seemed like it would consume anything that angered it. Nova unconsciously moved to try and put Frost between herself and the dragoness. "S-she did what she had too. It was for the betterment of the Swarm."

"Yeah? Well she ruined one of the most important days of one of the few ponies I still respect," Quill retorted, her anger growing when she saw Nova using Frost as a shield. She closed her eyes, taking in a calming breath before she started again. She looked at her mate, voice softening. "Frost, I'm sorry to say this but… Chrysalis did one of the most underhanded things I could ever possibly think of."

"She did what she had to!" Nova shouted at Quill, despite the fear of being burned alive in the back of her mind. "You have no idea what it was-"

"Nova, enough," Frost said sternly, taking hold of Nova's shoulders. After a few moments of locking eyes with the abutiu, Nova's gem changed from its dark black to a faint orange, the hound averting her eyes in shame. "You know as well as I do what my sister did that day was far out of line. She got what she deserved that day for her greed."

Nova's shoulders slumped a bit. She hated to say it, but what Frost, and even that dragoness - a Queen Dragoness from what she could smell from her - said were right. Chrysalis committed a crime that was far from redeemable. Yet Nova wanted to believe otherwise. Especially after the elder scorpio mare had come to her rescue.

"However… she is still my sister," Frost continued, causing both Quill and Nova to do a double take at her words. "No matter how much she messes up, I can't abandon her. Especially not now. This may be the chance I've been looking for from her." Frost took a small pause, taking a slow breath in before looking back into Nova's golden eyes. "Nova, first tell me what it is that my sister is asking for."

"She wants to speak with you, Lady Frost," Nova answered. She wrapped herself in her own arms for a moment as she knew Frost would like to know more than just Chrysalis' intent. "S-she was badly hurt after the defeat. Chrysalis tried to save as many as she could, but…" Nova's body shuddered for a moment before she continued. "From what I could gather from the drones, she used most of her magic to save what few she could. But there was something wrong with her, my Lady. She had been...injured."

"Injured how, Nova?" Frost questioned. Truthfully, Frost wasn't overly worried for Chrysalis, though there was a small amount of reflex worry for her sister.

Nova's gem again darkened to a pitch black as she looked away from Frost, shaking again. "I-it's her spirit… After her failure, the Fall, and her banishment, Lady Chrysalis was broken. She barely had enough will to make it to the castaway hive. She's gotten a lot better, though, especially after she found a mate."

"I see, and she wants to meet with me?" Frost asked, already knowing the answer. It was surprising that her sister had found a mate - that would definitely bear looking into. In response to her question, Nova meekly nodded her head, still not looking at either Frost or Quill. "Well, if that's the case…"

"That would be for me to decide," Wolf's growly voice called out from the doorway. Frost and Nova turned to find that Wolf was walking into the room, brushing past Quill with his eyes locked onto Nova. She violently shook at the power behind Wolf's eyes, fearing him as if he was a demon from Tartarus. "Now what's this whole business about your sister, Frost?"

"Chrysalis, my sister, she wishes to see me for something," Frost answered, placing a hand on top of Nova's head to calm her. "Wolf, please, I need to see her. This may be my only chance to see her for a long time."

Wolf closed his eyes with a small growl. He didn't know much about Frost's sister, or the sin she had apparently committed three years ago. And frankly, he didn't care at this time. Not during the winter. Not while his mare was expecting in the early spring. "Fine."

"Oh Wolf than-"

Frost wasn't able to finish before Wolf suddenly snapped his eyes open. An unwavering look held firm in his murky, red-tinted green eyes. "Only on three conditions." Wolf raised his hand up, holding three fingers aloft. "One, wherever you go, you come back with something worth the time you've taken away from the pack. Two, that hound has to make up for the kill she messed up yesterday."

Nova's eyes widened, and she tried to interrupt him. "But that was my fault! I didn't-"

Nova was silenced when Frost snapped her gaze back to her, a disapproving look in her blue eyes. The firm look was followed by Wolf growling at the hound, forcing her to attempt to make herself smaller while muttering an apology under her breath. "Also, Frost, put that hound on a tighter leash if she's going to be staying for much longer. Three, if I hear anything about that hound causing trouble…"

"I understand Wolf. I'll keep watch over Nova, thank you," Frost said, shivering from the intensity coming from the powerful alpha dog's gaze. She knew he was on edge from Blaze being pregnant during the winter, and she didn't want to give him a reason to be angry.

"Good," Wolf nodded his head, turning to leave the room. "Can't believe we lost the biggest kill in years for this," he growled, just barely above a whisper, almost shoving Spike out of the way before he left. It was obvious that he, and the other dogs, were all still upset about Nova ruining their chance of feeding the pack for the remainder of the winter.

Though if Frost had to be honest, she was going to miss having Quill to herself all day. That was one thing about the winter she rather enjoyed, being able to spend the entire day with her mate. Once the door closed behind Wolf, Frost let out a small sigh as she began rubbing her temples. "Nova, you understand the situation you're in right now, I hope?" Frost questioned in a low tone.

Nova opened her mouth to blurt out a response without much thought, but was stopped when Frost looked over her shoulder. The strong leer in her eyes held slight disappointment towards Nova, as she was no doubt upset with her. "Y-yes Lady Frost… I'm sorry to cause you this trouble."

"No Nova," Frost sighed, shaking her head as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "But Wolf is right. You owe this pack, and the last thing Wolf or the others need is a loose thread to worry about. Not during the winter, Nova. You're being expected to pay your debt back to the pack, understand?"

"I understand... I-I'll stay out of trouble."

Frost looked over towards the saddened hound, the look in Nova's normally bright golden eyes, and the blackness of her gem, forcing another sigh out of Frost. She moved her hand to place it on top of Nova's head, rubbing it for a moment to pick up Nova's spirits. "Don't worry Nova, I know you will." Frost leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on the hound's forehead. She didn't notice the hounds gems turn a soft pink, instead rising from the bed and taking in a deep breath before she looked at the half-breed hound. "Nova, I want, no, need you to be on your best behavior. I have to prepare a few things before we make our journey. Until I return, you are to do everything my mate, Quill Dragul, tells you. Understand?"

"I understand Lady- Wait, mate? Her?" Nova asked, looking at the Queen Dragoness that accompanied Frost. Physically, Nova could see why Frost would choose Quill as a mate. Magically was the same story. The dragoness rivaled the mare's power easily, though she knew dragons went through spurts and jumps in regards to their power. Though… "U-uh, my Lady, you haven't done the mating ritual with her yet… have you?"

A small blush came to Frost's face, though she quickly shook it off. "No, not officially that is. But there'll be plenty of time for that later. Behave yourself, Nova," Frost said before she teleported back to the temple to gather things for trip through the frozen Everfree to the hidden hive.

Nova slowly turned her head towards the dragoness, her gems turning an uneasy orange. She smiled weakly. "So… uh Courtess D-"

"Nova," Quill cut the hound off, chuckling amusedly at the half-breed. She then tossed the clothes she had wrapped up in her tail at Nova. "Get those on before you catch another cold. And Quill, just call me Quill."

Nodding her head, Nova started to put on the sleeveless purple jacket that was given to her. With a small huff, Nova started to pull on the long black pants, wincing slightly from the pain still in her injuries. Quill didn't say anything as she walked towards Nova, sitting on the bed next to her to place her hand on the hound's forehead.

"At least your fever went away. You sure that you can lead us back to this hive in your condition?" Quill asked. Nova simply sat on the bed blinking a couple of times, trying to figure out where the sudden compassion had came from. Quill moved the back of her hand against the gem on Nova's forehead as she checked the hound's temperature. "Nova? Can you take us back to the hive or not?"

"O-of course I-I can," Nova answered, quickly jerking back when the dragoness brushed against her forehead gem. She zipped up the top part of the jacket to hide her gem, which was rapidly turning a dark shade of pink. 'What was that, all of a sudden?' Nova thought to herself, somewhat flustered. "A-At this point, I'm just sore is all. I can handle myself."

"Didn't look that way yesterday," Spike muttered under his breath, having appeared in the doorway while Quill had been talking to the hound. Nova's sensitive ears easily picked up on what the drake said, glaring towards him with a small growl. Spike flinched back from the hound before steeling himself, and snorting out a shot of gray smoke. "Well, it's the truth. Like it or not."

"That doesn't mean I want to be reminded of it, Drake," Nova spat, her hands trembling slightly. She was just as afraid of directly confronting this drake as she was of the dragoness beside her, but this time she was determined to not show it.

Spike opened his mouth to retort but was stopped by Quill suddenly walking over to him, smacking the her hand against his chest. "Outside, now." Without giving him a chance to reply, Quill turned towards the door to step outside. Spike followed, but only after giving Nova another glare. Once out the door, Spike closed it behind him, turning to his sister, waiting to see what she wanted.

"Spike, why are you being a jerk right now?" Quill asked bluntly, having noticed Spike's sudden bad mood. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"You bet there is," Spike said, though it came out as more of a growl. He closed his eyes to calm himself down, turning to the stair railing to take hold of it. "Quill, I want to go with you. I have to know why Chrysalis did the things she did."

Quill shook her head, she knew that had something to do with it. She stepped behind Spike, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Spike, no. This isn't a revenge thing. This is for Frost, not us. Besides, we need you here."

"For what?" Spike sharply questioned, already angry that he couldn't fight Quill's reasoning. This wasn't for them, and he knew that. But… how could he just forgive Chrysalis for what she had done?

"We promised Twi we'd be over some time this week to talk about the plan to deal with the unicorns. Or did you forget that?" Quill asked, taking her hand off of Spike's shoulder to stand next to him. She leaned against his shoulder, wrapping her wing around him and putting her head on his shoulder in a rare moment of physical affection for her brother. "Listen, while I'm making sure this whole… 'sister reunion' thing works out, I need you to go see what's going on. Okay man?"

Spike didn't answer for a moment, merely looking down to the ground floor with a sigh leaving his lips. "Fine, fine, I'll do it," Spike said, leaning his own head down against his sister's. "But I still want to know, Quill. I want to know what drove that mare that far."

"Deal." Quill pressed her side against her brother's before pushing off him to look back at Nova's door thoughtfully.

Frost returned with a bright blue flash at the base of the stairs, holding three winter coats in her arms. Spike pushed off of the railing to walk downstairs as Frost ascended them. "You guys be careful out there," Spike said as he walked by her. In a softer tone, one he didn't want reaching his sister, he added, "And Frost? Take care of her, please."

"We will, thank you Spike," Frost said, then, in an equally soft tone as the drake's, added, "Of course. I always will." Spike nodded and kept walking downstairs. Frost reached the top floor, addressing Quill. "Ready to go, love? The trip will be long on foot, likely several days. Especially in the snow."

Quill remained quiet as she looked back towards Spike walking to the lounge room. "Yeah, let's get going," she eventually answered before moving over to Nova's door, opening it for Frost to step through first. As Frost got Nova ready to lead them to Chrysalis, Quill thought about how Spike had to be feeling about the whole thing. She knew that it was hard for him to let go of what happened during the invasion, especially since they were so close to Shining Armor and Cadance.

Yet they couldn't allow their anger to distract them right now. Not with the unicorn cultists lurking out there, somewhere.

The three soon made their way out of the mansion to follow Nova to the castaway hive. However, before they could start their trip, Isis suddenly appeared in a flash of black feathers. The sphinx was bundled up in robes borrowed from Lily and furred armbraces from Wolf. She approached the three, the golden bands around her hips and wrists jiggling slightly.

"Master told me that you were planning to part from the pack temporarily. On behalf of my masters and myself, I want to wish you a safe journey," she said softly. Isis held out her hand, sparking her magic to conjure up three purple luminescent gemstones. "These will allow you all to return to High Moon swiftly, but you can only do it once. After that, they will need to be charged again," Isis informed the trio as she levitated the gemstones over to Quill and the two half-breeds. "Do return safely. Mistress is already worrying gravely about you all, as is Master."

"We will Isis, thanks," Quill said, bowing her head in respect. Isis returned the bow before turning to walk back to the room she shared with her masters. "Come on guys, the sooner we do this, the sooner it'll be over."

"Lead the way Nova," Frost said, waving for Nova to guide them. The hound said nothing as she started leading them back to the castaway hive. Quill and Frost followed behind on foot, both still wondering what had become of Chrysalis in the years after her failed invasion of Canterlot. As they left High Moon, the three all tightened their cloaks around themselves, trying to keep the heat in.

The weather was easy on the group today, not as bad as it had been for the past few days. Just cold. That was easy enough for the three to deal with. Quill would periodically make a small fire for them to warm up at during breaks they took, ensuring they all stay rested and warm. However, when the last few rays of the sun began going down, they were forced to bunker down inside the cave. It was one that Nova had camped out in during a small blizzard once, while she had been looking for signs of Frost.

While Frost was busy tending to the two small white rabbits they had managed to catch before nightfall, Quill was setting up the heated sleeping bags for them to rest on while they wait for dinner. Once finished, she sat down with a small huff, rubbing her head.

For the majority of the day, she had been mostly quiet, which wasn't like her. Frost had tried to see what was wrong with Quill, but only got, "I'm fine, just thinking about stuff is all," out of her. Frost had a feeling as to what it was, however. Quill had told Frost that she and Spike had been in Canterlot when the invasion happened. And Frost knew that both twins still held some foul thoughts against changelings, or more accurately, Chrysalis in particular.

'They must be close to the rulers of the Crystal Empire. Maybe I can convince Chrysalis to apologize for what she did.' Frost sighed as she moved away from the campfire, sitting next to Quill.

"Quill, tell me the truth, are you really alright?" Frost asked as she rested her head against Quill's shoulder, closing her eyes. "And don't tell me that you're okay, because I know when you're lying to me."

A sigh came from Quill as she moved an arm around Frost's body, pulling her closer. Frost quickly inched her body closer to Quill when she felt Quill's low emotions grow more upset. "Frost, I'm just worried alright? Maybe a little anxious."

Frost looked over to the Quill's eyes, frowning from the sadness and anger she saw in the purple orbs. "Why, Quill? Chrysalis is my sister, and if what Nova said is true, she poses no threat."

Quill shook her head slightly, closing her eyes with a small sigh. "That's not what I mean. I know I said the invasion doesn't bother me as much anymore, especially now, but I still want to know why she felt that was necessary. And so does Spike. I don't think he would be able to handle the answer though, and honestly, I might not neither."

"She did it because she had too." The lovers' eyes turned towards Nova, who had her back turned towards them. Frost had thought that she had fallen asleep, but apparently she was still wide awake, and listening to every single word. "I'm sure Frost told you about their mother, Queen Ambrosine. She's dangerous. The only thing that's stopping her from trying to take over Equestria is the simple fact that the other Swarm Queens would finally have a real reason to oppose her. If anything, they would band together and join the Sun Mare."

"Nova is right, love," Frost added in, placing her hand on Quill's far shoulder to gently rub it. Her affection was returned as Quill slid her hand further down Frost's body, stopping at her waist. "My mother could easily start a war this kingdom is not ready for. Her hive may be the largest, but it could be overpowered if the other mass-hives united."

"So that's what we're going to try and do?" Quill asked. She knew that this was the plan, as they had gone over it a few times before. However, it seemed… unattainable, to say the least. "Is it every Swarm Queen, or could we just go with the more important ones?"

Frost shrugged her shoulders, turning her head to rest in the crook of Quill's neck. "That depends how we want to go about overthrowing my mother. Lesser hives, the ones outside of my mother's rule, would be easier to make deals with. But that's harder to do because most other hives wish not to get in this affair. Our only hope is to find Swam Queens that would want my mother gone."

"I take it there's a few that would like that?" Quill chuckled.

"I can personally think of three important ones," Frost answered. "One of which is the leader of the second largest hive in Equestria, but their Swarm Queen is a bit of a… what's the proper word I'm looking for?"

"A bitch?" Nova answered in a straight tone.

Frost giggled a little at this, shaking her head. That was the actual word Frost was looking for, but she was going to chose a word less… truthfully blunt. "Yes, but I was going to say vain." Nova turned her head with her mouth open to respond when Frost cut her off with, "And yes, the two are different."

Nova shrugged her shoulders before turning her head back to the cave wall in front of her. "If you say so, Lady Frost. Is the rabbit done? I'm starving."

"Yes Nova, I suppose they are," Frost said. She sparked her horn to pull the larger rabbit over towards her and Quill to share while Nova turned around to grab the smaller one. She didn't hesitate before using her sabers to rip apart the meat. Quill watched the hound for a moment, amused, thinking it was cute how Nova used her sabers. Oddly, she felt something warm come to life in her chest. She shook herself, confused as to what that was about, before turning back to the rabbit that Frost had.

Afterwards, Nova laid down to go to sleep with the largest bone she could get from the rabbit in her mouth, gnawing on it absently. Frost and Quill lay nestled together in a single sleeping bag, while Nova had one to herself.

Neither Quill nor Frost had spoken for a little while as they were still trying to figure out what might happen when they got to the castaway hive. Quill shuffled uneasily as she lay behind Frost, her arms wrapped around the mare. Frost raised one of Quill's hands up to her lips and kissed the knuckles softly.

"Quill, my heart, talk to me. I know you're as unsettled as you've ever been. What bothers you?" she whispered, wanting the younger dragoness to relax.

Quill sighed gently, purposefully breathing onto Frost's neck. She smiled when she felt a shiver run through the mare. She squeezed her arm still around the mare's waist before responding in a soft tone. "I just… Icy, the last time I saw your sister, she had taken out Celestia. Celestia. You know how powerful she is. I know your sister doesn't have that power anymore, but…" Quill's wings shuffled against the bag that the two were in.

Frost smiled as she nibbled on her lover's finger, deciding to tease her a little. "Well, my Quill, I never thought that you'd be scared of -" Frost felt Quill stiffen behind her. She smiled against Quill's knuckles.

"A-afraid?! Icy, I'm not -" Quill stopped when she heard giggling coming from the mare in her arms. Quill growled softly, "You little tease." Quill licked Frost's neck and bit it, one hand sliding to grasp the inside of Frost's thigh.

A sharp gasp followed by a moan escaped the mare, her back arching against Quill's chest, her wings wanting to spread, but having nowhere to go. "Q-Quill, please - not while Nova's here, she'll hear-"

Quill growled against Frost's neck, before whispering, "Not if you use that spell, Icy." Quill took her hand from Frost's and brought it down to the mare's chest, grasping one breast roughly while her other hand slid up to tease along the mare's waistline. "C'mon, love, cast it… please…" Quill moved to nibble softly on the mare's ear, moaning softly against her.

Frost stretched her body against her lover, stifling a moan as best she could as one arm reaching behind her to grasp Quill's thigh. Squeezing it, she sparked her horn, trying hard to concentrate on the spell. Gathering her magic, she released it, hoping that it would work without a real wall to hold itself. Otherwise, things were likely to be very embarrassing with Nova in the morning - but as Quill sighed into her ear and slipped her fingers into Frost's pants, the changeling hybrid found that she really didn't care at the moment.

Early the next morning, the three rose from their sleeping bags, all eager to make their way to their destination. Quill, her normal morning self, moved sluggishly around, slowly cleaning their campsite. Frost and Nova, on the other hand, were more used to rising early while on outings such as this.

As the three made their way about the camp, Nova constantly tried to hide her gems and face from the other two. She'd heard the two whispering the night before, before she'd heard a soft moan from Lady Frost, and then their voices had fuzzed for a few minutes. Her latent changeling magic made itself known after that, and suddenly she could hear the two again. They'd been… intimate, not ten feet from her! She wasn't sure if Lady Frost had forgotten how her changeling heritage let her negate some forms of magic, but she'd heard… all of it. It had been a long night.

For their part, Quill and Frost didn't really notice the hound's odd behavior. Quill was too busy still trying to wake up, and Frost hadn't seen the hound in years - so maybe she was a little different in the mornings these days. Whatever her odd temperament was this morning, it never even occurred to Frost that the hound had heard her and Quill last night.

Deep Everfree, Two days later

"And, here we are," Nova said as she took a seat on a snowy ledge. The hound had mostly gotten over her sudden bout of both awkward and shyness around her two travelling companions. Quill and Frost quickly climbed to the crest of the hill to find themselves overlooking what could be called a small village. The homes were made out of stone and wood, all blanketed with the white alabaster of snow. Further off in the distance there seemed to be a cave, shimmering faintly with a waning orange light, while towers of smoke came from the holes scattering the top. Changelings of a wide variety were walking to and from the cave and the colony of homes down in the valley.

Quill's eyes widened slightly at the sight of the small village. Granted that it seemed one-fourth the size of Ponyville from where she stood, but the sight was still impressive. Even the invasion of Canterlot had only had pure-blooded changelings. The sheer amount of half-blooded changelings in front of her, though… "Well, wasn't expecting this," she said before Nova started to lead them down a snow-covered path into the valley. "Figured that changelings preferred something a little less… homey."

"Oh Quill, surely you didn't think that all changelings lived in deep, damp caves?" Frost giggled, shaking her head at her love. She couldn't take any offence at whatever misconceptions Quill had about changeling culture, since the race did their best to say out of the limelight of Equestria, now more than ever. "They're just easier to make a hive out of, rather than build a whole town that would need active care. This does not even begin to show how large a hive can get."

"Is that so?" Quill mused as she continued to look around the small village. There were few changelings out, it seemed, and for good reason. She looked up to the rolling gray clouds. "Great, a storm is heading this way."

Nova and Frost stopped to look in the direction Quill was, seeing the large gathering of dark-gray clouds heading towards the village. They hurried their pace, not wanting to get caught in the storm even though they could use the gemstones to return to High Moon. As they continued to move through the streets, changelings, mostly the ones that were a hybrid of some kind, started to appear before them, all eyes on Frost.

Eventually, they were approached by a large scorpio stallion. His face was weathered and scratched with marks going from his cheek down to the underside of his jaw. One scar seemed to be one that he had just been able to pull away from, and live, with luck on his side. It ran from the bottom of his forehead across his left eye, stopping halfway down his cheek. His towering size made him larger than Wolf, but he was built lean like Spike. Quill quickly moved in front of Frost, throwing a protective wing in front her.

"Quill stop, he's a friend," Frost said, placing her hands on Quill's shoulders to calm her down. After glaring at the scorpio stallion for another moment, Quill moved her wing back into her coat, stepping back to Frost's side. "General Raghnall, it's a pleasure to see you again. And on better terms, I hope?"

A collective silence came over the small village, all awaiting the reply of the former general of Chrysalis' hive. Raghnall broke the silence with a small smile. "That it is Lady Frost, but I am no general any longer. Come, let's get out of this cold, Chrysalis has been waiting for you," Raghnall said before he started leading them to the cavern, stopping to add, "Oh, and good work Nova."

"Yes, sir," Nova said, returning Raghnall's nod. The group quickly began making their way through the village.

A young filly approached Frost timidly. She had an older colt by her side, who was probably her brother. Once she was in front of Frost, she stopped, shyly holding up a small purple flower for the scorpio mare. Frost smiled as she kneeled down in front of the filly, bowing her head. After letting the filly place it in her hair, Frost hugged the two, earning a blush from the colt, and sent them on their way to find shelter from the storm.

Once they were finally in the cavern, Quill started to feel a lot warmer, as she could sense the heat coming from it. The group continued deeper into the cavern, waking many of changelings that nested inside. Frost recognized a few of the changelings as former Hive Princesses, and even a few Swarm Queens. What misfortune that fallen upon them, Frost didn't know, nor did she want to find out.

Deeper in the cave, Raghnall lead them to a small wooden door fitted around a hole that had been carved out of the cave's wall. He gave a small quick knock, which was answered instantly. "Come in." Frost started at the familiar sound of her sister's voice, making more distant memories resurface.

Raghnall twisted the doorknob, pushing the door open for the group to file in before him. The room was fairly sparse. If anything, it resembled a bedroom from High Moon. Simple furniture, like a nightstand, a wooden chest, and a bed. On said bed was Frost's eldest sister, Chrysalis. Frost's eyes widened as she saw her sister. It seemed that Chrysalis had finally found a sense of pride in her dragon heritage, as she was no longer trying to hide it behind a changeling disguise.

But that's not why Frost's eyes had widened. "Sister, it's so… good to see you after so long," Frost nervously began up, eyeing the pregnant belly Chrysalis was cradling in her arms. She closed her eyes to better compose herself, letting out a small sigh. "Dear sister, I-I don't know what to say really."

"Then how about you let me start first?" Chrysalis giggled, softly patting a spot on the bed next to her with a small smile. Frost hesitated for a moment before she gave in, walking over to the bed and taking a seat next to Chrysalis. Sitting down next to the mare was a jarring experience for Frost. Everything about Chrysalis had changed. The aura she gave off, her voice, the look in her eyes, even her mane was in better care now that she had it in a long ponytail behind her head.

Frost's thoughts were flying mile a minute. Was this really her sister? Had the Fall really done something to her, mentally and spiritually? How was she pregnant and just who was the father of the foal?

"Frost… I want to start out by saying, I'm sorry," Chrysalis said, turning her head away from her sister. She sighed a few moments after saying this, hoping Frost would had said something in response by now. "Everything I've done, the arguments, the petty fighting, crushing your dreams… and for my greedy attempts at proving you wrong."

"Chrysalis, what do you mean by proving me wrong?" Frost asked, trying to catch her sister's eyes. "You wanted our mother's throne as much as I did… do, rather."

Chrysalis scoffed unbelievingly. "I figured that was still your goal, sweet sister," she said with a small shake of her head. "My greatest shame; the invasion of Canterlot. Sister, ask yourself this, do you really believe I had a plan after the invasion? The farthest I got with that was taking down Princess Celestia, and draining her former captain of all of his love. I didn't account for the entire kingdom still being able to oppose me."

"Sister…"

"No Frost, I didn't. And honestly," Chrysalis again sighed, this time with a laugh following it. "I was surprised I even got close enough to Captain Armor to get that far. But I did, surprisingly. I had taken Princess Cadance's place for days, using every moment I could to drain that stallion of hers. You wouldn't believe how much love that one stallion had for her. He was even willing to believe me over his own little sister, despite the fact that I wasn't as kind as Cadence was as time went on."

"Lemme guess," Quill jumped in, folding her arms over her chest as she looked towards the mare. She'd had to throttle her anger hard to keep from interrupting when the mare had mentioned Cadance and Shining Armor. "You got too caught up trying to power yourself up that you forgot to actually finish your plans."

Chrysalis shook her head with a small grimace on her face. "No, not necessarily, at least. I a 'plan' laid out. But my dragon greed made itself known to me in a very powerful way." A chill went through Chrysalis' spine. The feeling of letting her greed take over had been so pleasurable and gratifying at first, but that soon blinded her even further that she had been. "I let it get the better of me, and that was my first mistake, but not my biggest one. No… thinking that I could take over Equestria by myself was my biggest mistake. Even thinking that was a mistake to start with."

"Then why did you do it, sister? Why act on your greed, knowing that it would bring you misfortune?"

She sighed while shaking her head. By now, Chrysalis had had much time to reflect on her actions and the reasons she had for them. "Like I said sister, to prove to you that changelings didn't have to beg for someone's love; to prove to you that we had the power to simply take what we wanted; to prove that we didn't need the permission of others to get what we needed. I was gravely mistaken."

Chrysalis began rubbing her pregnant belly once again, smiling. "I was so foolishly blinded by my own pride, sister. Of the many battles I've fought in, I have only lost twice. One time to you, and the other time to that diamond dog. I could take defeat from you Frost, I didn't enjoy it, but I expected it nonetheless. However," Chrysalis' voice soon grew cold and hollow. "when I was defeated by that diamond dog and his younger brother's team I… I don't know, something inside of me snapped."

"Chrysalis, I should let you in on a secret about that diamond dog," Quill again jumped in, feeling the need to tell the mare the truth about Obsidian. "He was a Fallen Saint before coming to the guard, and he had a Salamander Drake as a partner. He didn't go into details, but his partner sacrificed himself so he could live, handing over his dragon's soul in the process."

"I see, I suppose that makes me feel better that he didn't just roast me where I stood," Chrysalis said dryly. "But that doesn't matter. The 'invasion' was my biggest defeat, and the hardest pill I ever had to swallow. We were scattered to the four winds, I did everything I could to save as many of my drones as I could, yet I failed horribly. I only managed to save, ten, maybe twelve. The others… many of them didn't survive the Fall."

She closed her eyes, trying to fight back the memories of seeing so many of her drones perish that day. They had believed in her, and she had failed them. "Things were... unsettling in the days after. I tried to regain the power I lost, even going so far as to convince other Hive Princesses to join with me. I fully believed that if I had another chance, I could get back what I had lost. However, Mother's Guard found me first."

"That explains why there are Hive Princesses here, doesn't it?" Frost asked while Raghnall approached the bed to sit on Chrysalis' other side. He moved an arm around Chrysalis' body. Frost supposed that answered who the father was.

Chrysalis took a moment to breathe, closing her eyes. "Mhmm," she eventually answered after a few moments, slowly nodded her head. Chrysalis was still angry with herself for allowing her greed and ambitions to pull others down with her. "You only saw my banishment because Mother wanted to make an example out of me. Perhaps to show that not even her own offspring are safe from her rule."

"Then sister, why haven't you gone to see Aurora? Surely she would have been glad to take you in."

"Because, dear sister," Chrysalis laughed bitterly, "Do you really think our Auntie would be thrilled to see me after all the hurt I caused? I couldn't began to make up for the sins I'd done that day, or any other sins for that matter. No, what I did requires more than just one small act. I mean, it isn't like I can go to Captain Armor and just say, 'I'm sorry for kidnapping your wife and taking her place to bleed you dry of everything you have.' I would be dead before the second word left my lips."

"But Chrysalis, surely you won't just reside in the shadows?" Frost asked, knowing there has to be some part of Chrysalis that was the same. "Even you must have something planned, right?"

Chrysalis shook her head, laughing dryly at her sister. "No, I'm done scheming and planning Frost. The invasion showed me that I have no right to rule. I have no control over myself, and I have no real ideas to inspire others with." Chrysalis paused, closing her eyes while shaking her head again. "You, on the other hand, sister, you know how to inspire others. You know exactly what you want and you know how to get it. Unlike myself, you have far more control over your dragon heritage. You have power that I could never achieve."

"And what is that sister? I fail to see how I am any more fit to rule than you are, and right now…" Frost sighed, turning away from Chrysalis, biting her lip. Quill recognized the look on Frost's face, one she always hated to see. She quickly moved to the bed to take the empty spot at Frost's side, slowly wrapping an arm around Frost's body.

Frost leaned into Quill's embrace before taking in a few deep breaths to calm herself down. "Right now, I just don't see it anymore. The dream of taking down our mother, being crowned the Swarm Queen of Everfree, uniting the other mass hives of Equestria. I just don't know where to start, to be honest."

"Hey, hey, hey, don't talk like that. Frost we've been over this already," Quill said, shaking Frost a little while working up the best smile she could. "We have a starting point, we just need to take it step by step."

"And what might that be?" Chrysalis asked the dragoness, arching an eyebrow slightly.

This time, Frost had enough will to speak. "We were going to try and have the other Swarm Queens join us in our case. However…"

"Hm, I see," Chrysalis nodded, knowing what Frost was thinking. She too had considered seeking the alliance of other Swarm Queens. But she had turned that idea down after some thought. As far fetched as it was, forming an alliance was the best, if not only, option against Frost's mother. Such a thing left one exposed for betrayal if they were not careful about which hive they picked first. And without the help of a hive, the first step would have to be allying with a small and smart one.

"What of the Hagfish Queen?" Raghnall suggested, only able come up with that swarm to start with. "I have heard rumors of Queen Myxine growing tired of your mother's attempts to expand further out from her territory than she needs. Myxine is also one of the smartest Swarm Queens. The only reason her swarm stays small is because she is content with where she is now. Though, if there's anyone I would start with it would be her, on the Red Shore coast."

Chrysalis nodded her head in agreement at Raghnall's words, smiling a little. "And you already know how she dislikes our mother. Everytime the Queens had a meeting, our mother and Myxine would be the main ones to fight before everything fell apart. If there's anyone to start with, it's her."

"Wait a minute, the Red Shore coast? That's on the far east side of Equestria, near Baltimare Shore and Angels' Islands," Quill said as she quickly began crunching numbers in her head in terms of distance. "Yeah… that's a trip right there. Heh, if we're going out that far, we might as well pay Angels' Islands a visit."

Frost laughed softly at Quill, but nodded her head anyways. "If you really think it will be worth the trip Quill, then we will go. And thank you, sister," Frost said while Quill discreetly pumped a fist.

"Well, I couldn't just let you run in without any help. Oh and before I forget," Chrysalis suddenly started, clasping her hands together as she just remembered something. "There is one other other Swarm Queen that I think you would be interested in. She came to me looking for an alliance one time, but I turned her down because she… she's 'special.' Let's just say that."

Frost raised an eyebrow at Chrysalis as Raghnall sparked his horn in a pale-green light, conjuring up a bright orange card with the symbol of a broken heart encircled in a gear that was a darker shade of orange. Frost took the calling card from Raghnall's magical grip, bringing it over so both she and Quill could see it for themselves.

"Who is it sister?" Frost asked. "I have never seen anything like it before. Quill, by any chance…"

"Nope... well, it looks a little familiar, I just can't put my finger on it," Quill answered, trying her best to remember if she'd ever seen anything like it before. She knew she had, she just couldn't think of where from. "So, who is it anyway? Must be someone important if she's a Swarm Queen."

"Well, I wouldn't say important, more useful. Once you can get her to focus on something," Chrysalis said with a small giggle. "Her name is Queen Patina, and she's the leader of the Ferrugo Hive. They are heavily industrialized and Patina seems to be a pure genius when it comes to both mechanical and magical devices. She might be of use to you in some way. In fact, she handed me a book on such things. I tried to turn it away but she was so, so, so…"

"Insistent is the word I believe you are looking for, love," Raghnall laughed as he pulled his blushing mare closer to him. "But yes, Queen Patina is a very intellectual mare. In terms of technology, her swarm outdoes any other. Yet, she's not one you would call… tactical."

"Never mind that, she still intrigues me. By any chance, would you still have this book sister?" Frost asked, remembering that they had to bring back something for the pack. She already knew she was going to ask Nova to stay, but bringing back something extra would not hurt.

"Mhmm," Chrysalis answered with a nod. Raghnall again sparked his horn to conjure up a hardback dark-brown book. The symbol on said book was almost the same as the one on the calling card. The primary difference was that the book's sample had a sun in the center of the gear and the color was a pale-golden color.

Quill snapped her fingers as she remembered where she had seen the symbol before. "Geartown Industries," she said, gaining the attention of the room. Quill then reached for the book to hold it up with the calling card. "That's where her hive is at, Geartown. That's a stone's throw from Detrot."

"Detrot?" a collective question came from the three changelings in the room, causing Quill to give them a deadpan look.

"Detrot, Equestria's biggest industrial city. Or was, until a few years ago, that is," Quill shrugged her shoulders slightly as she sat the book down on the bed with the card on top. "This big company came in and bought out almost the entire city. It's almost impossible for anyone to breathe without their permission. Everyone says they have total control of the place and they push out any other businesses to keep it like that."

"Sounds like Mother," the sisters said at the same time. They looked at one another in surprise, before they started to laugh together, something they hadn't done since they were young fillies.

Once the laughter was over, Frost thought that it was time to stop stressing her sister's body any further than it was. "Sister, Raghnall, thank you both. You two don't know how much this means to me. So, when might you be expecting, sister? Not too soon I hope?"

"Oh she's coming along, alright," Chrysalis laughed, placing her hands back onto her stomach. She seemed to glow, with a small smile on her face. 'This look suits Chrysalis, in a way,' Frost thought. Before her defeat, Chrysalis had a hardened exterior and a cold interior. Now, that interior had warmed up with the nursing warmth of childbirth and that exterior had shattered the day of the Fall. It was comforting for Frost to see Chrysalis like this, it gave her hope that even if things became too much there was a way out. "Four more long months, and I'll be birthing my own little princess."

"That's wonderful, Chrysalis," Frost said, returning a smile. "Any thoughts on names yet?"

Chrysalis bit her bottom lip with a small nod of her head, but didn't answer the question verbally. That's when Raghnall let out a deep chuckle as he wrapped his arm around mare, pulling her head down to his chest. "Oh yes we have. And there's one name that Chrysalis insisted on. Isn't that right, my love?"

"Mhmm," Chrysalis eventually answered, still not looking at Frost and with a blush on her cheeks.

Frost waited a another moment to see if her sister was going to answer, but only got an embarrassed glance from her every now and again. "Well… what is it?" Frost eventually asked after getting a few more glances from her sister. "Come on sister, I'm sure it's an excellent name."

"Oh yes it is," Raghnall snorted a laugh. "Come now love, either you tell Lady Frost, or I do."

Chrysalis sighed in defeat. She took in a slow breath after she closed her eyes. "Snow Crystal," Chrysalis breathed out, the blush on her face growing when Raghnall placed an affectionate kiss on the top of her head by her horn.

"Aw, Chryssie," Frost said, flattered. 'Snow Crystal' had been Chrysalis' special nickname for Frost when they had been fillies.

"Now I know what you're thinking, but it just felt... right. I mean, I know you remember what you said to me the last time we saw each other," Chrysalis said in mild defence with a small smile on her face.

Fost nodded her head as she remembered the last words she had spoke to her sister. "'This defeat is not a loss, but a chance for you to gain so much more. You are now free sister, you have far more now than you could've hoped for,'" Frost sadly recited at the memory. She could still faintly remember the look of pure hate and despair from her sister. "I'm happy to see that you made use of this."

"Well it certainly wasn't easy!" Chrysalis giggled. She moved her head back to Raghnall's chest, nestling against it with a small sigh. "For over a year, all I did was plan for revenge. Every waking hour I had was spent on planning some way to get revenge. Many here thought I had lost my mind with how much I muttered about getting back what I'd lost."

Still smiling, Chrysalis shook her head at her own past actions, glad that Raghnall had stayed diligently by her side to pull her from the swirling vortex of darkness she'd found herself in. He was the only one of all her former drones to remain loyal to her. While others gave up on her, he had not. Raghnall remained; no matter how deranged Chrysalis had gotten, no matter how much she had wrongfully blamed him for her failure in Canterlot three years ago... he stayed, for he loved his Queen.

"No. It wasn't easy at all. I have you and Raghnall to thank for changing. Raghnall, if it wasn't for you staying by my side all these years, I may have never understood what Frost meant by me being set free." Chrysalis said, moving her hand to take Raghnall's.

Raghnall softly smiled from his lover's praising words. "I did nothing but stay loyal to my one and only queen," Raghnall faithfully said, returning a firm grip to Chrysalis' hand.

"And I did nothing but speak my mind, sister. But now, I am wishing that I had treated you better; the way sisters are supposed to," Frost replied, looking down.

Chrysalis leaned away from Raghnall's shoulder, placing a hand on her sister's leg to snap her out of her downward stare. "Frost. I am the one who should be saying that. I yelled and treated you as if you were a lesser creature than myself. I even went so far as to hide my dragon blood. Just so Mother would love me. A fool's dream, wasn't it?"

"Chrysalis, you're not the only one that wanted Mother's affection," Frost admitted with a small sigh. "The only difference is that I realized sooner that she would never love us, but instead come to fear us. She's afraid that one of us was going to rise up against her one day to take the throne."

"I must say sister, I'm impressed. You've been stripped of your hive, home, and title, yet you're still willing to go after our mother with virtually nothing."

Frost locked eyes with Chrysalis, and the elder scorpio mare felt something she never thought she'd see from the younger one. Pride. "No sister, I am not without something. I have my wits and skills to assist me in my journey. Not to mention my own strong and devoted lover."

"Yeah, you know it," Quill said with a snort of gray smoke, squeezing Frost tightly against her side.

Both Raghnall and Chrysalis began laughing at the confident dragoness. "Yes, she seems like quite the… scrapper," Raghnall said after his chuckling had ended. "Well, the best of luck to the both of you. You're going to needed it regardless."

Frost and Quill nodded their heads, knowing that it was nearing time to say goodbye. "Thank you General Raghnall, it is greatly appreciated."

"Oh? Leaving so soon? It feels as though you've just got here, sister," Chrysalis said, almost whining.

"Do not worry sister, I promise to stop by as much as we can," Frost said as she and Quill got up from the bed. They both quickly reached into their pockets to pull out the return stones Isis had given them prior to their travel, only to be stopped by Chrysalis sighing.

"Actually sister… I do not believe you'll be able to find us here for much longer." Frost quickly turned to face Chrysalis, who had her hands resting on her pregnant stomach with a glowing smile on her face. She laid her head back on Raghnall's chest, closing her eyes with a content sigh leaving her lips. "I want more for my foal, Frost. I, we, want a better life than this."

Chrysalis waved her hand lazily around the poorly lit room. The walls were made of rough limestone carved out of the mountain they lived in. The only thing keep everyone from freezing was the chambers filled with fire, fueled by the trees of the surrounding area. Conditions in a castaway hive were normally like this, and it was entirely understandable that Chrysalis wanted a better place to give birth to her foal.

"Then where will you go sister? Surely you can't go very far in your condition," Frost said, unable to think of any other nearby hive or swarm that would take Chrysalis in. Especially not after the ruthless ambitions and goals she had as a Hive Princess, or after her failed invasion of Canterlot.

"We are going to try. The only thing that was stopping me from leaving already was this one thing."

"What would that be?"

Instead of answering right away, Chrysalis took in a deep breath before she slowly got up from the bed with Raghnall's help. She gave herself a moment to huff before walking over to Frost. Standing a head taller than Frost, Chrysalis looked down into the two icy-blue eyes of her younger sister.

Frost was going to question Chrysalis when the older mare suddenly wrapped her arms tightly around Frost's neck. No words could begin to describe how Frost felt in that moment. She'd never known the warmth from Chrysalis' otherwise cold personality, not since she was a filly. "Frost, dear sister… I-I want to say… I'm sorry for everything I've done. There hasn't been a moment in the last three years where I haven't wished I could take back everything I said to you. There's no excuse for what I did to you other than I was scared and alone. I so desperately wanted love from Mother that I pushed you away, and I'm sorry. Can you ever forgive me?"

"Chrysalis." Frost moved her arms around Chrysalis' back to return the affection, sighing softly. "Sister, I understand why you did everything you did. And I do forgive you for it." Reluctantly, Frost moved her hands up to Chrysalis' shoulders to pull back from the tight hug, looking into Chrysalis' teary eyes. "But have you forgiven yourself?"

"No I haven't. Not yet," Chrysalis said, shaking her head. She averted her eyes from Frost's, taking the moment to wipe away the tears that were swelling up in them. "I will someday. However…"

"I know sister, I know," Frost cut in, giving Chrysalis another long hug before she hesitantly released the mare. Raghnall discreetly came up behind Chrysalis, taking her by a welcomed surprise by wrapping his arms around her shoulders. "General, please take good care of them. My sister and her foal."

"I'd gladly protect Chrysalis and our child anywhere she chose to go for us."

Frost nodded her head to Raghnall. Then she remembered what she had been meaning to ask him. "Furthermore, General, I have a personal request. I'd like for Nova to be released into my service once more, if at all possible, and if she agrees."

Raghnall let out a deep laugh before shaking his head. "Lady Frost, I have already told you, I am no longer a general. Besides, she is your scout, is she not? It is entirely her choice."

Frost hesitated before she turned to Nova. The mare felt anxious, for some reason. She noted that the hound's forehead gem had turned a bright blue, and Frost smiled at it, relaxing. Her question already answered by the hopeful color. "Nova, would you do me the honor of returning to my service, my dearest friend?"

Nova looked down at the ground for a moment, fighting the urge to yell in happiness. Eventually she looked back up, an eager smile on her face. "Lady Frost, I would never have left your side in the first place, if it had been up to me."

Frost reached over and scratched behind the hound's ear. As the hound's grin grew, tail wagging, Frost said, "I'm happy to have you with me again, Nova." Frost paused when she saw that Nova's forehead gem had turned a solid indigo. There were a number of ways to interpret that color, and she wasn't entirely sure which was the right one. Nova noticed that Frost had stopped, apparently noticing the color her gem had turned. She quickly stepped back, head flicking slightly to cover up the gemstone with her hair, blushing hotly.

Quill raised an eyebrow at the hound's odd behavior, not really sure what the gem signified. Frost looked like she was about to say something, then decided against it. The mare turned to Quill, asking, "Ready to go, Quill?"

Quill wordlessly nodded her head while she was still busy with thinking what she was going to tell Spike regarding Chrysalis. He was going to be upset about it for sure. However, he might let go of his anger for the mare when he heard what Quill had to say.

"Then this is goodbye, sister," Frost said after a brief moment of noticing the thoughtful look on Quill's face.

Right before they could take out the gemstones Isis gave them, Raghnall stood up from the bed and held up his head, calling out to them. "Young lady Frost, wait a moment."

"Yes General, what is it?"

Raghnall paused, glancing back to Chrysalis. Receiving a stern nod from the mare, the old general sighed before his horn sparked in a ghostly green light. Seconds later, a pale silver-blue lantern materialized in front of him. Quill and Nova raised an eyebrow at the lantern, their eyes being drawn to the reflective crystal ball held inside. Frost on the other hand knew what the lantern really was as her eyes went wide. "That… that can not be what I think it is." She paused, swallowing hard as her eyes transfixed on the polished crystal. "Chrysalis that -"

"Your eyes are working right? Believe it sister, it's what you think it is," Chrysalis said with a short sigh. "If I can't go after Mother any more, that doesn't mean I can't help you. Take it Frost, from what it looks like, you and I had the same idea with dealing with our Mother."

Frost nodded her head and sparked her horn. Her icy-blue aura quickly consumed Ragnhall's green, taking the ticket in her magical grip and levitating it towards her. She reached a hand out to the lantern, letting its weight fall into her palm. The chain rattled as it dangled from the top. She ran a thumb over the polished crystal, sighing. "Thank you sister, this helps out more than you know."

"Oh trust me, I know. Farewell Frost." With a wave goodbye from Chrysalis and her lover, each visitor took out their gemstone that would teleport them back to High Moon.

Each stone was placed in the hands of its user, pulsing faintly with an off-purple light. Just like Isis instructed, all three pushed a small bit of their magic into the gems, Frost having to use some of her own for Nova's. The gems started to glow brighter. Slowly, the glow from the stones began to bleed off into the ground underneath Quill, Nova, and Frost's feet, forming a mirror-like circle edged with an ethereal purple glow.

Looking down, Quill recognized that the wavy image below was some part of High Moon. "Going down," she said just before she and the others began to sink through the image.

/-/  
/ High Moon Ch. 58: Plans of End pt 1/-/

High Moon Ch. 58:  
Plans for the End pt. 1

The morning of Quill's departure, Spike took it upon himself to follow through with his promise to Quill that he'd go see Twilight about the unicorns. He was able to do this thanks to the fact that the pack now had about a week or two of food in storage. Cyclone and Veil decided to tag along because they wanted to know a little more about the life Spike had before he'd came to High Moon. Wolf, seeing that over half of his pack was now involved in the matter, also decided to follow the drake to his old home. Spirit was forced to go along by Fang, while he was entrusted in keeping watch over Blaze and Isis.

Rydder followed too, most likely out of a command Quill had made before she left with Frost to deal with Chrysalis. Thankfully, Ponyville was fairly empty due to the cold weather forcing ponies to take shelter inside of their warm homes. During the walk there, Spike had quickly briefed Spirit and Wolf on what was going on with the unicorns. When Wolf heard that their the valley was close to the occultists' base, he growled.

"Drake, you'd better know what you're doing," Wolf warned as they continued to make their way down the snow-covered streets. He didn't like being this far from High Moon, or even out of the Everfree for that matter. This territory was unfamiliar. What the pack was getting into was dangerous. However, it would be more dangerous to turn a blind eye to it at this point.

"I do Wolf. We just got to talk with Twi about everything and we should be golden," Spike answered back. He and Cyclone were both wrapped in their winter coats, the fur pelts of the many animals that had been killed during the year sewn into the collar and sides of the overcoat to keep in their body heat. The dogs didn't have much use for the coats thanks to their thick winter fur protecting them. Amusingly to Spike, Cyclone had fitted Rydder with a cape at some point, giving him a more knightly appearance.

"And from the looks of things, we just got lucky," Spike continued, looking down the road to see two armed Solar Guards standing at attention just outside of the tree home. From the type of armor that they were wearing, it was easy for Spike to tell that they were high ranking, meaning that whatever was going on inside of the library was of the utmost importance. There was also a small military air transport sitting just off to the side of Golden Oaks. That meant that Celestia wouldn't be at the library.

Spike led the group towards the library, only to have the two guards block their path with their spears. Cyclone flinched back from the sudden movement while Veil let out a throaty growl. She quickly moved in front of Cyclone, baring her fangs.

"Easy Veil. We're here to talk, not to cause trouble," Spike said in a easy, yet stern voice, placing his hand on Veil's shoulder to calm her down. After staring down at the two dark-gray guards once more, Veil relaxed herself with a sigh. Spike sighed, worried letting that Veil and Cyclone come had been a bad idea.

He shook his head before looking at the two guards. "We're here to speak with Princess Sparkle. It's important business."

"Well you can't enter just yet," one of the guards answered in a gruff tone. It was now obvious that the two guards didn't recognize Spike. "Princess Sparkle is in a meeting right now and can not be interrupted. I'm sorry, but I'm going have to ask that you and your party turn back."

"Really? What if I show you this?" Spike reached into his back pocket, pulling out a piece of parchment wrapped in a dark indigo ribbon with Twilight's purple starburst symbol. He smiled when the guards' eyes widened slightly in surprise. "You can go check if you want, but you know."

"Wait right here," the guard on the left said, carefully taking the letter from Spike's hand before he walked in the library. A few quiet moments passed, Spike just smugly staring at the second guard. When the first guard returned, he gestured his head back into the library. "Everything checks out. Apologizes... Spike? You grew up in a hurry."

Spike smiled, saying, "Well, I had to. You should see my sister." The guards chuckled as Spike walked past them, waving the others in behind him. As the group slowly filed into the tree home, the guards closed the door behind them. Once in the main area of the library, Spike's group found itself caught by the collective stares of the Elements, Dusk, his mares, his sisters, and Obsidian. They had all been huddled around a large round table with several maps that been marked with circles and x's before the new group had come in.

Before anyone could say anything, a bright purple and silver flash appeared in front of Spike, giving way to a little filly dressed in a pink shirt and blue jeans. "Mr. Dragon! You're here!" Amethyst cheered as she quickly hopped a little to give Spike a tight hug.

Both Veil and Cyclone raised an eyebrow at Spike while he chuckled, picking up Amethyst. "Heh, hey Amethyst. I see you've been doing a lot better since the last time I saw you," Spike said. Squeezing Amethyst to him, he turned around to introduce her to his group. "Everyone, this little filly is the one that saved me, Amethyst."

Spike smiled down at Amethyst, kissing the filly's cheek while she looked shyly at the rest of his group. She blushed, looking at him. "Is that?..." The filly shyly broke off, glancing at Cyclone.

Spike chuckled before nodding, smiling at her.

With a happy squeal, the filly's horn lit and she teleported in a bright flash, reappearing midair in front of Cyclone and latching her arms around the dragoness' neck. Caught off guard, Cyclone was barely able to catch the filly as Amethyst squeezed herself against the pale dragoness.

Eyes somewhat wide as she held Amethyst, Cyclone looked at Spike, confused. The drake smiled encouragingly at her, prompting Cyclone to talk to Amethyst. "Well it's… nice to meet you too, little Amethyst. And thank you so much for helping Spike. Veil and I owe you so much for that."

Amethyst pulled back from Cyclone, a confused look on her face. "Veil? Who's that?"

Veil stepped in closer to Cyclone, and Amethyst turned to look at her. "Goofy as he is, Spike's kind of important to us. So thank you, Amethyst." Veil had a smile on her face, chuckling as she saw the filly's eyes widen.

Amethyst turned back to look at Spike, asking, "You have two girlfriends? I didn't know you could do that!" The filly's amazement Spike's relationships caused the group to laugh.

"Yes, apparently there's a lot for us all to catch up on," a voice behind Spike said. He turned around, seeing that Twilight had walked over to greet the group. "And Amethyst, what have I told you about teleporting on top of people?" The admonishment, light-hearted as it was, caused the filly to blush and smile sheepishly at Twilight.

The purple alicorn smiled, before turning and crushing Spike in a hug. "And you, look at you. What happened?"

Spike chuckled as he hugged Twilight back. "I grew up. Apparently dragons get a growth-spurt at some point when they're eighteen. Quill had one too. We slept for like a week."

Twilight shook her head, still smiling. "Well, leave it to you and Quill to-"

Someone clearing their throat behind the two interrupted Twilight, and Spike turned to see that Veil had walked up to the two. One eyebrow raised, she looked at the alicorn that was hugging Spike. Placing a hand against Spike's lower back, she addressed the two. "Sorry, I don't think Spike's introduced us. I'm Veilstone, and you are?"

Spike chuckled before he pulled back from the tight hug from Twilight. "This, Veil, everyone, is Princess Twilight Sparkle. She's the pony that hatched Quill and me, and basically raised us."

Eyes wide, Veil managed to stammer out a response after a few seconds. "I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

Shaking her head, Twilight moved to interrupt Veil. "It's no problem, Spike just thinks he's funny throwing around my title so casually. I try to forget I have it, honestly."

Veil grinned at her, looking slyly at Spike. "Yeah, he does think he's funnier than he actually is."

Cyclone and Amethyst both giggled at Veil's joke as Spike rolled his eyes. Turning to face the princess, Spike said, "So I guess we should go meet everyone else, huh? Veil and Cyclone wanted to meet everyone, and Wolf and Spirit came along to stretch their legs."

"Of course, come on in. If you'd told me you were coming, I could have made sure the guards knew to let you in. Sorry if they were a problem." Twilight turned to lead the group into the library proper, over to the table everyone else was still around.

Dusk squinted his eyes as Spike came near, before widening as he recognized the drake. "Holy crap. Spike dude is that you?" Dusk asked, turning in his chair to get a better look at Spike. "What hit you with the badass stick?"

"My backwards ancestor, that's who," Spike answered back, moving to the front of his group as they neared the table. Spike watched Twilight move back to her seat near the other Elements, and nodded at them. "Hey Rainbow, heard you're going to join the Aeroguard."

"Yeah. Cloud duty was fun and all, but this is a bit more up my league, you know?" Rainbow joked, causing Verdite to snort out a laugh. "So anyway, who are the new faces?"

"Oh right, right." Spike turned slightly to introduce each of the pack members that had come with him. "This is our pack leader Wolf." A nod came from the pale-white dog as he made his way around the table, taking a seat next to Obsidian.

Much like the dogs of High Moon, Obsidian, Dusk, and his two sisters' furs had all taken a paler color than before. The half-breeds' furs looking to be thicker in comparison to the full-blooded diamond dogs. "Twilight and Rainbow already know Rydder. This is Spirit."

Spirit raised his hand in a greeting as he moved to stand near Wolf, pressing his back against a bookshelf. Rydder moved to the right side of the room, taking a spot by a clear section of the wall. Spike noted the sentinel's unusually more free-willed attitude, but pushed that to the back of his head as he went to introduce his mates.

"And these two lovely ladies are my mates, Cyclone and Veil," Spike said with a proud tone in his voice, wrapping an arm around the waist of each of his mates. Cyclone blushed brightly, but still meekly waved to the other group, skipping over Rarity. She had to shift Amethyst to one arm entirely, but managed it easily enough.

Veil simply remained stony-faced, seemingly uninterested as she looked over the group in front of her. She wasn't entirely impressed by the stories of them that she'd heard from Spike and Quill, especially in regards to the pony Quill had called 'Rarity'. Cyclone hadn't said anything about the mare, though she had admitted to meeting her once.

Spike continued, "I'm not entirely sure how I tricked them into being with me, but they've definitely made my life a lot better."

After having introduced his pack members, Spike turned to the the table and began introducing everyone sitting at it. He started with Dusk, then Jinx and Sketchy, followed by Verdite and Wave. Once they'd all exchanged greetings, Spike moved on to name the rest of the Elements. Cyclone already knew Rarity, and even as the dragoness regarded Rarity warily, the white pony gave her a weak smile. Cyclone's expression didn't change, though she did press her side against Spike more firmly.

Across the table, Rainbow leaned over to Rarity, speaking in soft whisper. "Damn, Rares, looks like you let Spike get away too early. He grew up good."

Rarity turned to Rainbow, eyes wide. In an equally quiet yet scandalized tone, the fashionista replied, "Rainbow! That is our little Spikey-Wikey!"

Rainbow shrugged. "What? He's not so little anymore. Besides, he's pretty handsome now. A mare can look, can't she?"

"Rainbow Dash, if you say anything else, I will turn all of your uniforms into frilly pink dresses," Rarity hissed back.

Chuckling to herself, Rainbow sat back in her own seat. Then she noticed the dark glare that Veil was giving her, and that the hound had pressed herself closer to Spike. Rainbow mentally smacked herself. 'Right, diamond dog hearing, which means…' Looking over at Verdite, Wave, and Dusk, she saw they all shared shit-eating grins on their faces, watching Rainbow. She tried to hide her face in one hand, blushing hotly. 'Oh Celestia, just kill me now.'

Entirely clueless to the exchange, and the change in attitude of the dogs, Spike had been addressing Twilight and Obsidian. "I'll cut to the chase. Our pack wants to help with the unicorns, and you guys could use the help."

Obsidian raised an eyebrow at Spike, curious as to why a pack from the Everfree would be interested in fighting against the unicorn threat. "Oh? We need your help? You realize we have the Elements of Harmony, a Knight of Defiance, and the entire Solar Guard at our disposal. And we need your help?"

"Nice sell pitch Spike," Spirit joked, snorting a small laugh.

Spike opened his mouth in retort, "Yeah? How well would the second invasion have gone if Quill, Frost, and I hadn't been there to help out? Seems to me we had plenty on our hands even with the Elements, one of them an alicorn, your Solar Guard, and your Knight."

Obsidian chuckled at the drake, nodding his head slowly. "Just making sure you were serious. So, just what will your pack be bringing to the table? Outside of the obvious."

"Well if it hadn't been for Wolf here kicking our butts around all the time, we may not have been any use," Spike laughed, thinking back to all the sparring matches he'd had with the alpha in the few months before winter. Most of the memories were of him getting either thrown into a tree or slammed into one of the betas dogs. "Most likely would've died if it wasn't for all the training he gave us."

Wolf shook his head, snorting. "I didn't give any of you anything. You earned it like the warriors you were made to be," he said with an air of pride, hiding it under a mask of authority. He turned to address Obsidian. "Mountain-Dog."

"Hm?"

"Sem spust prvih otrok Cerberus'. (I am a descent of Cerberus' first children,)" Wolf said in his native diamond dog tongue. Obsidian's eyes widened for a moment, quickly looking over at Spirit and Veil for an answer, only getting shrugs from them in return. Even Dusk and his sisters had to share looks between each other for a moment. "Furthermore, I have a cub being born in the coming spring. I refuse to raise them with this kind of evil looming over these lands. That is my reason."

Obsidian nodded his head and sighed, looking back at the alpha dog. His claim was… difficult to believe, however, somedog like Obsidian had little room to talk with the dragonic markings hidden underneath his gloves. "I see. Well, that is honorable enough. My own mare is due to give birth sometime late spring as well, so I know where you're coming from, Forest-Dog. But what's his story?" he asked, pointing towards Spirit.

"My friends and I made a promise a long time ago. I am not going to break that promise and neither will they," Spirit answered, shifting where he stood by Wolf. "So I hope you don't mind having a few Fallen Saints on your side."

"Come again?"

"Did he just say what I think he did?"

"No, we don't," Obsidian cut in, stopping Applejack and Rainbow Dash from saying something they might regret. The two mares gave Spirit a strong glare, but the dog calmly returned their glares. "We can use all the help we can get. And when you think about it, both the Knights and Elements are considered to be Fallen Saints anyway."

"Tha's different," Applejack argued in a stubborn tone, crossing her arms over her chest in a huff. Rainbow wanted to speak up again, wanting to call Spirit out for his claim. Yet she knew better than to speak against a higher ranking official. That didn't stop her from glaring at the dog, however. "We risk our lives to save this kingdom because it's our home. Ya'll just do it for money!"

Spirit's face went into a slight snarl as he barked, "Do you have corn stuck in your ears, mare? I said we're doing this because we made a promise to someone important a long time ago. So stop being self righteous already and take the help."

"Self righteous?!"

"Enough!" Wolf snarled, slamming his hands on to the table. Everyone except Obsidian and Verdite jumped from the enraged dog's outburst. Amethyst tried to bury herself in Cyclone's arms, the pale dragoness murmuring reassuring words to the filly. The alpha's shout was even enough for Rydder to become alert, yet he remained still, as he hadn't been given an order yet.

Wolf stared intensely into Applejack's green eyes, growling. After a few moments of just him growling, she got the message and started to sit back in her seat. When Wolf whipped his head around to Spirit, the beta dog found himself unable to look away from the anger in Wolf's eyes.

"Spirit," Wolf nearly barked. He paused, taking in a slow breath while closing his eyes. After a few drawn out breaths, Wolf opened his eyes, the anger seemingly nonexistent in them. It was replaced with something else, disappointment. "Spirit, we are here to make allies, not enemies. Pick your battles, dog. Before I pick them for you myself."

Spirit caught the look of slight disappointment in Wolf's eyes, cringing slightly as he slowly nodded his head, muttering, "I understand, Alpha."

Wolf then turned his head slowly back to the orange mare sitting across from his right side. "And you mare, I will not sit here and allow you to belittle my pack members. No matter what dreams they chose to chase, the likes of you have no right to mock them. Do I make myself clear?"

Applejack opened her mouth in retort, only to be stopped by Twilight placing a hand on her left shoulder. She looked over to Twilight, seeing the mare shake her head as if she already knew what Applejack was going to say. "Fine. I don't like it, but fine," Applejack snorted, closing her eyes to gather her composure.

"You don't have to like it. Just work with it," Wolf replied in a slight snarl, calming down himself. "Now, Mountain-Dog, I want to know what we're up against before anything else is decided."

Obsidian nodded his head slowly. He leaned back in his chair, right hand reaching down to a small white pouch on his side. In it was four red plastic rods that appeared to be indicators for the map.

"Before I start, I'd like to ask that anyone that will not be involved in the upcoming attacks go into the next room. This information will be considered confidential from here on out," Obsidian began, setting the small rods in front of him as he looked around the table.

Jinx and Sketchy both got up from the table, the former squeezing Dusk's shoulder as she moved off into the adjoining reading room. By Spike, Cyclone moved to join them, still carrying Amethyst. Veil made to follow her, but then she looked back at Spike. He returned the look, confused for a moment why she wasn't following Cyclone, before it hit him. As strong a fighter as she was, she'd likely want to go with him.

As Spike made to move towards her, Veil stepped back and shook her head slightly, before following the others that had left for the next room. Spike wasn't sure what that was about - he'd have to make a point to ask the hound later.

As the few that weren't going to be involved directly in the fight left, Obsidian looked around before continuing. "I'll start with the locations and times first." He began placing the markers on the map. "As of eight o'clock in the morning, three days ago, we had two confirmed sightings of the enemy located in the city-states of Las Pegasus and Manehattan. Three hours after that, there was another sighting in the city-state of Fillydelphia. And lastly, just this morning at five, there was a sighting was in the port-state of Baltimare."

Everyone at the table looked down at the markers and the distance between them. However, Rainbow's eyes were trained solely on the marker for Baltimare. "That's way too close of a time span to not be connected with each other," Spike noted as he looked between the four different locations; if the information was truly correct, they would be their next battlefields. "Think they're planning some last ditch effort? An attack on Equestria's major cities outside of Canterlot?"

"That is a possibility, Spike," Obsidian nodded. He placed his elbow on the table to rest his head against his loosely clenched hand, eyes trained on the four targets marked on the map. "They also might still be searching for Amethyst. The worst-case scenario I can think of is that they're looking for a replacement unicorn to use as a catalyst."

"A catalyst? For what?" Spike inquired, raising an eyebrow.

Obsidian opened his mouth to answer, but Twilight beat him to the punch. "Remember when I said that there was a possibility of them trying to make Dark Elements with the magic locked inside of Amethyst?" Spike nodded his head and waved his hand for her to continue. Though Twilight hadn't specifically said in her letter that they would try to be using Amethyst to focus the power required, it wasn't important enough to remark on. "Well, they needed something - or somepony - to constrain the raw energy in something Celestia calls the Star Fragment. Apparently, it was the source of our Elements and was created by Star Swirl the Bearded."

Spike glanced over at Amethyst, who was playing a game with Cyclone and Jinx. The more he thought about it, the fact that the occultists used a filly for their plans brought up more questions. He could already tell that she was far more developed than most unicorn foals were at this point - given that Twilight hadn't learned teleportation until after they had moved to Ponyville, and that using the spell itself usually drained her of all her energy back then. He then thought about what Isis had said about Amethyst's future-sight. Even if it wasn't always one-hundred percent accurate, just the fact that one day she'd be able to focus her magic to that level was jarring to him.

"Okay, but that doesn't explain why they used a filly instead of a unicorn like Jinx or even yourself, Twilight. And have any of you figured out how the occultists even got hold of her yet?" Both Twilight and Obsidian looked away from the drake, their faces enough for Spike to get the message. "Nothing?"

"Spike, it's going to take a bit more time. We've tried looking through all the missing filly reports over the last eight years but we hadn't found any matches for Amethyst," Obsidian answered after Twilight remained silent. He tapped his fingers against the wooden table and stared up to a random corner of the room before he looked back at Spike. "It's starting to look bad, but we are still searching for her parents. I'm hoping that there is no other missing pony report that links back to Amethyst - the last thing we need is to find out that her parents are missing as well."

The room filled with silence and gloom, save for the occasional giggle from the filly in question until Twilight broke it with a sigh and continued. "Right, anyway, the only reason we could come up with why they used a foal is because during a unicorn foal's adolescence, their horn absorbs magic at a much quicker rate and also burns it at an explosive rate."

"That would explain a few things," Spike laughed, thinking back to how unpredictable Twilight's magic had been when she was still a foal.

"Anyway," Twilight continued, blushing slightly. "Anyway, we can only surmise that they used their own magic to recreate the Star, then used Amethyst to build the raw energy before transferring it back into the Star, then themselves. However, it's obvious that the latter didn't happen, or at least not completely."

"Which would mean they're either still trying to look for her or find another foal to try this on," Obsidian added, Twilight nodding her head. "But I'm more concerned about the one that hasn't been spotted just yet."

Wolf growled. "There's another?"

"Yes. There were nine in total before the battle in Canterlot, the twins and Frost killed one, and three others were captured. So now there are five remaining," Obsidian answered, still thinking about the enemy's final moves. "Princess, you sure Angel or the other two didn't say anything else about a backup plan?"

Twilight shook her head with a short snort of irritation. She, like few others from the research department of the Solar Guard, had the displeasure of having close contact with the rude and self-centered mare for the last few weeks. Her outright rudeness was almost enough to give Twilight a good reason to allow Angel's mind to be cracked wide open with a mind-shifting spell. That mare was better left a vegetable anyways.

"No, unfortunately. She's turning more stubborn by the day, but she knows her limits and that's the only thing keeping her safe right now." Twilight sighed as she placed her elbow on the table to rest her head in her palm, looking down at the map. Ever since the location of the sightings reached her, Twilight had been going through every possible tactic the enemy could be trying to pull off. "It's still unclear whether or not they're still united together or just acting out on their own. Either way, it's starting to annoy the absolute fu-"

"Momma Twilight?" Twilight's ears twitched at the sound of Amethyst's voice calling from the other room. She looked over her shoulder to see that Amethyst was sitting in between Cyclone and Veil on the green reading couch, a closed book in her lap.

"Yes Amethyst? What is it sweetie?" Twilight asked, turning a bit more to study the quizzical look on Amethyst's face.

"Can I get the book you showed me yesterday? I want to show Mr. Dragon's special somebodies all the cute and funny pictures!"

Twilight softly giggled at Amethyst before wordlessly nodding her head, a sly smile on her face. The filly let out a joyful squeal as she quickly hopped off the couch to hurry over to the stairs leading to Twilight's bedroom. While everyone had a soft collective smile at the filly's carefree joy, Spike suddenly knew which book Amethyst was talking about.

"Aw wait a minute, Twi. She's not talking about that book, is she?" he asked, sitting up straighter in his chair. If it was the book he thought it was, Spike was ready to either bolt right after Amethyst and beg on his knees, or run straight out the door.

Twilight turned back around to face Spike, her sly smile telling him everything. "I dunno, you tell me."

Spike's eyes almost shot out of his head at what Twilight was implying. There was no doubt in his mind now which book Amethyst was now going to get. And with Cyclone and Veil there, he knew he'd never hear the end of it. 'When did Twilight start acting like this?! Oh man, now I have a really bad feeling.' "Aw c'mon Twilight, don't-"

"Anyways," Twilight said, pushing back from the table as if she was stretching, pretending not to have noticed that Spike was still speaking. She briefly giggled when Spike's jaw slacked slightly in shock, continuing, "Angel Wing has been tight-lipped thus far, but she knows exactly how much to push until she gives. Luckily, if this plan is successful, we may not need her any longer."

"And by 'plan' you do mean an actual plan, correct?" Spirit asked, paying little attention to Spike. It was curious to see his sudden change, but that wasn't important at the moment. "Is there a means of engagement or plan to capture the enemy?"

"Yes there is a means of how we are going to confront them. Celestia has already issued a 'Kill on Sight' order on the remaining five occultists. The only damage any of us have to worry about is regarding the civilian population. Their safety come first and foremost. Other than that, you are authorized to do as you please to take down the enemy," Obsidian answered.

Spirit nodded his head, taking the information into consideration. While Obsidian continued to further explain what everyone was and was not allowed to do, Amethyst began hopping down the stairs with a large, thick, brown hard-back book in her arms. Once she made it down the last step, she quickly took her spot in between Cyclone and Veil, opening the book the moment it was settled in her lap.

Inside were pictures and photographs of the twins as little hatchlings. Cyclone covered her mouth to muffle a gasp at a picture of Spike curled up next to Quill on a large bed, both sucking their tails at the same time. Veil bit down on her lips to stifle her laughter, only letting out choked snickering.

"Aw… Spikey, you two look so cute," Cyclone interrupted Obsidian, gaining the attention of the room. She looked over towards Spike with a wide smile on her face, while Spike tried to hide as best as he could in his chair. "Look at you and Quill."

"Cyclone…" Spike groaned while Dusk shoved him on the shoulder playfully.

Veil could no longer hold back as she burst into laughter. "Th-there's just no way!" she sputtered, hysterically laughing like a hyena. "I-I'm gonna die… haha! What are you wearing? Is that a dress? Bwahaha!" Veil's laughter was contagious as Cyclone and Amethyst started laughing themselves, though they were a bit more controlled. At the table, most of the Elements were giggling or openly laughing at Spike's embarrassment, the blush on the drake's face a solid red.

"Those moments where you want to disappear," Dusk joked as he chuckled.

Spike pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a long drawn out sigh. "Girls, I know you're having fun and all, but we do still have some work to do," he said, hoping to get the two to calm down. It failed miserably as Veil continued to laugh uncontrollably, eventually falling off the couch and onto the hardwood floor with a soft thud. "Why Twi? Just, just why?"

"It was too good a chance to pass up," Twilight said in between her own bouts of laughter. She sparked her horn to place a soundproof wall between them and the giggling females behind them. Even with the sound removed, it was still grueling for Spike to see Veil and Cyclone laugh at old pictures of him and Quill, as happy as he was to see them smiling. "I may just make a copy for them to take back with you."

"Please don't."

"That settles it, I am."

Twilight giggled while Spike let out another groan. He was going to try and convince Twilight not to doom him to a couple days of mocking when Obsidian regained control with a throaty 'Ahem.' Slowly, everyone stopped their giggling and returned to a somewhat serious composure.

"Moving on, we still have to assign locations for everyone," he said, laying his one of his arms over the other on the table. "This part is highly crucial to our victory so we need to divide up our forces in a balanced manner."

"I'll take Fillydelphia," Dusk quickly spoke up, leaning on the table with a confident smirk on his face. "Heard that place has a lot of open space and tall buildings. So it would be perfect for me."

"Oh? So you have a plan little brother?" Verdite asked, impressed that Dusk was thinking tactically.

That line of thought ended when Dusk shook his head, laughing. "Nah, just means I won't break as much stuff is all. But you know me, I make it up as I go," Dusk said, getting an eyeroll from Wave.

"Should've guessed," Verdite shook her head at Dusk's seemingly mindless approach towards fighting. Though, Dusk did seem to work better like that anyway, since that was how he'd got to this point in his life.

"I'm with Dusk," Spike added in, trying to ignore the clear laughter of his mates on the other side of the clear light-purple wall. "The buildings will give Quill and Dusk a vantage point over the open areas. Rydder and I can cover the ground."

"Then let's do this Spike," Dusk said as the two males bumped fist together, both with smirks on their face.

Twilight nodded her head, smiling at how much Spike had changed over the months away. "Guess Fillydelphia is covered then, with the four of you and the Solar Guard. Pinkie, Flutters, you girls go with Sergeant here to Baltimare." The two mares nodded their heads at Twilight, trusting her decision. "Rarity, Applejack, you girls cover Manehattan, which leaves me and-"

"Sergeant, let me go with you," Rainbow cut in. Being part of the Guard now, Rainbow had already been assigned a location to defend. However, she didn't agree with it. "Come on, I don't see why-"

"You have your orders, Private," Obsidian firmly said, almost growling at Rainbow. "I know why you want to go to Baltimare, but these orders come from above me. You will hold down Las Pegasus. Do I make myself clear, Private Dash?"

Rainbow started to grumble under her breath, cursing the one she believed was responsible for placing her as far away from Baltimare as possible. "Crystal. I'll accompany Twilight to Las Pegasus."

"Now that that is settled, what about the rest of you?" Twilight asked, looking over towards Wolf. The dog didn't respond to Twilight at first as he continued to look down the map, trying to get a feel for the terrain.

He'd been in small towns and villages, but city-states were a whole different beast. "Would be easier to decide if I knew the terrain of these cities," Wolf mused for a moment, tapping a claw on the oak-wood table. "Hm… I'd prefer if Frost could go somewhere her ice-magic would be the most effective. And Spirit and the others will have to stay together to be of any use."

"Then Las Pegasus is the best place to send her," Twilight said, remembering the changeling-dragon hybrid from the second invasion. It was somewhat shocking to think that the dragoness she'd seen with Quill and Spike months ago was the same changeling mare. The idea was… hard for her to get used to, especially with what had happened during Cadance's wedding. But if Quill and Spike trusted Frost, then Twilight was willing to give the mare a chance.

The others however, were a different story.

"Spike," Applejack began in her drawl, "Some of the girls and I have been talking, and we want to know who that changeling mare that was with ya'll during the invasion really is. Seemed awful convenient for another one to show up when Canterlot came under attack again." The orange mare leaned forward, elbows on the table as she met Spike's gaze.

Wolf raised an eyebrow at the mare, and was about to reply, when Spike cut him off. "AJ, please don't tell me that you're suspicious of her. The same mare that Quill's absolutely smitten with. The same one that actually helped saved Canterlot." He had an incredulous look on his face. He hadn't thought that any of his old friends would be suspicious of the changeling hybrid.

Applejack leaned back slightly at Spike's vehemence. "Well Spike, it's just that -"

"No, Applejack, there's no question about it. Frost is on our side. Quill would do anything for her - and more importantly, Frost would do anything for Quill. I don't get why you can't trust her just based on that. So she's a changeling?" Spike shrugged, a confused look on his face. "Wait, this is all starting to sound like when Zecora first showed up to Ponyville, and everyone was afraid of her because of how she looked. Didn't you girls move past that?"

"Well," Applejack began, flushing. Spike noted that Rarity blushed a little as well, while Twilight silently closed her eyes and shook her head. Applejack hesitantly continued, "It's just that, every changeling we've ever met was during the invasion - and they were all set on takin over." Applejack's voice picked up in confidence. "So you can understand why we'd think it's a little suspicious of her to show up when Canterlot was attacked again."

"Ok, you want the entire truth?" Spike began, frustrated. He'd thought his friends at least would have been able to look past Frost's race. "Frost is an ex changeling princess, she had her own hive to look after. Her mother cast her down, because she's apparently fairly power hungry and was afraid of Frost overthrowing her - a valid worry, since according to Frost, her mother is a tyrant. She's also a half-breed, half changeling and half dragon. Am I missing anything?" Spike stopped for a moment as he tapped the table with one claw. "Oh right, and she's Chrysalis' sister. Whom Frost and Quill are meeting with either today or tomorrow."

The table went quiet after Spike finished his frustrated rant. The Elements were all surprised at the informational onslaught that Spike had just vented. Twilight and Rainbow had known that Frost was a changeling half-breed, but they hadn't known anything else about the mare. Still, just the fact that they had seen first-hand how much Quill cared for the mare, and how hard the mare had fought to save Canterlot had made them more than willing to trust the changeling. The other Elements hadn't been there, so they were more reluctant. Only Applejack was willing to say anything, however.

"Spike, if she's the sister of Chrysalis then you know we can't trust her!" The farmpony eventually found her voice, still shocked at what Spike had revealed.

Wolf stayed silent as Spike went on to defend his fellow packmember. Spike's new and deeper voice was still strange to his friends, and to them, it held a note of finality as he spoke. "Applejack. Everyone." Spike paused as he looked around the table at the other Elements. "Quill trusts Frost with her life. I trust Frost with Quill's life. If you don't trust her, trust us. You only knew us for most of our lives. If you really can't trust me, then I guess we shouldn't be here."

"Now hold on Spike -" Rainbow Dash tried to begin, but she was interrupted by Twilight.

"We do trust you, Spike. And we trust Frost. She's more than proven herself." Twilight took in a deep breath and looked at Applejack out of the corner of her eye. She'd have to talk with her friends later - she wasn't sure why they wouldn't believe her when she'd said that Frost was trustworthy.

"Very well then," Wolf said with a nod to the princess. "If that is all settled -" Wolf raised an eyebrow at the alicorn, and she nodded in reply. Nodding back, Wolf continued, "The twins will go with half-blood." Spike and Dusk again bumped fists together. Dusk was anxious to see how much the twins' growth-spurts had helped them with their magic. "Frost and I will assist you in this 'Las Pegasus,'" Wolf continued, getting a nod from Twilight while Rainbow huffed some of her mane out of her face. "And Spirit, Fang, and Night Blade will help those two," he said, waving a hand over to Rarity and Applejack.

"You know, it would be polite for you to learn our names. If you could at least do us that bit of kindness," Rarity huffed, turning her head away from Wolf.

Wolf growled back at the mare, opening his mouth to say something, but was cut off by Twilight stepping in. "Rarity, stop it. We have more important things to be worried about than knowing each others' names," she scolded Rarity before quickly turning back to Wolf. "I'm sorry, she hadn't had the best experiences with diamond dogs. N-not that that is an issue here or anything."

"As you say, princess," Wolf said as he leaned back in his chair. Rarity's attitude irked him a little, but he didn't have the time or patience to be picking small fights with a grown mare acting like a filly. "Anyways, with that settled, when will all of this be put together?"

"Celestia wants us to have all forces moving as soon as they can," Obsidian started, "With getting the Guard together, preparing spaces in the cities to station everyone, and notifying all city officials, I'd say two, five days at the most. Will that be plenty of time for the lot of you to get ready?"

Wolf took a moment to think about Obsidian's question. "If you can provide suitable armor for us, then yes. From what Spike told me, he and the others already knew this would happen."

"Oh?" Twilight quipped.

Spike chuckled, rubbing the back of his head as he nodded. "Yeah. Quill made plans for this right after the second invasion in Canterlot. Especially when she learned that Spirit and the others were wanting to be Fallen Saints."

"Kill two birds with one stone, huh?" Verdite mused, her interest piqued by how much the young Queen Dragoness had planned in advance.

"Well isn't that convenient. Quite interested in seeing what she has planned." Obsidian smiled, glad to see that the meeting was going better than he first thought it would. "We'll have transports waiting for you and your pack members at the base of Canterlot mountain."

Nodding his head in agreement, Wolf sat back in his seat with a sigh. Everything was now set in motion. His only worry now was that one of his pack members could be injured during the battles ahead. Wolf knew that he could trust them all to take this seriously and to be careful, though. At this point, that was all he could do; have faith in them. "We'd best be heading back then. Have to gather materials for the upcoming battle."

"Mhmm, oh wait, I still want to make that copy," Twilight said before she stood up from her seat, dropping the barrier as she did so.

"Please tell me you're joking right now," Spike groaned. Twilight didn't answer him as she walked to the other side of room where Amethyst and the other females were still sitting at.

The group of females looked up from the scrapbook when they heard Twilight approaching. She came to a stop in front of Amethyst and held out a hand. "Let me see the book for a second Amethyst. I want to give Cyclone and Veil here a gift," Twilight said with a soft smile, despite the much wider and more devious one inside her head.

"Oh, okay Mama." Amethyst closed the scrapbook before handing it over to Twilight, curious what gift she was talking about.

Twilight sparked her horn the moment the book was in her hand, holding up her other one adjacent to the first. An aura of purple light encased the scrapbook. The purple lights swirled around the thick brown hard-cover for a moment before it floated over to Twilight's empty palm. After a quick flash of light, an exact duplicate of the scrapbook manifested.

Sketchy blinked several times at the duplication spell Twilight had just performed while Jinx mouthed a 'Wow' under her breath. Both Veil and Cyclone were amazed by the sight, wondering if Blaze or even Isis could do the same spell. Amethyst, on the other hand, was simply excited.

"Oh wow Mama! You made a copy of Mr. Drake's scrapbook! That's so cool! Can you show me how to do that?" she beamed with an excited cheer as Twilight handed her back the original copy of the book while she gave the other to Cyclone.

"Maybe when you're older, Amethyst. For now we still have to focus on getting your magic to become more stable," Twilight said as she patted Amethyst on the head when she saw the filly starting to pout a bit. Twilight smiled down at Amethyst, thinking the little filly was a strong reminder of herself when she was her age.

"And you can bet we'll be working on that while you're away Twilight," Jinx said, getting Amethyst to cheer up when she remembered that she'd be staying with Jinx and Sketchy while Twilight was off fighting the evil ponies that had hurt her.

"And I can't thank you two enough for looking after Amethyst while the Elements and I are away. You two really are really life-savers." Sketchy simply smiled as she nodded her head while Jinx reached over to give Amethyst a gentle scratch under her chin, causing her to giggle. Twilight giggled and nodded back at the mares before she walked back over to the table with the others.

Seeing that Spike was finished with his business, Veil got up from the couch, followed by Cyclone, who shared a quick hug with Amethyst and Jinx before they parted. As Wolf and the rest of the High Moon pack at the table began to leave, Spike stood up and gave his goodbyes to his old friends. As he started to leave, Cyclone went to his side and wrapped one arm around his waist, a broad grin on her face. However, as Spirit went to open the door for the others, Rarity stood up from the table, calling out to Spike. "Spike, darling wait."

The drake stopped for a moment before visibly sighing, looking back over his shoulder at the porcelain white mare. "Yeah Rares? Something on your chest?"

Rarity took a moment to breathe in, closing her eyes as she slowly exhaled. She opened her eyes, focusing on both Spike and Cyclone, licking her dry lips. "I'm sorry for how I acted when first meeting you, Cyclone dear. I was out of line to say what I did, and I cannot apologize enough for how I behaved."

Veil instinctively began to growl a little at the mare, having heard nothing good about her. And now with the mare admitting that she had been rude to Cyclone, Veil was ready to be done with her. "Excuse me, what's this now?"

The protective beta hound was stopped by Spike taking hold of her shoulder, getting her attention. "Veil, no," he said in a firm voice that managed to calm her down. In a softer voice, meant for just Veil, he whispered, "This is Cyclone's." Once Spike saw that Veil calmed down, Spike turned his head to Cyclone, smiling at the pale dragoness.

Encouraged by her drake's smile, Cyclone turned towards Rarity and took in a slow breath. "Thank you for apologizing. But really, I should be the one apologizing. I let my anger get the better of me, and that's not how I - nor every dragon - usually acts. We're just... territorial, especially us dragonesses." She laughed a bit while clutching the scrapbook underneath her arm. "I hope you can understand," she added, wrapping her tail around Spike's, blushing.

Rarity caught her meaning, nodding her head in understanding, glad to have that off her chest. "Yes, I can see what you mean. Thank you so much for accepting my apology, Cyclone."

Cyclone nodded her head as Verdite stood up from the ground, cracking her knuckles and gaining the room's attention. "Speaking of dragons, Drake, Dragoness, I would like to ask you two a question or two if you have the time."

Spike raised an eyebrow at the pale forest-green half-breed, sparing a glance towards Dusk but only getting a shrug out of him. "Uh, Wolf?" he asked, turning back to the pack's Alpha, who seemed to be ready to leave by this point.

"As long as it is something important."

"Which it is," Verdite quickly added.

"Then I see no reason why not. We can handle gathering everything we need. Just don't stay out too long, Blaze will light my tail on fire if you get sick," Wolf finished as though he hadn't been interrupted. After getting a firm nod from Spike, Wolf turned to leave with Spirit and Rydder.

Spike turned back around to Verdite, who was walking towards him and Cyclone. "This'll just be just be a short moment of your time. Know any place we can talk in peace?" she asked, staring straight into the drake's eyes.

"Uh, hey Pinks," Spike called out for Pinkie to answer back with an, 'mhmm?' "Is Sugarcube open right now?"

"Uh-huh. Mr and Mrs Cake gave me a break so I could come here, but they should be able to handle anypony coming in for an early morning treat," Pinkie Pie answer with an excited nod. "You thinking about taking your special somebodies out for a date?"

Spike blushed for a moment, rubbing the back of his head. "Well… I did kinda want to do that, yeah," he mumbled, getting Cyclone and Veil to blush as Cyclone's tail squeezed Spike's. "Figured it'd be cool to get a treat for us and the rest of the pack while we were at it. Blaze has been having cravings."

"Well I promise not to take up too much of your time," Verdite reassured him before she walked towards the door.

With a slight nod, Spike wave goodbye to everyone in the room. Amethyst quickly ran over towards him and jumped up to hug his leg tightly. Laughing, Spike knelt down, picking her up to give her a proper hug goodbye. "Please come back Mister Drake," he heard Amethyst quietly whisper in his ear as she nuzzled her head against his.

Spike smiled as he kissed Amethyst on the cheek. He promised that he would come back, and that they'd have to play some games with each other.

Satisfied with the promise, Amethyst hugged his neck again before she ran off towards Jinx and Sketchy, who were already going over what was in store for the young filly while Twilight was away. Spike stared after Amethyst for a moment before a hand clasped his own, turning to see that it was Cyclone's.

"Spike? Verdite is waiting for us."

Wordlessly nodding, Spike turned to follow his two mates out the door while the rest of the room looked on. Dusk rested his chin on a clenched fist, looking at the leaving drake. As he mused about a few things, the chime and glow of a unicorn's magic caught his attention as an object filled the corner of his vision. He turned to find that it was a copy of Sweetie Belle's CD, held up in Jinx's blue magical grip. Looking over at the mare, Dusk knew what the gesturing motion she was giving him was for.

"Jinx, you're stirring up trouble that Drake might not be able to handle."

"But he'll be grateful for it afterwards, and you know it."

"Maybe." Sighing, he took the CD out of Jinx's magical grip and got up from his chair. Dusk cast one final glance towards Jinx and Sketchy, only getting nods and shooing motions out of them. Muttering a goodbye to everyone for now, Dusk walked out of the library, Wave following behind.

Once outside, Wave glanced over at her brother, eyeing the grimace on his muzzle. "I take it that whatever is on that CD isn't good?"

Dusk shook his head, slipping the album into his jacket's pocket. "The music is pretty alright, the problem is the content." He sighed, looking up to the white blanket of clouds overhead. "Jinx is going to get Spike in so much trouble."

Sugarcube Corner

"...so that's your Alpha-Mother's plan, huh? Mm, I suppose that'd be a better way of doing it," Verdite mused, running a claw around the ring of her glass of rocky-road milkshake. The subject of her talk with the two dragons was regarding the inherent abilities each race of dragon received after going through their growth-spurt. For dragons like Spike and Cyclone - Salamanders - they both earned the ability to manipulate their dragon's soul to create a reflective aura over their body, giving them the ability of camouflage.

Spike was intrigued about this. The idea of being able to go invisible sounded quite cool to him, as it would definitely be a useful thing to do. However, he was surprised to learn that Cyclone already knew about this, and that Blaze already had plans to help the two of them practice this trait. Blaze apparently planned on waiting until the spring to help the two dragons practice their ability. That made sense, since it was the dead of the winter, and she was still carrying her unborn child.

"Mhmm. Clan-Mother is waiting until the spring so she can give birth. But if you know about it, then do you have the innate ability, too?" Cyclone asked, remembering the explanation Blaze had given her of a dragon's physical abilities - though mainly the ones for Salamanders.

Verdite nodded her head, taking a sip of her milkshake. "Yes, I do. Father thought it was important to teach us about our heritage. He's a proud one, that old Salamander." A smile faintly stretched across her muzzle, seemingly remembering fond memories from her past. "I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for either of my parents. Anyways, I won't bore you for much longer."

Spike quickly shook his head. "No it's fine. Like I said, everything has already been planned in advance. But um, there something I wanted to ask about the Lunar Republics, if you don't mind?" he asked politely, wanting to know about Equestria's sister country. "Dusk told me and Quill stories from ya'lls home, including some pretty funny ones."

"Oh did he now? Did he ever tell you he became the town's jester for carnival?" Verdite asked, laughing to herself. When she got a shake of Spike's head as her response, she laughed some more before taking another sip of her milkshake. "Well let's see, it was when? Eight, ten years ago almost? Anyway, Sparky was showing off his flying 'skills' to me and Siege. But like the knucklehead he is, he didn't pay attention to where he was going, so he clipped his foot against a building before he was sent careening straight into a carnival stand."

"Owch, was he alright?" Spike asked, thinking back to times when Rainbow or Quill tried to show off some trick and got themselves hurt doing so.

However, Verdite waved a dismissive hand towards the drake. "Pff, yeah he was fine. But Mom was absolutely livid. Like I thought she was going to start breathing fire. But good ol' Dad came to the rescue and made a deal with the mayor to have Dusk play as the island's jester to pay back the damage." She paused to laugh, laying her arm on the table as she shook her head. "I wish I had a picture with me. He was dressed up in the stupidest outfit you could imagine."

"If it's anything like what Spike was dressed as," Veil choked out, snickering, "then I'm sure I can get a good picture."

"Veil, please," Spike groaned.

Veil laughed at Spike. She reached out to his shoulder, and pulled him closer as she leaned in to place a kiss on his cheek. The move caught both Spike and Cyclone by surprise, as the hound wasn't one for physical affection in public. Veil laughed again at their expressions. "I'm sure the Alpha-Mothers will definitely love those pictures too."

"Please… please don't remind me," Spike sighed, sulking as he drank from his own chocolate milkshake.

Verdite laughed along with the beta hound. She noted how Spike was acting a lot like how Dusk had after he'd met Jinx and Sketchy. "Yeah, the Nebula islands are a great place to live. Quiet, peaceful, and a good place to raise a family if you wanted to move there. But I get the feeling you didn't just want to hear about our little islands?"

Spike slowly swallowed, nodding his head before he spoke. "Yeah. I really wanted to know if the changeling attack on Canterlot three years ago affected anything in the Republics. I know there's a large equine population there as well."

"Right, equine. And that's what the changelings are as well," Verdite answered, already knowing where Spike's question was going. "We understand that it was a major deal to you Equestrians, and it was to a good number of those in the Republics as well. However, changelings have been living in the Republics since before it was united under Princess Nightmare, and then again by both of the Lunar Goddesses." She held up her hands, tilting her head slightly. "Why would we fear our friends and neighbors over something a group of changelings did from a different country? Right?"

"Right, I guess," Spike said, sighing.

He remained silent, letting Verdite continue. "And from the news reports, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Prince Shining Armor were able to defeat the changelings with help from the Elements, yeah?" A nod came as her answer, despite Spike knowing the truth of the matter. "Then I don't see why this kingdom still has their frilly panties in a bunch. I just hope that when the time comes, Equestria knows how to adapt."

"Same here," Spike mumbled as Cyclone reached a hand out to his leg. He smiled, wrapping his tail around Cyclone's.

After a few more minutes of idle chit-chat, most of which was about Verdite's career as a Nightmare Guard, the door opened up with a ringing chime, causing Spike and the females to look towards it.

Verdite raised an eyebrow at her brother and younger sister walking inside the Sugar Cube Corner. Nevertheless, she waved them over, wanting to see what they needed. "You're not starting miss your older sister already, are you Sparky?"

"Har, har, har. No, I'm completely ready to not see either of you for another three years," Dusk quipped with a heavy roll of his eyes.

Verdite laughed and shook her head at Dusk. "Oh don't be like that, ya whiny pup." She elbowed him in the hip, still laughing. "Well if it's not that, then what is it? Thought you had some shopping to do for your mares."

"I do, but Jinx wanted me to go on an errand first." Dusk waved his hand at Spike, shaking his head. "Jinx wanted me to give you a gift." He reached into his pocket, pulling out a CD.

Spike quickly recognized it the moment he saw the bleeding green letters. "Dusk, no. Please. I want to leave that behind me. What part of-"

"Whoa there Sui," Dusk started, holding up his hands in a defensive manner. "You want to put an end to this? Then when we get to Fillydelphia, just follow my lead." With that, he slid the CD towards Spike, who quickly placed his hand on on it. "No point in being bitter about this Spike. And for your own good, be honest with yourself."

"...Fine. You win, Sparky," Spike sighed with a sly smile on his face.

Dusk quickly cast his gaze down to Verdite. "You told them about the nickname, didn't you?"

"Of course not. Even I'm not that mean," Verdite joked, patting the back of her hand against Dusk's stomach. "Now off with you. You have shopping to do, like a good leashed dog."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going. See you on the battlefield Spike," Dusk said as he turned and left, waving at them.

Wave and Verdite giggled at their brother as Wave sat down next to her sister. As they started sharing Verdite's milkshake, Spike took his hand off of Sweetie Belle's album and picked it up off the table to examine. 'She's performing in Fillydelphia all of next week. Fuck me, Dusk had that planned.' Spike was drawn out of his thoughts as he felt both Cyclone and Veil pressing themselves closer against his arms, leaning in to see the CD.

Spike sighed. "I hope you girls like music." 


End file.
